Category Archives: athletes

athletes, communication, condescending twatbags, mental health, social media, stupid people

Simone Biles is now my barometer for decency on Facebook…

Today’s featured photo is a screenshot of someone’s very appropriate meme.

For some reason, Facebook keeps suggesting certain groups and pages for me that the powers that be think I “might like”. I do like Simone Biles. I think she’s amazing. To be 26 years old and still doing the breathtaking gymnastics she does is incredible, in my view. So I don’t mind seeing Simone’s fan page on my social media account, even though I don’t technically follow it. She’s legitimately a great athlete and an excellent role model. And I think that, even though she withdrew from most of the women’s gymnastics events at the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021, because of COVID).

Naturally, because I see that page, I also see the hateful comments that mostly come from middle-aged, conservative, white guys who are weighing in from the couch. They leave sarcastic, rude, and sometimes abusive remarks about Simone, calling her a loser, a quitter, a “has been”, and God only knows what else. I’m sure a lot of what they write is sexist and racist, too, although I don’t spend a lot of time hunting down what they have to say. It just isn’t that important. Edited to add: after I wrote this, I did block a guy who posted that he thought she was transgender. SIGH…

Ever since Simone announced that she would be trying for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, these creepy incels have been coming out of the woodwork. I first noticed it in early July, and wrote about it then… I also wrote about it in passing on a post I wrote four days ago, which wasn’t that much about Simone as it was people judging others. Today, I feel the need to write about it again, because… why not?

I’ve decided that I will automatically block people who make mean or rude comments about Simone Biles. I figure if someone feels the need to spew their negativity about her on a fan page, they aren’t someone I want to run into again on social media. And, just because I was feeling a bit trollish myself, and I knew it would rile up the haters, I wrote this on the Queen Simone Biles page:

I love blocking all the toxic people calling Simone a quitter!

Most of the responses have been positive, but there have been a few hateful, rude, and sarcastic comments, too. And those people, I’ve immediately blocked. I’ve also blocked people I have only observed and never even engaged with, simply because they leave mean comments about Simone. Simone, by the way, isn’t a quitter yet. She’s still competing and winning. When she does inevitably leave elite level gymnastics, she will still be an amazing gymnast with an incredible record.

This morning, I was surprised to see a few folks complaining about my new policy! Especially since other people started doing the same thing! One guy said I was living in an “echo chamber”. Another complained about “cancel culture” (and just what is he doing with his mean comments about Simone?). Other people said they had the “right” to criticize Simone for what she was doing. I see one guy, whom I have already blocked, has clearly continued to argue about how Simone is taking some other person’s Olympic dream. He’s doing this on a FAN page! Why? Most of these folks don’t even look like the type who enjoy watching gymnastics. They appear to be more like the type to watch pro wrestling while they suck down a Miller Genuine Draft.

I am actually convinced that blocking these people is going to improve my Facebook experience overall. Simone Biles is a great barometer for the quality of people on Facebook. If you’re the type of person who intrudes on a fan page for an amazing athlete who suffered from a legitimate mental health issue that jeopardized her safety, you have no place on my timeline. I don’t have anything to say to you, and I don’t want to read your mess.

When I woke up to complaints that I was blocking people, I wrote this:

Lots of incels wanting me to block them! Love it, because I don’t have to see their ignorant comments ever again!

It IS funny, isn’t it? I announce that I block haters, so they all flock to leave insulting comments to me, so I can more easily block them. Is this something they enjoy? Because once I block them, we won’t be interacting again, unless they have a different Facebook account. They could just as easily block me. Then the blocking power would be in their hands.

To the person complaining about “cancel culture” and my living in an “echo chamber”, I wrote this… (after I blocked them, of course– for everyone else):

Isn’t this page called Queen Simone Biles? Why should people who enjoy Simone’s athleticism have to put up with comments from clueless, negative haters who just came here to troll everyone with their hate? Aren’t there enough news outlets for doing that?

Don’t put hateful comments on a page specifically for Simone Biles, and you won’t be blocked.

I am not stopping anyone from leaving their comments. I am simply preventing their comments from affecting me. I don’t want to read that shit, and if that’s what you’re spewing on an athlete’s page– someone you DON’T even know or care about– that’s a sign that, in general, you don’t have anything interesting to say. So why would I want to communicate with you? Aren’t people taught any manners anymore?

