Gabby Douglas & Jesus

[0 kids n not countin]

Anyone read this?

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2012/08/03/salon-writer-dislikes-teen-gold-medalist-gabby-douglas-being-so-so-so-je

[Haligh the Liar]

Interesting. I don't recall hearing her talk constantly about the big JC, so I guess as long as she's not pulling a Tebow, no problem.

However, the criticism concerns me a bit, even though I completely agree, but I don't want Christians to have any more fodder for crying persecution.

[0 kids n not countin]

Interesting. I don't recall hearing her talk constantly about the big JC, so I guess as long as she's not pulling a Tebow, no problem.

However, the criticism concerns me a bit, even though I completely agree, but I don't want Christians to have any more fodder for crying persecution.

I found out about that specific article from the Arndt website, so for them, yes, I assume they feel it's persecution of Christians.

[FloraDoraDolly]

Gabby Douglas is still a kid. I think people should leave her alone about her religion.

[scarygirl]

Some of the articles written about Gabby Douglas make me quite ill. Specifially the one written at Christian Science Monitor.com. The article implies that Gabby is a little brat for telling her mother that she needed this specific coach if she ever wanted to live up to her potential, and her mom was a bad mother for letting her live half way across the country to accomplish her dream. There is also much criticism for mom being a single parent. :roll:

http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Family/Modern-Parenthood/2012/0730/Olympic-women-s-gymnastics-Gabby-Douglas-and-parenting-gold

[Childless]

Yes, she does constantly talk about Jesus. She mentions it in every interview. It gets old, but she's a kid and immature so I don't say anything. The reason I don't like her lies with an interview she gave on the floor shortly after the completion of the qualification round last Sunday. Jordyn Weiber (who is the reigning world champion) didn't qualify for the all-around competition. She was in tears (after all, everything she has worked for for years just evaporated). In fact, you could see her crying in the background while Gabby was being interviewed. The interviewer asked Gabby about Jordyn not qualifying and how she felt about it (they have a big rivalry, at least according to the media). She basically said that sometimes you don't win and you just need suck it up and get over it. Absolutely no compassion for a teammate in pain. It was a cringe worthy interview. It was all "me, me, me". Not once did she say anything about comforting her teammate. Not once did she thank her family for the sacrifices they made that enabled her to follow her dream. Not once did she thank her coaches for their time and effort. Not once did she acknowledge the skill and talent of any other athlete in the field. My husband, who hates sports and doesn't follow the Olympics (with the exception of Michael Phelps), walked in while she was giving an interview and said, "Well, that little one is certainly full of herself." I know she's young and immature and I shouldn't expect much, but the total lack of compassion does point out a lot about her personality. I just get tired of people going on and on about Jesus and how they're a Christian and then not walking the walk. If you're going to talk endlessly about it, at least act like one.

[Childless]

Some of the articles written about Gabby Douglas make me quite ill. Specifially the one written at Christian Science Monitor.com. The article implies that Gabby is a little brat for telling her mother that she needed this specific coach if she ever wanted to live up to her potential, and her mom was a bad mother for letting her live half way across the country to accomplish her dream. There is also much criticism for mom being a single parent. :roll:

http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Family/Modern-Parenthood/2012/0730/Olympic-women-s-gymnastics-Gabby-Douglas-and-parenting-gold

I don't agree that she's a brat for wanting elite training. There are other things that make her a little brat. Also, not usually mentioned in any article, is the fact that when she changed gyms, she left the old one with thousands of dollars in outstanding bills. Her parents have never bothered to pay those bills. That's pretty low. I certainly hope that now that she's a champion and likely to get a lot of money from endorsements that the owners of her old gym sue for payment of outstanding bills. I certainly would.

