Rant #2,702: Jump Around

Let me preface this Rant by stating that this particular entry was quite difficult to write.

My own family has suffered from mental illness, and I know it exists, and I am not putting it down as sheer whimsy when it happens.

But this needs to be said. And people need to listen.

I haven’t watched the Olympics for years.
 
I got completely turned off by the Israeli massacre, when innocent athletes from Israel were slaughtered by terrorists some years ago.
 
ABC’s coverage of the situation was so spot-on—Keith Jackson was incredible—that the whole thing was just so vivid … it--and other situations--brought to light that the Olympics are nothing more than a political gag fest cloaked in sports competition, and nothing more.
 
In ensuing years, I have had to laugh at coworkers and people that I know who have gotten so into the games, know every name and every medal won, yet a month later, cannot tell me who won or the medals they won.
 
It rubs me as being so false, and sorry, it is just not my thing at all.
 
And then we have the 2020 Olympics—or the 2020 Olympics with an asterisk, because the games are taking place in 2021—and I am just as turned off of the whole thing as ever.
 
What with numerous athletes testing positive for COVID-19, many of our own athletes disrespecting their own country with their behavior after winning medals, and the overall money-grabbing nature of the games—as usual, “the science” is touted but never really followed—I simply cannot get too enthused by the Olympics like I was way back when.
 
And now we have the latest fiasco, with American gymnast Simone Biles bowing out of much of the competition because of so-called mental issues.
 
She has claimed that these issues are impacting her performance, that there is just too much revolving around the Olympics this time around for her to give her maximum athletic/mental effort, and she is going day by day to see if she is up to it to participate.
 
Sorry, anyone who fully buys this nonsense really is living in some bizarro world, aren’t they?
 
This is one of our greatest athletes, a young woman who has performed with full capacity on stages around the world for a number of years without any hesitation.
 
Now, all of a sudden, she has the yips?
 
Look, first of all, she is letting her team and her country down on the supposedly the grandest stage of all.
 
If she had mental problems, she should have alerted the American Olympic community way before the games came that she was having doubts about participating.
 
And she is freaking out now because of the pressure?
 
Let her work a regular nine-to-five job, and learn what being under pressure is all about.

Ask our veterans about pressure--real pressure--and they will tell you all about it in vivid detail.
 
These athletes, and athletes in general, are just so pampered, simply because they can do what so few of us can do.
 
It begins at an early age, and it becomes the norm for them throughout their competitive lives.
 
Now, at precisely the wroing time, Biles decides that she can’t do it anymore, there is too much tension, and that she is ready to break?
 
Heck, my wife feels more pressure at her job as a bank teller than this young lady will ever feel.

And this generation ... I mean, really ... they get upset at the slightest chance, don't have the coping skills to get by any change in their personal patterns, and regress into a ball if they are not "right" on a particular day.
 
I understand that this is a mental illness issue.
 
Some people need time to breathe.
 
I get it.
 
We have seen an increased number of athletes taking care of their mental health, and not hiding these issues anymore, which is probably a good thing.
 
But sorry, don’t tell me about tension.
 
This is what you have been doing for years, this is what you have worked hard for, and then, all of a sudden, the yips take you off your game at precisely the wrong moment?

(And note: Biles has not yet canceled any of her personal appearances away from the Olympics, appearances where she is getting paid to do her job ... that may soon come, but right now, as she said, she is day to day.)
 
Sorry, I cannot generate too much sympathy or empathy for you.
 
You don’t live in the real world to begin with.
 
You have been put on a pedestal your entire life … and I am supposed to feel sorry for you because you just aren’t mentally into it anymore?
 
Then move aside for others to do what you do.
 
Get your head on straight, but don’t complain about pressure—every person has pressure in their lives, but I guess some of us can handle it better than others.
 
This fiasco of an Olympic games, already charred by the coronavirus, doesn’t need other distractions, personal ones in particular.
 
If it is too hot in the kitchen, get out of the heat and move on to somewhere else.
 
Me, I have already moved on by not subjecting myself to the nonsense that is the 2020 Olympic Games.
 
The sooner the games are over, the better we will all be, with or without this little prima donna telling us about “the pressure” and “the tension” she feels.
 
Sure, she can do athletic things that few of us can, but evidently, she cannot handle what she terms “pressure” like most of us can.

Feeling pressure is a normal part of human life, and as we feel the pressure, we have coping skills that help us get through them.

Last year, at age 63 and with no job in sight, I was able to cope with my situation as best as I could.

Nobody says you have to have a broad smile on your face everyday, nobody says you have to like the situation that you are in.

There are mechanisms--both within and through counseling--that can help people cope.

Biles should have looked inward before the games, and if she couldn't handle it herself, get help. There is actually a mental health coach for the Olympics; why did she not reach out to that coach?

Look, what little I know about gymnastics is what I can see; if you are not mentally into it, one jump and you can not only completely lose it, but lose it to serious injury.

Is that not akin to an office worker having a bad time and taking it out on his or her supervisor?

It is almost a "death knell" in a way.

We put our athletes on a pedestal, make them feel so special, massage their egos, and then when things get a little tough, some simply cannot handle it.
 
I guess she really is no better than the rest of us.