I hasten to add that I don’t block people who are merely critical. One woman, whom I haven’t yet blocked, wrote this:

Yes mental health matters but 90% of us can’t quit our jobs because of it.

This was my response:

But most people’s jobs don’t result in severe injuries, paralysis, or death if they keep working while they have a mental health problem. Why don’t you try to have some empathy?

Besides, the rest of the team did brilliantly, anyway.

The negative people commenting don’t seem to understand that Simone wasn’t able to determine where she was in the air. That can be a fatal issue for someone who is hurtling through the air, twisting and turning and trying to land on their feet. It could mean the difference between landing safely and landing on their head, breaking their neck or shattering their spine, or another body part. No medal, Olympic or otherwise, is worth that risk.

And to put this more in perspective– NBC News reported that the actual monetary value of an Olympic Gold Medal at winter 2022 gold prices was about $750. That’s $750 for all of the hours, blood, sweat, tears, and monetary sacrifices these athletes and their families make in pursuit of Olympic glory. Especially when the vast majority of the gold medal winners will eventually be forgotten by time. Lots of formerly great athletes have gone on to have perfectly mediocre or even sad lives after that glory. Trying for that medal is NOT WORTH risking one’s life or even their ability to walk.

There is already so much tragedy in the world. The fact that a 26 year old Black woman is making athletic history is GOOD NEWS. I want to read about her progress and cheer her on. If I’m on a fan page, that’s what I expect to do. People who show up on fan pages to spew venom are assholes who either lack the intelligence or the respect to engage in an appropriate way. Therefore, they can all just fuck right off. I think it will make my online experience much better, on the whole, as I kick them into Facebook oblivion.

I could just leave this as a parting shot…

There are PLENTY of news outlets reporting on Simone Biles where the haters can opine. I’ll probably block them there, too, though. Because seriously? Who needs it? If I want any more shit out of those people, I’ll squeeze their heads!

Incidentally, I’ve also been blocking random people who anger react at me and leave me insulting comments when I wasn’t even engaging with them. Life is too short for that bullshit.

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athletes, communication, LDS, mental health, YouTube

“We have news for the beautiful people. There’s a lot more of us, than there are of you.”

Today has gotten off to an interesting start. Bill stayed home this morning to help out with the new washer and dryer delivery. They are now here and hooked up, and I’ve been trying to get them connected to WiFi. So far, I managed to get the dishwasher added– we got a new one a few months ago, courtesy of the landlord. But now that I’ve spent an hour or so, trying to decipher German, I’ve concluded that the new machines can’t be connected to WiFi, because somehow in 2023, they don’t have that capability. Oh well… at least it looks like they have timers, so I can see how much time is left in a cycle. That, in and of itself, will make things easier. Our old machines didn’t even have that.

So anyway, I’m giving up on the WiFi for the new appliances. It’s not the end of the world, and maybe might even be better not to have them connected to the “smart” system we have in this house. Last night, Bill manually turned on my desk lamp and knocked it off the network, so I had to re-add it today. The lamp has two bulbs– one is labeled 12, and the other is labeled 18. I turn them on and off using an app on the iPad.

The other thing that happened is kind of comical. I went on Cruise Critic and noticed that for the first time in months, someone posted on the Hebridean Island Cruises board. It was a response to a post I wrote just after Queen Elizabeth II died. I mistakenly wrote HRH instead of “Her Majesty”. The “helpful” person decided to tell me that I got it wrong… eleven months later. I thanked them for the correction. What else could I do, other than be rude about it? She wasn’t my queen, anyway.

Which brings me to today’s title… Since it was Monday and kind of rainy outside, I decided to make a new music video. I’ve been messing around with the idea of doing a song by the Rolling Stones, but I need to work on it some more, to figure out how I want to go about it. After about an hour or so, I decided to do an “old” Pat Benatar song, instead. I chose “True Love”, a song she wrote with her husband, Neil, for her 1991 album of the same name. I know it wasn’t one of her most successful releases, but that album happens to be one of my favorites by Pat Benatar. It’s basically Pat doing the blues, at which she excels. That was the genre where she got her start, decades ago. I love to do blues songs myself, so I gave it a whirl.

No, I’ll never be a “hottie”, but I still have some worth, right?

I decided not to put on makeup yesterday, or even get one of my trademark shawls to wear over my usual attire. I was a little nervous about doing that, but then I realized that I didn’t look that much different without makeup. I doubt anyone cares, anyway. I don’t have a big audience, either way.

