This will help tell you how we rolled back in the 1970s.
During family or school picnics, or to liven up a football or baseball practice, two teams would be formed, and a back-and-forth relay race was contested.
But, before you ran, you had to put your forehead on the handle end of a standing baseball bat and spin around 5 or 10 times. Now go.
The straight line you thought you were running is really a tilted mess.
This would be as close as I will ever come to experiencing what Simone Biles calls “the twisties.” The scientific terminology is that your ‘spatial awareness’ is out of whack.
Gymnastics is dangerous enough without the natural gyroscope in an athlete’s head spinning off center.
That, not only mental anxiety, is what led Biles to withdraw from the individual all-around final at the Tokyo Olympics last week. She also did not compete in the vault and uneven bars.
The thought of a routine on uneven bars with Biles’ condition is terrifying.
But so is leaping onto a balance beam and flipping around. Biles did exactly that early Tuesday, and won a bronze medal. It was her seventh in Olympics competition, tying a record she now shares with Shannon Miller.
Let’s go back a week to Biles leaving the all-around final.
“We have to protect our minds and our bodies and not just go out and do what the world wants us to do,” she said.
“We’re not just athletes. We’re people at the end of the day and sometimes you just have to step back.”
A few days later, Biles explained on Twitter that she was off physically, as well as mentally.
“I have experienced [the twisties] before,” she said.
“They’re not fun to deal with. It’s honestly petrifying trying to do a skill but not having your mind and body in sync. 10/10 do not recommend.”
A kindred spirit
Dominique Dawes became the first Black American woman gymnast to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team in 1992. The outpouring of support from thousands of Black girls, parents and grandparents was overwhelming, she told National Public Radio.
Four years later at the Atlanta Olympics, she became the first Black American woman to win an individual Olympic medal — a bronze in floor exercise. She also won a team gold and would win two more Olympic medals during her career.
But her stellar performance in Atlanta came after she broke down minutes before the opening ceremony. She fell to her knees and prayed for help in understanding that she wasn’t in the competition alone.
Dawes said she can relate to Simone Biles’ mental anguish as the 24-year-old returned to Olympics competition after winning four medals in 2016.
“What Simone Biles does out there, and all of these young athletes do out there in gymnastics, is unreal. Unreal. And so, there is a probability of them getting severely injured,” Dawes told the Washington City Paper.
“They’re smart enough to know that. They’re 24, they’re not a 12-year-old who’s just going to sacrifice their body and not realize how dangerous this sport is. But it was very heartbreaking to watch her go through that, and then to hear some of her quotes afterwards of just battling with her mind, and she didn’t want to take the risk for her mental or physical health.
“And she really did feel as if she would jeopardize her team’s chances of even getting on the podium. And that takes courage. And it also takes humility for someone to recognize that and to bow out.”
The Reid Roundup
Mark Alnut, Buffalo athletic director, is reportedly being considered for that role at Missouri. Alnut, an African American, played linebacker and tight end for Mizzou in the ’90s, was MU’s associate athletic director from 2006-12 and served as athletic director for Southeast Missouri State until 2015…It wasn’t long before Washington Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr., was greeted with roster upheaval. Russell Westbrook was traded to the L.A. Lakers for Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell and the No. 22 NBA overall draft pick…That deal led to several reports that Bradley Beal would remain a Wizard and not be dealt this offseason…The NFL is making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for league employees who do not have a qualifying disability or “sincerely held religious belief or practice.” Too bad it can’t/won’t give its players the same mandate.
