2020, uh, 21, uh, who knows Tokyo Olympics thread

Crazy double play in the softball game. Crazy.

 

Because of a "mental issue."

 

The mental pressure-- whether directly or indirectly -- placed on young female athletes to perform to unrealistic expectations (perfection every performance) has only gotten ratcheted up with increased exposure. Bela Karolyi set the standard for intimidating and demeaning his athletes. It's obviously gotten worse, as Larry Nassar's conviction showed.

It's not just "blame NBC/media/fan expectations." The pressure begins as soon as girls show any exceptional talent and get sent off to specialized gymnastic "schools." You aren't going to make it to the elite level without the mental toughness, in addition to the toll constant practice takes on the physical side.

And it's not just gymnasts. Figure skating is another "make it or break it" pressure cooker, as the whole Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan saga showed what's happening behind the curtain.

 

Cannot stand watching Abbott pitch.

 

That's bad luck for the U.S. That ball was ripped.

 

5-6-4

crazy

 

Reed goes Torii Hunter.

 

I've watched about 5 games and that's the closest I've seen to a homer. Great play.

 

Was team gymnastics even televised? I couldn’t find it.

 

I've never seen any Olympic athlete hyped as much as Biles has been. I know that's saying a lot, but I don't think I'm exaggerating.

She appeared on literally every commercial break in some of the sporting events I watched over the past couple months. And as I've mentioned before, I officially became sick of Biles when I saw endless promos for the upcoming “docuseries” about her, with her reminding us at the end that more videos are available on Facebook.

There's a lot of pressure that goes with that, obviously.

I know she's got to cash in while she can, but you'd think there's a point where you need to just say "that's enough." The hard part is figuring out what that point is before it's too late.

 

The U.S. beat Japan with a walkoff home run a couple days ago.

 

It was on the "Tokyo Live" feed on Peacock.