Someone new left me a really kind comment. A woman named Julie wrote “Simply awesome! Love this!”

So I responded with thanks, and “That makes my day!” (which it really does)

And she came back and wrote, “knotheadusc, you need to keep going, you are awesome, unique and beautiful!”

What an incredible mood booster that was! People are usually so quick to tear others down, and yet here was this lady, saying such a kind thing to me! It really made me feel good, and gave me some faith in humanity… until I visited RfM.

Some time ago, someone posted a thread about nudity. I decided to respond to it, because I am a big fan of nudism. Below is my first comment:

I live in Germany and in spite of my fluffy and decidedly unsexy body, I LIVE for the nude spas. It took me a long time to take the plunge, but once I did it the first time, I was hooked. I find it very liberating! And honestly, after the first few minutes, it’s no big deal at all. No one is looking at other people or mocking them. They’re at the spa to relax.

I’ve written about this a bunch of times in my blog and those are, by far, some of my most popular posts, ever.

The funny thing is, I was a lot more self-conscious about showing my face on YouTube, than I was about being naked in front of a bunch of Germans. But now, neither experience is a big deal to me, anymore. My husband, the exmo, has always been a bit bashful about his body. But even he’s learned to embrace a trip to the Friedrichsbad.

I’ve been to several textile free spas in Germany, and although I tend to be critical and shy about my appearance, I really do find the nude spas very liberating. I’ve written about the experiences Bill and I have had a few times on the travel blog, and those posts tend to be very popular. Bill is still kind of shy about the nude spas, but he indulges me. Honestly, most people are really only naked when they’re in the pools. In the saunas, or when they’re just lying around, most people cover up with a towel or wear a robe.

Quite predictably, someone came along and posted two comments, neither of which were to my comment:

——————————————————-
> I have two stories on this topic.
>
> I was in Germany on a business trip years ago.
> First night at the hotel, I decided to find the
> sauna. I found the sauna. I was wearing swim
> trunks and left them on, as I would in the states.
> No one else was in there when I went in.
>
> In a few minutes, a French couple came in and sat
> down with nothing on.

You make this all sound wonderful, but it’s not. I’ve been in continental Europe and have seen these types of people. Like my comment below, they are rarely the type of people you’d want to see nude. They tend to look more like the older Hilda Schwab than the younger Gina Lollobrigida. Or in the case of males, more like Ron Jeremy than Brad Pitt.

Someone responded, quite correctly:

Whoosh. People don’t go nude to arouse you or anyone else.

Nor, for that matter, does your Speedo improve the experience for others.

The second comment was further down the thread. Same person wrote this:

In reality, the type of people who tend to take their clothes off in public, rarely tend to be the people one would like to see nude.

People can whitter on all they like about body shaming, but unless you have a “beach bod” (and only a handful of us do), you should put it away.

I decided to respond to that suggestion… again, it was later in the evening.

In my experience, people in the nude spas aren’t sitting around looking at each other. They’re there to relax and are focused on themselves. They usually wear robes or wrap up in towels if they aren’t in the pools.

I don’t care if someone else thinks I’m not “hot” enough to gawk at. I’m not at the spa for anyone but me. Plus, I’m always there with my husband, anyway. He loves me for my mind.

If you’re going to nude areas inspecting other people’s bodies and judging them, you obviously don’t belong there. Spas are for healing, not ogling others.

Reading that just drove home how “cavemen like” so many people are, especially in American culture. It seems like in the United States, so many people are only concerned with the external. The fact that this person– I’m almost certain it’s a man– thinks that people ought to “put it away” because they don’t have a “beach bod” is just a reminder as to why I like living over here. Most people aren’t that shallow… and if they are, I don’t understand them, anyway. 😉

It actually took me a long time before I was ready to “take the plunge” at a textile free spa. I found the experience exhilarating, and not a big deal at all. Like I said, if you actually attend a spa, you notice that no one is staring at you… nor is it a place where there’s no one but hotties. I’m reminded of a line from Revenge of the Nerds, when the character, Lewis Skolnick, says “We have news for the ‘beautiful people’. There’s a lot more of us than there are of you.” How true that is.

