Simon Biles hiding behind mental health

[Lord McBuckethead]

It would be front page news.

I don't know what is gong on so can't really comment on it with Biles that is. May have nothing to do with it but I did hear about something with judges not judging her the same, don't know what that comment from judges was about.

From what I have heard, her persona was earning higher marks, but also her level of difficulty and execution did as well. Hell, she does a few moves no other woman in history has been even able to achieve in their home gyms versus on the stage of national championships or Olympics.

[Offshore Dawg]

Time out, Simon has earned the right to make whatever decision she believes is best. Some of you people's opinions are not worth shit.

[BB30]

Well good thing your opinion on this doesn't really matter. And I am sure you definitely meant to use the word "hiding". Like it is any of our business if she is.

I agree with your general premise but the way you presented it was a little over the top on the bashing immediately.

I would imagine if Dak Prescott had decided to sit out the Alabama game in 2014 on Friday night before the game Saturday due to mental health reasons(which he fully would have had reason to have some mental health problems at that point) you wouldn't have responded the same way.

You can disregard that with your whataboutism reference but it is a fair question to ask if you're going to bash someone else when you wouldn't have the same response if it was a male playing for the college team you pull for on the biggest stage that football program had ever seen.

And I may be wrong about how you would have responded and if so, my apologies. I just think people over use the whataboutism when they don't actually have a defense against the return question.

Instead of using a whataboutism reference, why not just explain why the Tom Brady situation would be different from this situation? If you're truly trying to change someone's perspective that would be how you would have responded.

If your just looking to bash someone without having to answer any return questions, that is when people typically pull out the "whataboutism" reference, at least in my experiences when talking with people that have differing beliefs from myself.

If I am in a general conversation or light hearted debate with someone and they ask a whataboutism question I usually take time to compare the two situations and state my opinion on why the two situations are different and if I can't come to a conclusion on why the two are different then it usually shows me where my bias lies.

[JetRoh]

The coddling here is absurd. This is a low point for American Olympics and a national embarrassment on the world stage. How far we've fallen as a society since Kerri Strug. It's a perfect metaphor for where we are as a society. Selfish, coddled, quit at the first sign of trouble, leave others hanging out to dry.

I don't know what their end goal is but the nonstop barrage of "mental health, mental health, mental health" obviously isn't a coincidence.

[William Tecumsah Sherman]

If we are to treat women the same as men, as we have been told they are the same and are not different, then questions can absolutely be asked of the GOAT for sitting out a team event due to nerves. How is that off limits?

[BulldogDX55]

http://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/31897392

Has to be an injury and she didn?t want to aggrevate it before going into the individual events is my guess. Which is fine but don?t make up a lame excuse when everyone knows you tweaked and ankle.

You don?t train endlessly for the Olympics and then just decide ?I don?t feel like it? on competition day. Especially when you are the best person on the team. Just says I was a little banged up and thought that steeping back gave the team the best chance to win and that it?s personally disappointing to not get to compete but unneeded to put the team first. That?s what you would have heard 10 years ago.

This is why I?m having trouble getting into the Olympics - too many athletes have soured me lately by their attitudes.

So I would assume that you are going to take a massive shit on Dak too for being up front and honest about his struggles with mental health? Just because you are fortunate enough to not have struggled with that doesn't mean others don't.

[Irondawg]

I think this is what the PR department advised as we're hearing it a lot more of it and people/media have become uncomfortable questioning it b/c it's a sensitive subject. She clearly has something going on - I'm not sure what.

I just have a hard time buying that a champion that has performed under intense pressure time after time and after time and has delivered just suddenly melted under the pressure of what I'm guessing is her last major competition. Somebody an another board alluded that she's having a bout of vertigo which would make sense. I've seen a few other things so I'm not sure what's going on, but not to call this extremely odd and question it to some degree seems odd. Especially given her history.

This isn't Cerantola saying he couldn't pitch in the college WS b/c he was all over the place in his warmup session. Something like that would get him roasted on here but it would fit a pattern of his performance on bigger stages. Tons of people struggle with the pressure and anxiety of big events. I folded like a lawn chair often is small stakes sports so I get it, but you don't see it out of decorated champions in the middle of major events. We have Osaka recently but I'm trying to think of another one.

It's a huge story in perhaps the most glorified Olympic Event so I guess I'm a bit surprised here at how people are immediately taking up for her and praising her courage in the moment. Maybe it's 100% legit and I'm a jerk but it's just not passing the full smell test with me and aren't message boards for forming opinions with 10% of the facts?

[William Tecumsah Sherman]

If Dak was in the Super Bowl and had a bad 1st quarter. He pulls himself and says it?s due to anxiety. Cowboys lose the game. How would Dak be looked at? What questions would be asked?

