Biles, Cuba and August events Podcast #25:
Hello again friends, and welcome back to the 25thpodcast
of In My Right Mind w/ me, Russ Andrews, along with the producer of the show,
Mr PJ Jaycox. We have been on summer vacation (from In My Right Mind) for
about 7 weeks PJ. What have you been up to?
Simone Biles: PJ, as you know, my youngest daughter Sara was
a top ranked downhill skier when she was in high school. After she went
off to university, I worked race crews for about 10 years, and was the Chief
Gate Judge for about 6 of those years. As a result of both experiences, I
met numerous world class skiers, many of whom are still competing today.
I was even lucky enough to interview Mikaela Schiffrin on KNFO when she was
just 16 years old.
I spent enough time with Mikaela and her parents Jeff (may he rest
in peace) and Eilleen. Why do you suppose I am bringing up Mikaela and
her parents? Because of what happened to Simone Biles. Eilleen and
Jeff sheltered Mikaela from all of the absolute craziness that swirls around
world-class athletes. Eilleen insisted that when Mikaela was young, that
she should focus on training vs competing in little, non-consequential local
races. Eilleen travelled with Mikaela for years while she competed
overseas. Mikaela always had someone to lean on who would protect
her. Her parents and friends and coaches never allowed her to be
exploited.
Simone Biles is endorsed by Visa, Nike, Gap, Kellogg’s, Nabisco
and Hershey…so far as I can tell. Each one of those sponsors require more
than the occasional photo shoot for advertisements. They require the
athlete to meet with customers of their brands at multiple parties and
conventions. Each one of those appearances requires young Simone to stop
her training schedule, hop on a plane, meet and greet and otherwise make nice,
then travel back to her training facility and try to pick-up on her training
schedule and routine. Additionally, NBC made young Simone the face of
their advertising and the defacto face of the Olympics.
The night of the first round of the women’s team competition, I
told my wife Lori that there was so much pressure on young Simone, that it
would be interesting how she responded to the pressure. Not well is the
answer.
I understand that Simone’s mother, Shannon was not involved in
Simone’s life, as she was adopted by her grand parents. I am sure all of
the attention and dollars associated with Simone’s success overwhelmed her
support group, and they probably had no idea how to protect Simone from the
exploitation of her popularity….unlike what the Shiffrins did on behalf of
Mikaela. Life doesn’t come with an instruction manual. Most of us
do the best we can with what we have. But the difference between
Mikaela’s maturity level vs Simone’s has been on display for all to see.
Some day on In My Right Mind, PJ and I will disassemble the pack
of lies that is the 1619 project, founded by Nikole Jones, which is an attempt
to completely re-write American history. For now, I want to briefly
discuss another one of her lies when she stated that “Cuba has the least
inequality between black and white people anyplace really in the
hemisphere.” Tell that to a black Cuban.
The very partisan, far left fish wrap called the Washington Post
stated in a recent article that “Black families (in Cuba) have experienced some
of the deepest hardships as the island grapples with its worst economic decline
since the...