I wonder what makes that person think he’s the authority on whether someone is “hot” enough to be naked in public. Everybody has a different definition of what and who is “beautiful”. It’s a subjective thing. Moreover, there are a lot of different ways to show beauty. Some people are physically attractive to most people, while others have other beautiful qualities that can’t immediately be seen. Unfortunately, there are a lot of shallow people who really only care about what makes their crotches stir.

What matters most to me, personally, is whether or not Bill finds me beautiful. He does, so that’s really all that counts, in my opinion. What some random moron thinks about my body is none of my business. But so many of these folks want to share their vile opinions. They need to mind their own business and stop emulating Donald Trump.

By the same token, I’ve been seeing a lot of crazy comments about Simone Biles, who at age 26, has decided to make another run at the Olympics. She is still a serious contender, too. At her most recent meet, she cleaned up in the medals. But people still want to shit all over her for doing what she does.

I’ve read so many toxic and ignorant comments about how she’s a “quitter”, because she opted not to compete in several events during the 2020 Olympic Games. I’ve taken to just blocking people who leave unkind comments about her, because I think anyone sitting on the couch negatively judging Simone for what she does must be a pretty shitty person. She has every right to try to make the Olympic team. She may not succeed, but she certainly has the right to try. And if she doesn’t feel safe taking a risk while competing, she has the right to make a decision not to compete. More people need to “zip it.”

It really amazes me how many people think they need to share their opinions about how other people look or what they’re doing with their lives. It just makes me wonder if these folks are just dreadful people who just want to watch the world burn. Hell, with climate change, it won’t be long before that’s a literal experience for a lot of us. Why make life worse by being toxic and rude?

Anyway… I do really appreciate the kind comment that one person left yesterday. Those are the people who give me hope for humanity.

Now… I think I will play guitar, walk Noyzi, and maybe even try out my new laundry facilities. Catch you later.

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athletes, condescending twatbags, mental health, sports, stupid people, Trump

The many toxic attitudes regarding extraordinary people…

Today is our last day of vacation, and Bill and I really should be heading into Copenhagen to get some last photos. BUT FIRST… I feel compelled to vent my spleen about something I read in the New York Times the other day.

Extraordinarily gifted women’s gymnast Simone Biles has decided to train for her third Olympic Games. Plenty of people commenting on the news article about Ms. Biles were very supportive of her efforts, even though she’s considered “old” for the sport, and even though she withdrew from some events during the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games in 2021. Simone Biles was, if you recall, suffering from “the twisties”, which made competing even more dangerous than it usually is. She opted out of competing to protect her own health and wellbeing, which I think is her right.

But there were quite a few other comments, mostly from MALES, about how Simone Biles let America down in the last Summer Olympics. It always amazes me what these people think they have the right to comment on. I highly doubt most of the MALES commenting on women’s gymnastics even watch the sport. And a lot of them who do watch it probably just like looking at tiny women in revealing leotards doing death defying stunts.

It’s true that Simone Biles withdrew from several events and took up a spot that another athlete could have filled. But another American ultimately won the Olympic gold medal in the All Around competition, anyway. When I pointed that out, some guy posted that the women’s gymnastics team didn’t get the team gold medal. My reply to that is, “So what?” It’s a fucking medal. It’s not worth someone’s life or health.

Aren’t the Olympics supposed to be about “friendly” sports competitions among the world’s nations? Aren’t we supposed to be practicing good sportsmanship? Why is it so important to win medals? The medal isn’t worth someone’s ability to walk or talk. It’s not worth someone going through life with chronic pain due to preventable injuries brought on by taking risks and failing. It’s certainly not worth DEATH.

Women’s gymnastics at the elite level is a very dangerous sport. Many wonderful, extremely talented athletes have been seriously hurt or even killed due to performing when they weren’t ready or completely prepared. I would not have wanted to see Simone trying to land a difficult vault while she was suffering from the twisties. We would not have wanted to see her fail, especially if her failure included a catastrophic injury broadcasted on live television and the Internet. The Olympic medal is not worth that. It’s toxic to insist that an Olympic gold medal is worth all costs… especially when you’re a MALE who can’t do any of the things Simone makes look easy.

