Doug Gottlieb lashes out at ‘idiots’ Time magazine for bestowing the Athlete of the Year award on Simone Biles
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Simone Biles and Doug Gottlieb
Simone Biles was named Time magazine’s Athlete of the Year. The US gymnast was bestowed with the award for the courage she displayed accepting her strife with mental health, testifying in the hearing and calling out the system for the negligence and then again going on to win two medals, silver and bronze, at the Tokyo Olympics.
While sports lovers all around the world have had mixed emotions over the award, American sports analyst Doug Gottlieb is livid with the magazine over it. Gottlieb feels that it was an “embarrassing” decision as he feels that Simone Biles did nothing mocked the serious issue, mental health.
“This is not directed at you, Dan Beyer, this is directed at Time Magazine. You are a bunch of idiots. You are embarrassing… This is why people who don’t understand sports shouldn’t cover sports. She didn’t ‘turn up the volume on mental health’, she made a mockery of mental health you idiots, you imbeciles! Did you not pay attention?!” Gottlieb said on the Doug Gottlieb Show on Fox Sports Radio.
“‘Mental health’ in terms of somebody’s belief in self, where they stand in the universe, and all the other things. That is a serious problem. Suicide rates are way too high coming off of COVID. Of course, we need to dive into people’s mental health. But she had the yips! The ‘twisties’!”
“The truth is that she took away from any other gymnast’s ability to perform at the Olympics,” Doug Gottlieb
Doug Gottlieb goes on to point out that by withdrawing in the eleventh hour, Biles devoid another gymnast of performing at the big stage, which is not something she should be awarded for. “And by the way, while it did onset at a very difficult time, the truth is that she took away from any other gymnast’s ability to perform during that time.”
“There was a girl in each one of those disciplines who didn’t get to go because Simone Biles decided she’s going to go and then decided she’s not going to go… Mental health issues are depression – ‘I can’t get out of bed’. Those are the ones we need the ‘volume’ cranked up on.”
Watch the full video here:
In what was a rant on his radio show, Gottlieb didn’t mince his words as he lashed out at Time magazine. The former basketball player even questioned if someone who pulled out from the NFC or any other championship would have been awarded such a prestigious title. “And ‘ATHLETE’ of the year? I can pick about 15 that are more deserving. Do you know why? Because they actually performed their sport.”
“If she pulls out because she has the ‘yips’ or the ‘twisties’, and there’s a safety issue to it, OK, but are we going to give the same pass if we get to the NFC Championship Game and Aaron Rodgers is like ‘guys, I’m just not feeling it, I need a mental health break, I’m not going to play this weekend.’ Do you think we’re going to be understanding? Of course not,” Gottlieb adds.
Simone Biles was a victim of Larry Nassar’s abuse of American gymnasts and she has revealed that it had a severe impact on her mental well being. While Gottlieb did admit that it was a serious issue for which he had utmost sympathy towards Biles, he adds that the American gymnast never mentioned mental health as the reason behind her withdrawal from four out of the five Olympic finals.
“Do I realize that the Larry Nassar stuff is awful and likely all part of the equation? Sure, I’m reasonable with that, it’s terrible. But not once did Simone Biles bring it up. It was just about the fact she had the ‘twisties.’ This is the same Simone Biles who said people are ‘rooting against her.’ Who would root against a USA gymnast who is wonderful?? We just wanted to see her perform, that’s it. There are no ‘haters’ out there with a voodoo doll, the whole thing was dumb.”
Also Read | Simone Biles breaks into tears during sexual abuse testimony
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Anshuman Mahapatra
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