***2021 Olympics thread***
- Thread starter JP4CY
- Start date
I did a rowing class once several years ago and it was pretty awesome. More work than it looks and when the timing is there it's very cool.
Bonus it was during high water/no wake rules in Madison so was also pretty peaceful.
I said the same thing with water polo yesterday. Boring to watch, but here's what I gather:
-tread water for a long time, passing a ball around or defending someone with it.
-change of possession, full on swim to other end.
Repeat for a very long time.
I can't imagine being in good enough shape where that's just a normal day. In football and basketball there's at least moments where you can stop moving.
I am not saying the rowing is easy or I could do it. Every Olympic athlete is far superior to me. I am just saying I tried to watch rowing and it's not any fun. I actually kind of liked watched Water polo and Handball. Both had some excitement. Water Polo will be better when I watch it and it's competitive. The last game I watched we blew out Japan and it was not as fun.
Some of these events are insane when considering the necessary levels of fitness, coordination, etc required to be elite. Water Polo, as you mention, is a great example of that.
A group of my friends invented a game called noodleball. As far as I know they invented it anyway. It is basically water polo, but people do have pool noodles that can be used to help float, and the “goal” is a basketball hoop. The noodles can be used for a lot of other things too, mind you (ie, block shots, get into passing lanes, etc), but they do aid in keeping players afloat.
Even so, get a bunch of big, drunk dudes playing, and it gets pretty physical, pretty quick
Concerned on what was going on with her that she just pulls herself out of the Olympics in the middle of the team event. Part of me wants to be disappointed in her for letting herself and teammates down in the middle of the Olympics, and part of me wants to feel bad for her that she was so stressed out that it came to that. Hopefully she comes back.
Here's my take on the Biles deal. Mental health challenges are real and serious. High level athletics and competition are heaped with pressure and stress. If those two things combined and created an unmanageable situation for Simone, requiring her to step away, that is OKAY!
Where I struggle (and this is where I'm sure I'll get flamed) is the way this is being celebrated in some corners. It's not a BAD thing that she pulled out of competition and it does NOT make her a lesser person, but I can separate the personal decision and the athletic decision. It's best for Simone Biles the person, but Simone Biles the athlete does lose some luster here. When you welcome the pressure (and don't tell me it's all outside pressure, she's wears a GOAT on her uniform and has welcomed that tag) and it becomes to much to handle, then that can affect your athletic legacy. We'd be talking legacy right away if any super star in a major sport did the same.
Through the lens of athletics, this is free range for criticism in my mind. Hope she can get her mental state right for her personal well being, but I'm not going to hold this move up as some sort of pseudo-"victory".
Where I struggle (and this is where I'm sure I'll get flamed) is the way this is being celebrated in some corners. It's not a BAD thing that she pulled out of competition and it does NOT make her a lesser person, but I can separate the personal decision and the athletic decision. It's best for Simone Biles the person, but Simone Biles the athlete does lose some luster here. When you welcome the pressure (and don't tell me it's all outside pressure, she's wears a GOAT on her uniform and has welcomed that tag) and it becomes to much to handle, then that can affect your athletic legacy. We'd be talking legacy right away if any super star in a major sport did the same.
Through the lens of athletics, this is free range for criticism in my mind. Hope she can get her mental state right for her personal well being, but I'm not going to hold this move up as some sort of pseudo-"victory".
Water polo is very boring to watch. Still has to be one of the tougher sports stamina wise. Can't fathom treading water and swimming that long with out resting.
To be clear I'm not saying you were saying it's easy.
Just relating another sport that's not fun to watch, but to me looks practically impossible to be good at.
I think there's value in separating the two. I have no issue if someone wants to think less of her as a gymnast because her performances were somewhat marginal this week. So if someone is inclined to use a rough couple days at this Olympics as mitigating against her legacy, that's fine.
But I don't see the value in trying to downplay the level of courage it would take to admit she wasn't where she needed to be mentally, knowing the backlash she'd receive. She could have just as easily blamed a nagging injury or something. But any stance that normalizes the fact that people are dealing with internal issues and shouldn't be afraid to make sure their mental health is where it needs to be is a good one by me.
Something no has mentioned is that maybe Biles had this mental issue but was able to "medicate" for keep it under control. Then had to stop "medicating" since it isn't allowed under olympic drug testing and the lack of "medicating" allowed the issue to build up.
Beyond that I'm sure she has withdrawal symptoms too if she is going on and off meds like that. I start to get symptoms if I'm a few hours late taking mine and if I miss a day I get violently Ill.
I know next to nothing about gymnastics, but watching the qualifying event the other day it seemed like Jade was criminally underscored on her beam routine allowing Suni Lee to finish ahead of her for the individual all-around. As much as everybody wanted to see Biles, maybe this is just some karmic goodness for another athlete who gets a chance to show what she can do.
She was royally screwed. Her uneven bar routine was underscored also, but not to the beam’s extent.
I am talking about marijuana. I am not saying she uses it for anxiety but I know many people do, including my step daughter. If she did use it to manage it, but had to stop do to Olympic testing she may not have another way to relieve the anxiety thus it could have been building up.
