WAG Drama at US Classic

[raenndrops]

I don't disagree. I just didn't understand why the two of them didn't hug. It just makes sense now.

I have to say though - prior to the awards ceremony I was a tad bit disappointed in the pout face that Simone had from falling on bars.
I'm sure its extremely hard as the camera's are rolling, etc. But she looked so mad.

She was mad. She wanted to hit 4 for 4. The old "Leave No Doubt!" She wants to be better than the 2016 Simone. I respect her for that. With all that was going on behind the scenes, it is amazing that she did as well as she did.

 

[vagymmomma]

Simone actually said she was mad after bars when they interviewed her and said it motivated her on beam. She was mad at herself. I am glad she cares and isn't satisfied with just doing the same old skills... she wants to do more.

 

[Flipfloppy]

Would we criticize or police the facial expressions of a male athlete after he lost a game or flubbed a major play?

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

100% agree. Anyone who's very competitive is going to be upset when they screw up. Especially since, as she said, she was excited to debut her new bars. I wouldn't expect any other reaction.

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

Would we criticize or police the facial expressions of a male athlete after he lost a game or flubbed a major play?

 

[skschlag]

Would we criticize or police the facial expressions of a male athlete after he lost a game or flubbed a major play?

Yes. All the time.

 

[jenjean70]

I genuinely have no opinion on the substance of the tweets or of the opinions on this thread. A lot more went on under the public iceberg.

What bothers me is that many people assume that the proper behavior of these two young women was to say nothing and take the high road. Taking the high road is a commendable choice, but it is an EQUALLY commendable choice to speak up. I hope we have emerged from the past gymnastics culture of silence where speaking up and having an opinion is rendered immature or being a troublemaker. It smacks of putting Baby in the corner, and no one puts Baby in the corner (anymore). At a minimum, one athlete believes she was bullied and another feels she should be respected for her accomplishments. Not only are these appropriate feelings to have, but they are also feelings they should be able to share (or choose not to share).

To me, it's a very exciting time in gymnastics that we have four young American women (Simone, Morgan, Ragan and Riley) who could win the world championship on the right day. Such depth creates competition. Competition is healthy. Conflict is also healthy because it allows people to work through their emotional issues instead of stifling them. Female gymnasts have long been put on a pedestal of pixie-ness, but male athletes are given more room to engage with their sport, with each other and with the public. I would like female gymnasts to be given the same wide range of understanding and appreciation. Someone recently asked me if Tom Brady threw shade at a fellow athlete, would we have the same reaction? Would we think Tom was being feisty and competitive, while the same words from a 17-year-old Nadia Comaneci would feel tasteless?

Frankly, the more our athletes are honest, multi-dimensional and diverse, the more the sport overall will benefit and the more sponsors will want to engage with USAG. Even in Level 3 practice, if a gymnast has a bad day, it's wrong to expect her to go bounding out of the gym with a smile on her face. Learning how to crawl out of a valley and appreciate sadness from joy are healthy human emotions. For every Nancy, there is a Tonya. For every Tara, there is a Sarah. These varieties propel sport forward. We should not be afraid of opinions and conflict, EVEN when we personally disagree with the content expressed.

I don't think one needs to be silent but it doesn't need to be posted to a public forum....Keep it private. Talk, don't text and especially don't tweet. It's sad that Jade felt the need to stir the pot about something that was private and I am sad that Simone had to make it public. I am disappointed in her.

 

[raenndrops]

I don't think one needs to be silent but it doesn't need to be posted to a public forum....Keep it private. Talk, don't text and especially don't tweet. It's sad that Jade felt the need to stir the pot about something that was private and I am sad that Simone had to make it public. I am disappointed in her.

Jade thought that Simone should know what was being said about her behind her back. I think Jade did the right thing... "See something, Say something!"
And if Morgan shared it with a bunch of people, then it wasn't exactly private in the first place.
I appreciate it when people tell me that someone said something about me. Then I can address it with the person (which Simone very well could have done with Morgan before taking to social media).

 

[jenjean70]

Jade thought that Simone should know what was being said about her behind her back. I think Jade did the right thing... "See something, Say something!"
And if Morgan shared it with a bunch of people, then it wasn't exactly private in the first place.
I appreciate it when people tell me that someone said something about me. Then I can address it with the person (which Simone very well could have done with Morgan before taking to social media).

Maybe she addressed it with her and maybe things didn't go well but I still don't think it needed to be posted to a public forum with vague tweets. It just doesn't look good for her. This isn't "abuse" so I don't think "see something, say something" applies. I don't know what happened but maybe Jade should have addressed Morgan about what she posted. I didn't know that anything had happened until I saw some comments on YT- but looking back and seeing the glee Jade had when talking to Simone on the podium makes Jade look bad also....It's the "girl drama" on center stage for all of the world to see and I don't think that's where it should be. I really despise social media for young kids and teens and I am thankful that it didn't exist when I was growing up......I am happy that my boys have no interest in social media.

 

[3rd_time_around]

1. Seeker, you totally hit the nail on the head ....Hurd's comment was flat out mean and whether she put in on a "private" instagram, USAG might learn a few lessons from the MLB players who are having their racist, homophobic, and derogatory tweets of their youth coming back to haunt them down the road and advise their National team members about social media use in general, and when directed towards fellow team members. If you wouldn't use that kind of language with your grandmother, it's probably a good idea not to type it onto your Twitter or Instagram .....and add to the fact some of the current crop of athletes "liked" the post ....yeah if I'm Simone, I'm not feeling all compelled to make nice.

