Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

The Olympics


Dolfan in NYC

Recommended Posts

In my experience the first step to good mental health is being honest with myself.

If Simone Biles is being honest with us (and I've got no reason to believe that she's not being honest,) she says she felt she couldn't perform at the right level - borne out by her earlier performances - and that she didn't want to drag her team down. Would she have been doing the right thing for the team if she went out and flubbed it? I would argue not. Let's not forget that there were three other ladies who did stand up and took Silver.

She now has to deal with this, and get herself right for the rest of the events. She's the Greatest Ever and yet she was dragging the team down? Come on, man. That must suck. I can absolutely see how that might bring someone into a vicious circle of beating themselves up, and for her to be able to be honest with herself is laudable. Maybe it will be easier for her to get her head right, without feeling like she's letting down the team if she doesn't succeed. I can easily believe that might be the case without her "just being out for herself," or whatever.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm more bitter if NBC went and redid the commentary, because there's zero fucking chance they knew what was going on before Biles pulled out yet they were setting it up from the start. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, DangerMark said:

In my experience the first step to good mental health is being honest with myself.

If Simone Biles is being honest with us (and I've got no reason to believe that she's not being honest,) she says she felt she couldn't perform at the right level - borne out by her earlier performances - and that she didn't want to drag her team down. Would she have been doing the right thing for the team if she went out and flubbed it? I would argue not. Let's not forget that there were three other ladies who did stand up and took Silver.

Not her call, imo.  The team has a coach.  If the coach decided she wasn't right and that the team would be better off with a replacement, that's fine.  If she went to the coaches before the event and told them she wasn't ready to perform and they agreed, that's fine.  What seems to have happened is that, after a bad routine. she unilaterally made the decision that she couldn't perform for whatever reason and didn't perform.  That's basically quitting on your teammates.

I would argue that, if you're the best in the world, you're probably a lot better than Alternate #1 even on a bad day.  Your ceiling is a lot higher, so to speak  If nothing else, I imagine seeing your team star walk off in the middle of the competition is bad for your team morale.

Hopefully she gets her head on straight in time for the individual events.  I'll be surprised if she doesn't compete later in the week.  I won't be sad if Alternate #1 again gets 15 min in the spotlight, but Biles probably is the team's best hope.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

FWIW I support Biles pulling herself from the events if she felt she was not up to it and was just gonna drag the team down, that's the right move and surely wasn't easy. That said... high level sports are as much mental as physical so while I don't think it is right to attack her this is a clear, definitive, fair L that she has to take. If you walk around all year with your gear saying you are the greatest of all time and then mentally falter in the championship you don't get the benefit of excuses, all those other wins and historic things happened and were glorious and don't suddenly disappear but in this one setting on this one day she... she failed, she's human, she lost. It sucks and I hope she kicks ass in the individual events.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember the days when Team Great Britain could barely win a medal in the pool. This is the first time GB have won three swimming golds since 1908. I've wanted to learn to swim for about two years but the pandemic has delayed that.

Edited by The Natural
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, username said:

FWIW I support Biles pulling herself from the events if she felt she was not up to it and was just gonna drag the team down, that's the right move and surely wasn't easy. That said... high level sports are as much mental as physical so while I don't think it is right to attack her this is a clear, definitive, fair L that she has to take. If you walk around all year with your gear saying you are the greatest of all time and then mentally falter in the championship you don't get the benefit of excuses, all those other wins and historic things happened and were glorious and don't suddenly disappear but in this one setting on this one day she... she failed, she's human, she lost. It sucks and I hope she kicks ass in the individual events.

I pretty much agree with all of this, and I would just like to add that it's important that she has come out and talked about what she was going through. Mental Health is weird because things seem like they should be a choice, but accepting that some things are not a choice is the first step to making the best possible choice. That might not make a lot of sense to everyone, but it's been my experience, both of making the best possible choice and staying in bed for weeks on end.

Piers Morgan has not once displayed any sort of ability to be honest with himself and should listen to Wittgenstein: "whereof one cannot speak, thereof one should keep one's fuckin' mouth shut."

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I support Simone and am kinda glad that the days of the self-flagellating athlete are drawing to an end.  Teams function best when everyone is as close to 100% as possible; not when someone is quietly suffering and trying to convince themselves that they are okay.  If Simone thinks that she will be a detriment to the team in her current mental state, she needs to bow out. 

I admire athletes that can play through physical injury and I am always concerned about their well being, but I categorize mental issues in a different manner.  I don't need Simone or Naomi Osaka contemplating suicide after suffering bouts of depression triggered by these games.  Fuck that medal.

I think this just speaks to the tremendous amount of pressure these athletes place on themselves to deliver and make their countries proud of them.   I also think that the people criticizing them should go fuck themselves.  When you are so good at something that you have a technique or a maneuver named after you, then you can afford to talk that shit.

Edited by J.T.
  • Like 4
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, J.T. said:

I support Simone and am kinda glad that the days of the self-flagellating athlete are drawing to an end.  Teams function best when everyone is as close to 100% as possible; not when someone is quietly suffering and trying to convince themselves that they are okay.  If Simone thinks that she will be a detriment to the team in her current mental state, she needs to bow out. 

I admire athletes that can play through physical injury and I am always concerned about their well being, but I categorize mental issues in a different manner.  I don't need Simone or Naomi Osaka contemplating suicide after suffering bouts of depression triggered by these games.  Fuck that medal.

I think this just speaks to the tremendous amount of pressure these athletes place on themselves to deliver and make their countries proud of them.   I also think that the people criticizing them should go fuck themselves.  When you are so good at something that you have a technique or a maneuver named after you, then you can afford to talk that shit.

Well said, @J.T.. In the end of the day, it's sport. Physical and mental wellbeing is of far more importance.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Suppose I gotta give Samone a little bit of credit, as if I was slightly above average at something and it ended up getting me a free trip to Japan I'd fuck off my team when I got there too

Edited by BigKevFan
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, BigKevFan said:

Suppose I gotta give Samone a little bit of credit, as if I was slightly above average at something and it ended up getting me a free trip to Japan I'd fuck off my team when I got there too

I'm on vacation so this is the most breath and thought I'll spare you.

 

 

You are a fucking idiot.

  • Like 8
  • Thanks 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, BigKevFan said:

Suppose I gotta give Samone a little bit of credit, as if I was slightly above average at something and it ended up getting me a free trip to Japan I'd fuck off my team when I got there too

Stop talking fucking bollocks.

Edited by The Natural
  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd tell all of the schmucks hating on Biles to try walking a mile in her shoes if I didn't think half of them couldn't nip down to the corner without strapping into a Rascal first.

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, BigKevFan said:

Suppose I gotta give Samone a little bit of credit, as if I was slightly above average at something and it ended up getting me a free trip to Japan I'd fuck off my team when I got there too

The fuck is wrong with you? 

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a doctor's appointment this morning and Aly Raisman was on the Today Show talking about Simone Biles.  She mentioned the mental thing that Biles is going through and described it as being lost in the air, which sounds terrifying while doing some sort of crazy gymnastics.  You can't do gymnastics and not have full confidence about how and where you are going to land.  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, BigKevFan said:

Suppose I gotta give Samone a little bit of credit, as if I was slightly above average at something and it ended up getting me a free trip to Japan I'd fuck off my team when I got there too

I hope that's just misguided, juvenile trolling and not your actual beliefs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...