Some guy wanted to argue with me about this and I wrote that he wasn’t going to be someone with whom I should waste my time and energy arguing. I wished him a “nice day”. He wished me luck in my “safe space”. Translation? I bet he’s a Trump supporter who doesn’t see women as valuable in any capacity other than as objects of titillation. He obviously doesn’t care about female athletes as people. I probably shouldn’t have bothered, but I left him a short response… “I’m not in a ‘safe space’. I’m just right about this.” And while I didn’t bother to check his Facebook profile to see which politician he supports, I’m pretty sure I know…

Guys like him wear their political preferences like a badge, not unlike the idiot men I wrote about a few years ago who decided to test out a bullet proof vest while drinking. I knew they were Trump supporters just based on that, and when I checked out their social media profiles, I was proven right.

Simone Biles doesn’t owe anyone a goddamned thing. If she wants to try for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, that’s her prerogative. She may not be successful. Shannon Miller tried to make the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and she failed. Biles may fail, too. But she has the right to try if she wants to, and she should be respected for all she’s done so far. She’s won seven medals for Old Glory. I’m sure that’s way more than the moron male on Facebook has ever won.

It’s not just the athletes who have this ridiculous burden, either. Artists and performers face it, too. Maybe if people hadn’t expected so much of performers like Tom Petty, Karen Carpenter, Prince, Michael Jackson, Kurt Cobain, and the like, they might all still be with us.

I’m sick and tired of toxic macho asswipes who armchair quarterback what extraordinary artists and athletes should be doing with their careers. It’s especially prevalent among men who comment on females. It’s the usual sexist bullshit… and in Biles’s case, it wouldn’t surprise me if racism came into play, too.

These guys have no room to talk about someone like Simone Biles. They probably ought to zip it… but we know they won’t. So I’ll just keep venting about it, as I wish Simone Biles the best of luck with her comeback. I hope she wipes the self-righteous smirks off the faces of the idiots who criticize her… but if she doesn’t manage to do that, that’s alright, too. She’s certainly done her part to “make America great,” and what she’s done is something I’d be proud to show my pseudo grandkids. I can’t say the same thing about Trump and his toxic macho ilk… and those who admire him.

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athletes, mental health, rants

The Olympic Games are not just about winning medals, Joe…

Yesterday, it was in the news that super talented American gymnast, Simone Biles, has decided to attempt her balance beam routine. I was glad to hear the news, not so much because I’m concerned about the gymnasts winning another gold medal, but because I think it would be important to Simone’s morale if she competed. Of course, if she had decided NOT to compete, I’d be okay with that, too. I think the decision to compete or NOT compete, is entirely up to Simone Biles. She’s the one who has put in the blood, sweat, and tears to get to where she is. And she and her parents (or grandparents) have certainly made financial and personal sacrifices for her to be able to perform at the level that she does. She doesn’t owe America a thing, as far as I’m concerned.

In 2016, Simone Biles went to Rio de Janeiro and won four gold medals and a bronze in women’s gymnastics. She’s four years older now, and at age 24, is quite seasoned for a gymnast. I think it’s amazing that she still competes at all, let alone at the Olympic level. And she has been performing at a level that is unattainable by the vast majority of humans, even though she’s no longer as young as most of them are when they reach the pinnacle of their careers. Simone Biles is the very picture of a winner on many levels.

But to see some of the shittiness leveled at Simone Biles since her decision to withdraw from most of the Olympic events in 2021, you’d think she was a national disgrace! I notice a lot of the comments come from white, conservative males who probably get winded climbing a flight of stairs and are only capable of winning beer guzzling contests. These self-important pricks have the nerve to criticize Simone for putting her needs first and taking care of herself. I’ll bet that if Simone had competed and hurt herself, these same guys would have no sympathy for her and would call her a “loser” for that, too.

Last night, I came across a comment thread on Facebook involving a mansplainer named Joe… Here’s what Joe has to say about Simone Biles and the idea that her decision to withdraw may help “transform sports”.

Quitting is not transforming.

Plenty of people responded to Joe. One lady wrote this:

Thanks for weighing in from the couch. I’m sure Simone will be so grateful for your helpful opinion.

Joe came back with this comment.

Her example let down the team. Understandable for her but certainly not positive for the team.

More people responded, including yours truly. I wrote this:

By not performing when she wasn’t well, she serves as a positive role model to others who might feel like they have to perform when they aren’t well.

I would rather see Simone and other athletes withdraw from competition than have accidents that kill or paralyze them. No medal is worth that.

And Joe, who seemed to be gleefully arguing with all comers wrote,

Letting down your team is not positive no matter what the reason. Understandable but not positive.