2. I'm sure Morgan was shocked if she did indeed get called out on her comment....because she got caught because there's no way to even pretend she was "misquoted" or "misunderstood" as she wrote it herself ....

3. This!! I think Simone actually performed quite well under these circumstances. People have commented that Simone "should have been the adult"; "shouldn't have made any comment "; "expected more of Simone"....but heck, the reigning World Champ called her a B**** on the internet ( albeit a "private setting" but nothing is private on the internet) because the media keeps bringing up her name , and Simone has no control over that ....I'd be salty too

Where did that happen? This wasn't part of the original discussion or posting.

 

[vagymmomma]

None of us know the full story, so I don’t think we should do much more than use this as a teaching opportunity . I think there were multiple judgement errors made here but I hope the end result is a little better communication among the girls. I know some will disagree but I think Jade was stuck in the middle here.

If you follow Simone on Twitter, you see her insecurities. It is hard to believe that someone with such God given talent would be that way, but that’s why judgment of any of these girls should be tempered.

 

[duyetanh]

Where did that happen? This wasn't part of the original discussion or posting.

It’s out there on social media

 

[jenjean70]

Supposedly, Morgan posted on her private IG “*****, it’s not all about you, we are here too.” And Jade Carey showed Simone. If true, that’s a pretty terrible thing to say, and I could see why Simone would be upset. However, they both need to focus on gymnastics and get off social media.

I didn't know that the *****s were a bad word about her until someone posted the B....I am saddened by this. I wish these girls would keep it off social media. It's bad enough when it happens in school or in the gym but putting it in writing for all the world to see ( no matter the size of the group) is petty and wrong. I don't understand Twitter and I know that this is what kids nowadays are faced with at every turn but sometimes ignorance is bliss - if you don't have an account then you can't post something potentially harmful and you won't see things that could hurt you emotionally and take your focus off your goal.

 

[raenndrops]

This isn't "abuse" so I don't think "see something, say something" applies.

But it kinda is abuse. It is a form of bullying. Bullying is hurtful / emotionally abusive. She apparently said something to the one who started it (confronting the bully) and that didn't go well, so she posted to social media (where it all began).

I dealt with something sort of similar to this type of bullying in college (thankfully, there wasn't pervasive social media back then), but it STILL hurts me to this day just to think about it.

It is what it is. I agree they should all stay off social media, but then their followers wouldn't be happy about that.

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

Reading this I am more and more happy I stopped using social media...

 

[gymisforeveryone]

Yep, social media... Just yesterday we had to make social media rules for my younger group (11-14 years old) because there had been some drama in their group chat. It's not easy to navigate when the drama mostly happens outside the gym.

I am not surprised that even 17-21 year olds can create drama on social media. Heck, many adults can too. Social media is where the kids of today are hours and hours in a day, so it's where the drama, bullying and bad mouthing happens.

 

[munchkin3]

Ummmmm. This is social media too. And this thread looks like a bunch of adults gossiping too.LOL

They are kids doing what they do, using their phones and talking smack (via phone, instead of to each other’s face)
Morgan’s jealous and feels upstaged. Simone feels left out and unloved. No reason to judge either of them for being kids. (Yes Simone is still a kid especially after living in a gym for the past 15 years)
I’m sure they will get over it when the new head of the team steps in and wrangles up the inmates......
Let’s no forget, there is no one who has been keeping these girls in check for the last few months.

 

[sce]

They are young, but should know better. I understand Morgan's frustration with all the focus and attention being on Simone. Morgan did win the World AA title after all. But, I also hope that Simone, being older and wiser, will just drop it. It doesn't look good for either of them to continue this way. I love both of these awesome athletes, so I hope this stops. Morgan should have known that her tweet would not go unnoticed and would cause some drama.

Morgan should also know that whatever hype there is about Simone done by Simone. Whatever USAG and the media do, that ya them not Simone.

 

[sce]

Just wanted to add, I guess what I keep coming back to is a certain level of shock and disbelief that Simone was SO upset (in tears!) over a post. I mean literally 90% plus middle school kids have the same thing happen to them (granted smaller scale but not really as it can get passed around the WHOLE school). I mean she IS 21, and I guess IME at that point you have pretty much dealt with this kind of nonsense and learned to cope. And at 21 coping by posting stuff all over the internet is frowned on (or at least would have been in my workplace!). So it just is surprising or disappointing. I mean really, had it not been taken public by her, who would have known about it? Why blow it up and create a bigger mess of drama/speculation and focus?

Wacky just a post or was there other interactions going on in person? We don’t know the whole story.

 

[sce]

Morgan should also know that whatever hype there is about Simone done by Simone. Whatever USAG and the media do, that ya them not Simone.

Dang it, that was supposed to say NOT done by Simone. Simone has no control over who GK and USAG puts on posters. Morgan should also learn a bit about marketing. The Olympic Champion is much more well known and will sell tickets. Morgan is a great gymnast but ya not a household name. I imagine she felt upstaged but when it comes down to it, it’s about your performance.