[scarygirl]

I don't agree that she's a brat for wanting elite training. There are other things that make her a little brat. Also, not usually mentioned in any article, is the fact that when she changed gyms, she left the old one with thousands of dollars in outstanding bills. Her parents have never bothered to pay those bills. That's pretty low. I certainly hope that now that she's a champion and likely to get a lot of money from endorsements that the owners of her old gym sue for payment of outstanding bills. I certainly would.

I read that too.

[mirele]

I don't agree that she's a brat for wanting elite training. There are other things that make her a little brat. Also, not usually mentioned in any article, is the fact that when she changed gyms, she left the old one with thousands of dollars in outstanding bills. Her parents have never bothered to pay those bills. That's pretty low. I certainly hope that now that she's a champion and likely to get a lot of money from endorsements that the owners of her old gym sue for payment of outstanding bills. I certainly would.

She's a minor, and unless she's been emancipated, her mother would have signed the contracts. Thus Mom, not Gabby, is on the hook for her gym bills. Conversely, any endorsement contracts she gets will have to be signed by her mom--and you could see how that could get weird. I'll not be surprised to hear, in the wake of the games, that Gabby's asked a court for emancipation.

As far as Gabby herself goes, I must live in a different universe, because the only controversy I've seen is people criticizing the press for making a big deal out of her hair. Then again, I've not watched any Olympics to speak of and don't plan on doing so.

[Common]

Yes, she does constantly talk about Jesus. She mentions it in every interview. It gets old, but she's a kid and immature so I don't say anything. The reason I don't like her lies with an interview she gave on the floor shortly after the completion of the qualification round last Sunday. Jordyn Weiber (who is the reigning world champion) didn't qualify for the all-around competition. She was in tears (after all, everything she has worked for for years just evaporated). In fact, you could see her crying in the background while Gabby was being interviewed. The interviewer asked Gabby about Jordyn not qualifying and how she felt about it (they have a big rivalry, at least according to the media). She basically said that sometimes you don't win and you just need suck it up and get over it. Absolutely no compassion for a teammate in pain. It was a cringe worthy interview. It was all "me, me, me". Not once did she say anything about comforting her teammate. Not once did she thank her family for the sacrifices they made that enabled her to follow her dream. Not once did she thank her coaches for their time and effort. Not once did she acknowledge the skill and talent of any other athlete in the field. My husband, who hates sports and doesn't follow the Olympics (with the exception of Michael Phelps), walked in while she was giving an interview and said, "Well, that little one is certainly full of herself." I know she's young and immature and I shouldn't expect much, but the total lack of compassion does point out a lot about her personality. I just get tired of people going on and on about Jesus and how they're a Christian and then not walking the walk. If you're going to talk endlessly about it, at least act like one.

Do we know for a fact that Gaby was aware he teammate was crying behind her? (real question) I wonder if she had been called over for the interview immediately following the qualification announcement (isn't that how it is normally done?) and not seen anyone but camera crew for last ##minutes. I mean did she look over her shoulder at her crying and then back at the camera and say that? A teenage girl who has nothing to be bitter about saying "suck it up" about a crying girl just seems over the top, part of why I am questioning whether she had seen the crying.

[mpheels]

Gabby Douglas is still a kid. I think people should leave her alone about her religion.

QFT. She's a teenager with almost super human physical ability. She was just an average gymnast until about 2 years ago. While most teenage Olympians have been among the best of the best since they could walk, Gabby's talent developed almost overnight. That's a lot to process, and I can see how an average American teenage Christian would attribute a lot of it to God/Jesus. Give her a few years - if she is still competing in 2016, she will have put in considerably more work to overcome the limitations of age, and may not thank Jesus quite as much.

[lilwriter85]

Gabby has annoyed me over the past week a bit. She does seem like a bit of a brat and I hated what she said when asked about Jordyn not qualifying. I have also read the criticisms of Gabby's mom allowing her to move away from home to train. Stuff like that is a bit common with Olympic hopefuls in different sports.

[keeperrox]

Gabby Douglas is still a kid. I think people should leave her alone about her religion.