[Irondawg]

So I would assume that you are going to take a massive shit on Dak too for being up front and honest about his struggles with mental health? Just because you are fortunate enough to not have struggled with that doesn't mean others don't.

You are talking about apples and oranges here. My claim (right or wrong) is that this isn't the reason she didn't compete and was used as a safe cover.

I have no problem with athletes opening up about this stuff. But how many stories do we hear about guys throwing up before games? There have been whole sports movies where dealing with the pressure was the whole crux of the movie. Pressure/anxiety are part of sports and have been forever. It's nothing new and tons of athletes struggle with this and they should - it's high pressure stakes.

I don't see how Dak talking about it off-the field has anything to do with someone not competing in their biggest event because of it. When he sits out a playoff game or the Super Bowl b/c of it then we have a valid comparison.

[ScoobaDawg]

The coddling here is absurd. This is a low point for American Olympics and a national embarrassment on the world stage. How far we've fallen as a society since Kerri Strug. It's a perfect metaphor for where we are as a society. Selfish, coddled, quit at the first sign of trouble, leave others hanging out to dry.

I don't know what their end goal is but the nonstop barrage of "mental health, mental health, mental health" obviously isn't a coincidence.

F*ck off Rex... you sad sack of sh!t

[Extendedcab]

F*ck off Rex... you sad sack of sh!t

This is really sad! Our moderator sets a new low in how to behave on this board! How anybody can be banned from this board is absurd given this post! Do you have any integrity or standards at all?

[ScoobaDawg]

This is really sad! Our moderator sets a new low in how to behave on this board! How anybody can be banned from this board is absurd given this post! Do you have any integrity or standards at all?

He was banned for previous posts not this one. He was given a one year ban for constantly bringing up politics after repeated warnings and trolling. You don't just get to make a new username and come back a week later...

[Quaoarsking]

NFL QBs aren't the right analogy here. If a starting pitcher got roughed up in the first inning of Game 7 of the World Series and said "take me out, I don't have my stuff today," he's probably doing right by the team.

Biles's decision probably saved the US a silver medal. Had she continued to compete, we might've gotten bronze or nothing at all.

[William Tecumsah Sherman]

Disagree. If the GOAT, say a Greg Maddox or Randy Johnson, request to be taken out in game 7 due to being anxious and due to pressure, they would be crushed.

[Dawg_Lover]

There have been good points made here. To compete athletically, on a world stage, IMO it takes a no excuses type mental toughness, as well as the physical. If Dak had been any different, this forum would have been the first to call him out and jump on his case. IMO some, not all mind you, but some .... not so much lately. For me, it has been disappointing.

And, if female athletes expect the same positive benefits that comes with competing on the same type stage, with males, then we don?t get to pull the gender card when we don?t like the negative side that comes with it, such as scrutiny and opinions. It is where the mental toughness should kick in.
And, yes, I can say that. I am female.

Some of the greatest mentally tough athletes I have ever witnessed were the 1980 USA hockey team. However you analyzed it, they were not given hardly a prayer of a chance against the always dominant Soviets. But they did because I am convinced they won it, in their minds, before they ever stepped in the ice. It was magical.

[Irondawg]

NFL QBs aren't the right analogy here. If a starting pitcher got roughed up in the first inning of Game 7 of the World Series and said "take me out, I don't have my stuff today," he's probably doing right by the team.

Biles's decision probably saved the US a silver medal. Had she continued to compete, we might've gotten bronze or nothing at all.

Maybe you're right, but when I watched the interview that's not really the vibe I got. My feeling is there's something else going on, which I do hate b/c she's a legend and this I'm guessing is her last big stage.

I'm not sure there is another great example of this as she's the superstar and there are plenty of stories of athletes having horrible warmups and then finding a way to perform in the moment. I have no idea and maybe it's just me, but I have to think there's a physical issue at play here as well that's not being mentioned that made her feel there was no way for her to be able to perform at the necessary level. This is pretty unprecedented as far as I know (Osaka again the only comparison I can come up with) which makes it hard to understand.

[Quaoarsking]

Disagree. If the GOAT, say a Greg Maddox or Randy Johnson, request to be taken out in game 7 due to being anxious and due to pressure, they would be crushed.

Probably so, but they may also still be doing the right thing by their team

[BiscuitEater]

Totally get it ... it's the 'ME' generation. It' NOT about being a team member! Simone Biles says her early exit from the women's gymnastics team final was for her mental health.

Stay home next time!

[StarkVegasSteve]

Whether if it's mental health or she has an injury, if she competes in the individual competition later this week then she's going to get some definite backlash.

[William Tecumsah Sherman]

It?s fair to criticize her and say she let the team down. With that said, I hope she bounces back and dominates the ChiComs and Ruskies