Back in the 70's, actor Dan Akroyd launched on his co-anchor, Jan Curtin, with a famous line that has echoed over the years. The line was part of a comedic rendition of their Saturday Night Live newscast. Akroyd had become fed up with Curtin's lack of knowledge and fired off a one-liner, "Jane you ignorant s___t". If things could have gone viral back then, that shot would have been a huge success. Considering today's social media, it still could be.
Last week Simone Biles teetered on the same level with her comment on transgender men playing in men's sports.
Here is the report from Fox News...
"Seven-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles received harsh backlash on social media on Saturday after the gymnastics star sparred with former 12-time NCAA All-American swimmer Riley Gaines over the debate surrounding transgender athletes competing in girls' and women's sports.
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| Riley Gaines will not back down |
Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer and current OutKick contributor and host of the "Gaines for Girls" podcast, took to X on Friday to call out the Minnesota State High School League for posting a picture of the new state champions, Champlin Park High School. Champlin Park used a male pitcher to win the title. In response to Gaines' criticism of the post, Biles posted a message calling Gaines "truly sick" over her stance on trans athletes. She even launched a personal attack at Gaines.
You're truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser", Biles said, referencing Gaines competing against former UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA Championships. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN All sports!! But instead....you bully them. One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!"
Biles signed off by telling Gaines she should pick on somebody her own size.
The backlash to Bile's comments has been far-reaching. As well it should.
Let's not forget this is the same athlete (Biles) that wore a Green Bay Packers-themed jacket to a Chicago Bears pre-season game last year. The jacket featured photos of her husband, Jonathan Owens, who was once a Packer, but who had signed with Chicago that spring. If anyone knows anything about sports, wearing Packer gear to a Bear's game is a serious lack of smarts.
Gaines has received a ton of support since this past weekend especially when she revealed a comment from Biles that she posted in October of 2017. And it's not a great look. "Ahh good thing guys don't compete against girl's, or he'd take all the gold medals". Gaines has suggested that if Bile's competed against men, nobody would know about her. Ouch. That says a lot.
I am inclined to think of an old saying my father used to say when ignorance reared its ugly head. "You can't fix stupid".
We have so much to be proud of in athletics in our country. It's a shame the prestige has fallen to this level. What will Simone do next? I'm sure whatever it is, it will show her ignorance. Keep endorsing the products, you do Simone and stay out of the politics of sports. And from the sounds of it, it might be too late to do that. Altheta is considering dropping her as a client.
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