We talk about what the children of the Duggars, Bates, Colghan, Maxwell and countless other families say here. Why does Gabby Douglas get a free pass?

[meda]

Some of the articles written about Gabby Douglas make me quite ill. Specifially the one written at Christian Science Monitor.com. The article implies that Gabby is a little brat for telling her mother that she needed this specific coach if she ever wanted to live up to her potential, and her mom was a bad mother for letting her live half way across the country to accomplish her dream. There is also much criticism for mom being a single parent. :roll:

http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Family/Modern-Parenthood/2012/0730/Olympic-women-s-gymnastics-Gabby-Douglas-and-parenting-gold

That article is classist as hell and the writer is a judgmental bitch. Gabby's mother is divorced and poor, therefor her children have no "stability", a gifted teenage athlete clearly explaining her need for more advanced training to her mother is depicted as a loss of parental control and a breakdown of family values. The writer's premiss seems to be that no matter what sort of talent a child possesses, they should never try to achieve anything great if doing so would in any way inconvenience the family unit. Mediocrity is great as long as everyone is under the same roof.

[luckystone]

Gabby has annoyed me over the past week a bit. She does seem like a bit of a brat and I hated what she said when asked about Jordyn not qualifying. I have also read the criticisms of Gabby's mom allowing her to move away from home to train. Stuff like that is a bit common with Olympic hopefuls in different sports.

I'm surprised that was the target of criticism, was it because the family didn't move with her? It's a huge job uprooting a family, I would have thought a teen leaving to train on their own would be very common. Here in Australia people move for elite sport especially gymnastics - there aren't that many elite clubs so unless you happen to live right next to one, you need to move to attend. And I've known a few teens who went on their own. Also I don't think it's weird for a child to request their own coach. When you're at that level you have to take control.

[kpmom]

From what I understand, it's not unusual for a young, world class athlete to move away from his/her family and in with his/her coach. Andre Agassi, for one, moved from Las Vegas to Florida when he was a teen, away from his family. Not sure why the criticism for that.

I can't get too down on Gabby for being a little me, me, me at 16. I cringe when I think of how self-centered I could be at that age, and I wasn't an Olympian who gets all kinds of attention. If she's still like that 4 years from now, I'd be concerned.

[debrand]

When she had a moment to recover, Weiber was very gracious about her loss and she impressed me.

Perhaps it is her size but Gabby seems young for her age. Although I am not giving her more of a pass then the Duggar kids, I also try to take their age into consideration when I comment. Yes, some of her comments seemed a little self centered but not beyond what some normal teens might say. I did wish that either Ally or Gabby had hugged Weiber or acknowledged her tears, but maybe in the excitment they simply didn't know she was crying. Or perhaps they were giving her privacy. Overall, the American team do seem very good at encouraging one another.

What annoyed me was the cameras in the face of the weeping Russian gymnasists. Really? Can you give them time alone like a normal person would. And can you stop telling us what divas they are?

[Cherokee2000]

We talk about what the children of the Duggars, Bates, Colghan, Maxwell and countless other families say here. Why does Gabby Douglas get a free pass?

I think that we have generally given the Duggar/Bates kids a pass up until they reach the threshold of adulthood. Then the gloves go off!

With the younger kids, it's all about "I wish I could adopt little Hannie and take her to a real school" or "Josiah has a sensitive spirit." Later on: "Josh is a tool, and he's old enough to know better!"

So let's give Gabby another year or two to grow up.

[keeperrox]

I think that we have generally given the Duggar/Bates kids a pass up until they reach the threshold of adulthood. Then the gloves go off!

With the younger kids, it's all about "I wish I could adopt little Hannie and take her to a real school" or "Josiah has a sensitive spirit." Later on: "Josh is a tool, and he's old enough to know better!"

So let's give Gabby another year or two to grow up.

