no surprises wrote:
I expected nothing less from the Woke cult.
Can't get more stupid than this Time Magazine statement.
Hilarious! Simone Biles named TIME’s 2021 Athlete of the Year
College Running
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yyywq wrote:
Armstronglivs wrote:
So Biles is on the cover of Time because of her Instagram followers? I can see how that would help make her Athlete of the Year. And speaking out on health issues during a pandemic is surely unique. It appears quite a lot hinged on her losing her nerve in an Olympic competition.
Naomi Osaka might have beaten her for the Time honour, as she, too, suffered "mental health" issues this year, being temporarily unable to fulfil her contractual media obligations. She - like Biles - is young, female and a POC. All she lacked was being American. So the title goes to Simone.
It's a shame Ben Johnson and Lance never gained the honour as they were surely as controversial (more so) and indeed were infamous, but being a villain rather than a "victim" wouldn't have met Time's criteria for the ultimate athletic distinction.
It is pretty disingenuous to compare Biles to two known liars and cheaters. She is neither and whatever you may think of her she was transparent about her issues and feelings.
This is only the 3rd year Time has given this award after decades of their “Person of the Year”. It was clearly an attempt to expand beyond their core audience, of which you are obviously not a member. They are not going after the SI/ESPN crowd because they will not pay attention to a Time award anyway. But there are a lot of girls/young women that don’t care much about traditional sports or Time’s political coverage. Many of them have been following Biles for years and feel like they can relate to her in some way. They are the target and Biles’ testimony in the Nasser Senate hearings only strengthens her appeal with this segment.
Time knew full well there would be this reaction. Almost certainly, they conducted market research and focus groups before announcing the selection. From a strategic marketing standpoint, it makes a lot of sense to try and tap into a segment in which they have traditionally had low awareness/penetration and are at the age when brand loyalties often formed.
What I think is disingenuous is promoting a marketing objective under the guise of athletic achievement.
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Armstronglivs wrote:
yyywq wrote:
It is pretty disingenuous to compare Biles to two known liars and cheaters. She is neither and whatever you may think of her she was transparent about her issues and feelings.
This is only the 3rd year Time has given this award after decades of their “Person of the Year”. It was clearly an attempt to expand beyond their core audience, of which you are obviously not a member. They are not going after the SI/ESPN crowd because they will not pay attention to a Time award anyway. But there are a lot of girls/young women that don’t care much about traditional sports or Time’s political coverage. Many of them have been following Biles for years and feel like they can relate to her in some way. They are the target and Biles’ testimony in the Nasser Senate hearings only strengthens her appeal with this segment.
Time knew full well there would be this reaction. Almost certainly, they conducted market research and focus groups before announcing the selection. From a strategic marketing standpoint, it makes a lot of sense to try and tap into a segment in which they have traditionally had low awareness/penetration and are at the age when brand loyalties often formed.
What I think is disingenuous is promoting a marketing objective under the guise of athletic achievement.
Where did they say the award was based on athletic achievement? They were upfront about why they gave her the award. From a press release...
"Four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles has earned Time magazine’s 'Athlete of the Year' honor, the publication said Thursday.
The 24-year-old gymnast traveled to Japan for the Tokyo Games this year with the intent of rewriting the record books, but instead brought about a groundbreaking, global conversation around athletes’ mental well-being."
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yyywq wrote:
Armstronglivs wrote:
What I think is disingenuous is promoting a marketing objective under the guise of athletic achievement.
Where did they say the award was based on athletic achievement? They were upfront about why they gave her the award. From a press release...
"Four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles has earned Time magazine’s 'Athlete of the Year' honor, the publication said Thursday.
The 24-year-old gymnast traveled to Japan for the Tokyo Games this year with the intent of rewriting the record books, but instead brought about a groundbreaking, global conversation around athletes’ mental well-being."
So an award for Athlete of the Year is not for athletic achievement? Well that makes sense. I guess we could apply the same reasoning for awards for scientific, cultural and artistic achievements. You don't actually need to have achieved anything. Except maybe celebrity.
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Armstronglivs wrote:
yyywq wrote:
Where did they say the award was based on athletic achievement? They were upfront about why they gave her the award. From a press release...
"Four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles has earned Time magazine’s 'Athlete of the Year' honor, the publication said Thursday.
The 24-year-old gymnast traveled to Japan for the Tokyo Games this year with the intent of rewriting the record books, but instead brought about a groundbreaking, global conversation around athletes’ mental well-being."
So an award for Athlete of the Year is not for athletic achievement? Well that makes sense. I guess we could apply the same reasoning for awards for scientific, cultural and artistic achievements. You don't actually need to have achieved anything. Except maybe celebrity.
