Now that the Olympics is underway, maybe it’s time to pay attention to the big picture instead of waving the flag and expecting the United States to win everything. Every scouting report you read says you have to watch out for this team or that individual. Ever notice that they were all American athletes? Nothing wrong with American athletes, but there are other people who train around the world who are pretty good as well.
Gymnastics – can we all get a grip on this activity? The common stories always involve the overzealous parents who sit in the crowd and root for their kid, the rags to riches story and of course the claim that someone got jobbed when it came to the scoring.
The first two I get, as human interest stories always sell and there is nothing like a stage parent to have on prime time. The third is why I cannot take gymnastics.
This is an activity that is judged by a third party. Point deductions are what they live for, and 99 percent of the viewing audience has no clue about judging. They only know that when someone falls on their rear end or stumbles, it’s not good. Other than that we have no idea what makes up a score.
With that said, you can bet on some judge messing it up for some poor little athlete who has given up a normal life to participate in this event. Take it one step further, and you have the media and public outcry: an injustice has taken place to an American!
Wow, I’m all broken up. I’m broken up that people who follow and support this activity are not smart enough to fix the method of scoring, whereas it is not in the hands of some slob who is looking for their day in the sun to stick it to someone.
For the parents who cry in their milk about this event mistreating their kid, what did you expect? You knew this when you saw previous Olympics, where someone got messed over, and yet you sign up for this charade and think it won’t happen to you. Well, it did. You have allowed it to shatter the dream you had for your kid.
As for the athletes, how can you not commend them for the physical tools they have? They are truly skilled, but it is a shame that someone else can decide their fate.
The U.S. gymnastics team as a whole has been a major disappointment in the eyes of many who only thought the U.S. was in this thing. Somehow, someone will put a spin on it where it was a team that was young and building for the future. OK. This was a flop, no matter how you sum it up.
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No, Hope
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We are not a week into the Olympics, and Hope Solo is at it again. The US women’s soccer goalie is not happy that a former teammate of hers who is now a TV analyst questioned the play of a current element of the team when it came to defense. Point well taken, and point quite accurate. Solo had to tweet that former Olympic and World Cup Champion Brandi Chastain, who is now a TV analyst, basically had no clue what she was talking about. She went on to say the game had changed compared to when Chastain played.
Hey, Hope, when does defense change? I could go on and on about Solo, but throwing people under the bus is par for the course for one of America’s most embarrassing athletes. If Solo were Terrell Owens or some other team sport athlete who has gone one sentence too far, she would be run out of the sport even if she is considered the best goalie in the United States.
Just ask former teammate Briana Scurry whom Solo called out after the U.S. coach elected to go with experience over Solo in a World Cup match a few years ago. Solo was such a jerk about it that her teammates voted her off the team.