I thought about Joe’s comment for a moment, and responded thusly:

They did just fine without her, Joe. Another American won the all around. Another American won gold in floor exercise. Another American won silver on vault. Another American won bronze on the uneven parallel bars.

It turns out they didn’t need Simone, and if she had gotten hurt or killed, that would have put quite a damper on things, don’t you think? Wouldn’t she have let down her teammates by forcing them to witness a potential horror show? No one is 100% all the time. Not even Simone Biles.

And she was there to cheer them on, too, which I am sure was very helpful in these weird times of performing with no roar of the crowd.

Kindly pull your head out of your ass. The Olympic Games are not just about winning gold medals, nor should they be.

I stand by that comment. A lot of people are focused only on winning at the Games, but not everyone can win a medal. If the Games were just about winning medals, why would countries that have little chance of winning anything send their athletes? Why would they bother having opening and closing ceremonies, complete with the Olympic torch being carried? Why have people give speeches and musicians and dancers perform? Why speak about sportsmanship or friendship or competition?

The Games are, in part, about making money, promoting politics, and selling books, music, and movies, and that’s a fact. But there are also many stories that come out of the Olympics, and not just about people who win medals. There’s a human interest aspect to the Games that is important. Watching the Games and learning the stories of its participants is one way for the people of the world to learn about other countries and cultures.

Olympic Belarusian sprinter, Kristina Timanovskaya, is currently in the news because she criticized her coaches and she claims her safety was threatened. Belarus has been in the news lately because its leader, President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who’s been in power since 1994, has a habit of jailing people who criticize the government. In May, Belarusian authorities, under Lukashenko’s direction, forced a Ryanair plane bound for Vilnius, Lithuania, to land in Belarus. This was so that one of the passengers, Belarusian Roman Protasevich, could be arrested and jailed for criticizing the Belarusian government. Timanovskaya no doubt knows what could happen to her if she goes back to her homeland. She just got political asylum from Poland.

That’s just one example of a human interest story from the Tokyo Games. There have been so many others over the years, particularly during the Cold War era. When I was growing up, I remember watching beautiful figure skaters and gymnasts from the former Soviet Union. I always marveled at their talents, and curiously caught a glimpse of people from a place where Americans were, at that time, mostly forbidden to go. A few years later, when I did move to the former Soviet Union, I remembered those athletes and some of their stories. Although none of the athletes I remembered were from Armenia, where I went to live, they still somehow made me feel a connection to a place that was once Soviet.

I remember looking up flags and finding places on maps as I watched the Games and a particular athlete caught my eye. Those explorations always led to learning about other places and piqued my wonder about the world. Although I’ve never been one for watching most sports, the Olympics were always different to me. As someone who loves to hear and tell stories, I always enjoyed the stories that inevitably came from the Games.

Even if some people think that Games should solely be about winning, I think that’s the wrong attitude to take. They should be about athletes doing their best, making friends, and being good sports. I think Simone Biles and other athletes who have put their needs and well-being ahead of winning medals should be commended. Being allowed to compete at the Olympic Games is a real honor, and one that Biles proved she deserved. But no medal is worth losing someone’s health or life.

As we’ve seen in the recent women’s gymnastics scandals involving sexual, physical, emotional, and mental abuses, the relentless focus on winning is both unhealthy and unwise. So many women gymnasts were so terrified to speak up for themselves that Larry Nassar got away with sexually abusing hundreds of them in the name of providing “medical care”. And I’m sure I don’t need to get into the many stories of gymnasts who have tragically permanently injured or killed themselves trying to become Olympic legends. I recently covered that subject quite extensively.

I’m sure that Biles’ teammates worried that they wouldn’t do as well without the so-called G.O.A.T.’s performance. But, as it turned out, they did just fine without her, and the United States has had an excellent showing in the women’s gymnastics competition. Moreover, two young women now have had the chance to be gold medalists. Had Biles been on her game, they might not have had that opportunity. They did themselves and the United States proud, and we should be celebrating their amazing accomplishments, not criticizing Biles’ brave decision to take care of herself.

It wasn’t so long ago that U.S. women’s gymnastics weren’t all that impressive, but a U.S. woman has won the gymnastics all around at every Olympic Games since 2004. Thanks to Suni Lee’s awesome all around performance, that’s still true in 2021, even without Simone Biles. And Jade Carey won the floor exercise gold, too. MyKayla Skinner won silver on the vault, and Lee won a bronze on the uneven parallel bars… These young women are also champions, and they had a great chance to show everyone that. But even if they hadn’t won a single medal, they still have the extremely rare honor of being Olympians. No one can ever take that away from them.