I'm not defending it, but it's their award and they can give it to whoever they want using whatever criteria. What is the Time Person of the Year Award based on? What achievements? In 1982 they named the personal computer as the "Man of the Year" (and apparently Steve Jobs went home devastated).
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yyywq wrote:
Armstronglivs wrote:
So an award for Athlete of the Year is not for athletic achievement? Well that makes sense. I guess we could apply the same reasoning for awards for scientific, cultural and artistic achievements. You don't actually need to have achieved anything. Except maybe celebrity.
I'm not defending it, but it's their award and they can give it to whoever they want using whatever criteria. What is the Time Person of the Year Award based on? What achievements? In 1982 they named the personal computer as the "Man of the Year" (and apparently Steve Jobs went home devastated).
An "Athlete of the Year" is a rather specific category, wouldn't you say? But following your reasoning, maybe a computer will win it next year. A very fast computer (with "mental health" issues).
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Master of LolIy wrote:
Once again:
Simone Biles, the most influential athlete of the year.
For sports achievements please read sports magazines.
She's not the most influential. Not by a very very long shot.
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Just discovered this criteria:
Time's most famous feature throughout its history has been the annual "Person of the Year" (formerly "Man of the Year") cover story, in which Time recognizes the individual or group of individuals who have had the biggest impact on news headlines over the past 12 months. The distinction is supposed to go to the person who, "for good or ill", has most affected the course of the year; it is, therefore, not necessarily an honor or a reward. In the past, such figures as Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin have been Man of the Year.
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This is an insult to American culture by the woke zombies who purport to lead this once great nation. 2016 yes, but 2021 is a whole other story. This is the equivalent of a societal participation trophy.
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_ wrote:
Just discovered this criteria:
Time's most famous feature throughout its history has been the annual "Person of the Year" (formerly "Man of the Year") cover story, in which Time recognizes the individual or group of individuals who have had the biggest impact on news headlines over the past 12 months. The distinction is supposed to go to the person who, "for good or ill", has most affected the course of the year; it is, therefore, not necessarily an honor or a reward. In the past, such figures as Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin have been Man of the Year.
Athlete of the Year isn't the same as Person of the Year. So is it merely the athlete who has "most affected the course of the year"? If that is so some pretty dubious characters would have qualified in the past (Ben Johnson, Lance Armstrong). I'm not sure Time is wanting to put Biles in that kind of company. But I guess Time simply doesn't know much about sports.
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I wouldn't want her on my team. I don't know when she is going to up and quit. Hate to have her in there and then she decides to just walk off. There are a lot more deserving athletes out there that don't quit on their fellow teammates.
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She's a quitter wrote:
I wouldn't want her on my team. I don't know when she is going to up and quit. Hate to have her in there and then she decides to just walk off. There are a lot more deserving athletes out there that don't quit on their fellow teammates.
That's why your time has passed and it's time of the new generation. It's that type of in the box thinking, that just needs to go.
Simone Biles is the best that could have happened to sports. She brought gymnastics back to relevance. That's why T&F is struggling, because it's overfilled with bland, charisma - less athletes with no message.
The times award goes to the most impactful and influential athlete of the year, not the best athlete of the year. And Biles did have a huge impact and a message: "don't be quiet about abuse" and "mental health is super important".
I'm sure you would have preferred a white man with a message "I am faster than Kenyans"?
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Master of Lolly wrote:
She's a quitter wrote:
I wouldn't want her on my team. I don't know when she is going to up and quit. Hate to have her in there and then she decides to just walk off. There are a lot more deserving athletes out there that don't quit on their fellow teammates.
That's why your time has passed and it's time of the new generation. It's that type of in the box thinking, that just needs to go.
Simone Biles is the best that could have happened to sports. She brought gymnastics back to relevance. That's why T&F is struggling, because it's overfilled with bland, charisma - less athletes with no message.
The times award goes to the most impactful and influential athlete of the year, not the best athlete of the year. And Biles did have a huge impact and a message: "don't be quiet about abuse" and "mental health is super important".
I'm sure you would have preferred a white man with a message "I am faster than Kenyans"?
As I said previously, Ben Johnson and Lance Armstrong had as big an impact in their time. They were also winners - unlike Biles. (Ok - they cheated. But they didn't choke.)
It's pretty dismal that the recognition of genuine sporting achievement (by whomever) is overshadowed by a failure of nerve dressed up as "mental health issues". (Those issues didn't last long, either, because she returned to the competition a couple of days later.)
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