BY DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, JULY 28, 2021) — The best Olympics ever was conducted last year.

Yeah, there wasn’t one. The games have become an excuse for nationalism and sponsor’s cash.

This year, officials in Tokyo, Japan, decided to push ahead with the faux games. In what THE PLANET views as an act of God, the new COVID variant, codename Delta, meant that the stands would be empty. If a tree drops in a forest … you know the rest.

Another good development of this year’s games is the smackdown of the U.S. dynasties in basketball (losing to the Mau Mau Fighter Pilots), women’s soccer (Rapinoe, rhymes with “dull, listless, passive”), and women’s gymnastics. Oh yeah, and the ladies lost gold losing to Japan in the finals, 2-0.

Hubris demands a paycheck, and it’s usually delivered in shackles of humility.

The “best” was the disgraceful display by the GOAT dynamist Simone Biles.

Biles put it this way: “I’m just not in the right headspace … I’m just dealing with things internally.”

Simon Biles, Quitter.

———- ooo ———-

Simone the Pouter. This is how she handles setbacks.

Amber Athey writing in spectator world.com had the best perspective on the selfish actions of the gymnast, who, by the way, has a net worth of $6 million. Cry not for her, Argentina.

Athey writes:

“Maybe, but Biles’s decision also affected her teammates and her country. She chose not to leave until the middle of the competition, when it would have the biggest impact on the other US gymnasts. Several of them had to compete last-minute in events for which they had not prepared. And, in taking the pressure off herself, Biles unloaded even more onto her three much-younger teammates. Will the media and the US gymnastics team consider the effect that Biles’s withdrawal may have had on their mental health?

‘Biles has been lauded on social media for her decision to drop out. You wonder whether she would have garnered more praise from Instagram activists for bagging another team gold or ‘practicing self-care’. I guess we’ll never know!

“If the gymnast’s mental state is really so poor that she feels justified in letting down her team, then she should sit out the rest of the Olympics. It would be quite dishonorable if she took multiple days off of competition, at the expense of her teammates, just to come back and rack up some individual medals.”

Another scribe with an accurate thermometer was Matt Walsh of thedailywire.com:

“That is what Simone Biles did to earn this exuberant applause. She gave up. After struggling in the qualifying rounds, and botching her first event in the women’s team finals, Biles decided to withdraw from the meet. The best gymnast on the squad, one of the most celebrated U.S. Olympic athletes of all time, chose to abandon her team in the middle of the finals. Her teammates would finish second behind Russia, while Biles went on to receive even more acclaim than a gold medal would have earned her.”

———- ooo ———-

Biles choked, simple as that.

Enablers have noted the pressure on Biles, to which THE PLANET replies: “Yes but that didn’t prevent Tom Brady from winning his 7th Super Bowl.” The truly great ones rise to the occasion. The ne’er-do-greats eventually get exposed. Biles is 24, at the height of her game, and in the big moment she bails

At these Olympics, Biles got a taste of adversity. First for the first time since Peter Arlos was knee high to Aritsotle, the U.S. women’s gymnasts lost in the prelims — to Russia. When Biles attempted a vault in subsequent events, she missed badly. That’s when her phantom “medical issues” arose. Then the true story got out. Biles up and quit.

She can’t handle failure.

Cry the U.S. a river while you’re at it.

That’s one of the biggest tests a person will undergo. Everyone saunters down Easy Street when things magically fall into place. No big deal. What do they do, however, when they perform a gymnastic vault resembling Grandpappy Amos McCoy? A person with character sucks it up and focuses on the next opportunity using it as motivational fuel. Success and failure, as writer William Zinnser observed in his essay “The Right to Fail,” are individual visions. The individual defines the meaning.

Biles did just that. She defined her failure as a pout.

At this point, THE PLANET is required to pay the requisite respect to Biles’ undoubted accomplishments. Sorry but we don’t do “requirements.”

She’s getting praise for “owning her mental health,” but what do you expect today when so many fail to own their responsibilities? It’s always someone or something else to blame.

Turns out that in the vault, Biles’ money vault ranks far better than her gym vault.

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“I’m pleased to announce Gabby Hayes as our new police chief” — The Mayor of Tyertown.

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.

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