I wish Simone Biles all the luck as she performs on the balance beam. I, for one, am proud of her for sharing the limelight, and for making sure she survives her years as a gymnast in one piece. I’m sure she has had many injuries over the years, some of which will always plague her. But she’s likely to be able to walk away from the Tokyo Olympics with her head held high, rather than rolled out on a stretcher because she had an accident. We can’t put a price on that.

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athletes, book reviews, celebrities

Repost: A review of Dorothy Hamill’s A Skating Life

And here’s another as/is reposted book review… It was originally posted in 2013.

I was three years old when Dorothy Hamill won the Olympic gold medal in ladies figure skating in Innsbruck, Austria in February 1976. She was nineteen years old and immediately became America’s Sweetheart. I don’t remember watching her win, but as a child of the 70s and 80s, I sure remember her. For awhile, I even had her haircut (my mom’s preference, not mine). So, when I recently saw her 2007 book A Skating Life on Amazon.com, I decided to read it.

This book is Hamill’s second autobiography. She wrote her first one in 1983, when she was just 26 years old. I did not read her first book, but I’m guessing that A Skating Life is an uglier book in terms of the realities of what Hamill endured on her way to the top. Although Dorothy Hamill has always seemed like an All American kind of athlete who would be right at home at Disneyland, the truth is, she has been through a lot. 

A Skating Life starts at the beginning, as Hamill writes about how she came to be a skater. Hamill had a difficult time with her mother, whom she describes as being hard to satisfy and difficult. It turns out her mom, who was very athletic, had suffered from dysthymia for most of her life. For those who don’t know, dysthymia is basically a low grade depression that makes it very difficult for sufferers to enjoy their lives. They aren’t at the point of not functioning, though. You might say they are perpetually cranky. Hamill’s father loved music and passed his love of music to Dorothy, who used that gift when she created her skating programs.

After Dorothy won the gold, she was expected to pay her parents back for all they did for her. For awhile, that was okay. She had the money. As time went on, the money started drying up and Dorothy had to cut her parents from the payroll. It caused a lot of hard feelings. 

In the midst of her problems with her parents, Hamill fell in love with her first husband, Dean Paul Martin. He was the love of her life. Sadly, their marriage didn’t last very long… and neither did Martin, who was killed shortly after their divorce. Martin did live long enough to see Dorothy get involved with her second husband, Dr. Kenneth Forsythe, who was a good looking man and the father of two kids from his first marriage. Sadly, he was not the most hard working fellow in the world. She shares a lovely daughter named Alexandra with Kenneth Forsythe, who is now her second ex husband.

I could go on, but that would ruin the book for potential readers. The point is, Dorothy Hamill has led a difficult life fraught with betrayal and financial problems. She has always had a very sweet reputation and is the very picture of adorable elegance. But behind the bright smile and sparkling eyes, there’s a woman who has coped with a lot of trials.

A Skating Life is reasonably well written. I thought it was an interesting read, even though it is a bit negative. Dorothy Hamill does try to look at the bright side of some of the situations she’s been in, including her purchase of the now defunct show The Ice Capades, which folded two years after she bought it. Ultimately, I think it’s a triumphant book, but some readers might find it a bit of a downer. Others might see it as a plea for sympathy.

Also, it’s important to realize that this book is already six years old. When A Skating Life was published, Hamill’s daughter was 18 years old. She’s now 25 years old. Dorothy has since remarried and was on Dancing With The Stars, but had to withdraw due to spinal issues. You won’t read about this in the book, though, making it a bit dated.  

Overall 

I think Dorothy Hamill was brutally honest in her book A Skating Life. I also got the sense that she wrote the book for financial reasons. However, as someone who has suffered from depression, I commend Hamill for writing about it and explaining that it’s a real phenomenon. Her mother suffered from it; so did Dorothy during the worst years, when she was considered “over the hill” and had a husband who was bilking her for money as he cheated on her. I also commend Dorothy Hamill for respecting her daughter’s relationship with her ex husband. I really have high regard for parents who, when they decide to divorce, don’t try to alienate their children from their exes. It sounds like Dorothy Hamill did her best not to do that, although she definitely doesn’t paint her second ex husband in a good light.  

I hope the ensuing years have been better for her.

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