I'm not sure what board you're reading, but that's not the case all the time, and Gabby isn't 5, she's 16. We've called out teenagers on the shit they've said more than once. Handslap all you want, but IMO she doesn't get a pass just because she has 2 years until she's a legal adult. You don't have to participate in the discussion, but you don't get to dictate what other posters say.

[lilwriter85]

I'm surprised that was the target of criticism, was it because the family didn't move with her? It's a huge job uprooting a family, I would have thought a teen leaving to train on their own would be very common. Here in Australia people move for elite sport especially gymnastics - there aren't that many elite clubs so unless you happen to live right next to one, you need to move to attend. And I've known a few teens who went on their own. Also I don't think it's weird for a child to request their own coach. When you're at that level you have to take control.

I think some of the critics might target the moving away part because the family didn't movie with Gabby. Teens moving away to train for sports with certain coaches or clubs is common and a lot of people who follow certain sports closely know about that kind of stuff. I think some of the people criticizing Gabby for moving away, might not know that Gabby isn't the first do something like that and she won't be the last.

[angelsonyourbody]

I don't agree that she's a brat for wanting elite training. There are other things that make her a little brat. Also, not usually mentioned in any article, is the fact that when she changed gyms, she left the old one with thousands of dollars in outstanding bills. Her parents have never bothered to pay those bills. That's pretty low. I certainly hope that now that she's a champion and likely to get a lot of money from endorsements that the owners of her old gym sue for payment of outstanding bills. I certainly would.

there's more to the story than them not paying bills.... her mom says she was on scholarship which is entirely possible, and that the former gym made the accusations after she started getting national recognition. i think it's "bratty" of the former coaches to talk to the media in the first place about it.

[debrand]

Another question that this discussion makes me wonder is, How much does it cost to train an elite athlete? Although Gabby is supposed to be a role model for younger girls, is the training something that most single moms can afford for their children?

[Coconut Flan]

Is the training something most single moms can afford? In a word, no. Much less a single mom on disability with other children. An elite program is hundreds a month, plus privates, plus apparel, plus event registration, plus travel, etc.

[Phyllis Stein]

"The glory goes up to God and the blessings fall down on me"

This smacks of the insufferable attitude that some Christians have that they somehow have an "in" with God. The idea that they can dial up God and he will show special favor on them is so arrogant.

I was in love with Gabby but then there were moments, such as the above quote, that made me wonder about her. I noticed that she and Aly did not talk or acknowledge each other during the all around competition when she won the gold and Aly came in 4th. Something tells me she may not be as sweet as we think, or that arrogant attitude is offenive to her teammates.

I also saw an interview with her, her mother, and the Iowa host, and they talked about Gabby's attitude getting out of control. After discussing it with Gabby's mom, the woman took away Gabby's phone and computer. This may be all down to a typical teen phase, and I wouldn't think anything of it if there weren't other moments that gave me pause.

[fundiefan]

"The glory goes up to God and the blessings fall down on me"

This smacks of the insufferable attitude that some Christians have that they somehow have an "in" with God. The idea that they can dial up God and he will show special favor on them is so arrogant.

I was in love with Gabby but then there were moments, such as the above quote, that made me wonder about her. I noticed that she and Aly did not talk or acknowledge each other during the all around competition when she won the gold and Aly came in 4th. Something tells me she may not be as sweet as we think, or that arrogant attitude is offenive to her teammates.

I also saw an interview with her, her mother, and the Iowa host, and they talked about Gabby's attitude getting out of control. After discussing it with Gabby's mom, the woman took away Gabby's phone and computer. This may be all down to a typical teen phase, and I wouldn't think anything of it if there weren't other moments that gave me pause.

Yeah, that bothered me too. There's always been something about her that I couldn't pin down but didn't like. She has been very aloof during the Olympics; having to be physically brought into huddles and hugs and group team love. I thought it was that. Then, her quote after winning just pissed me right the fuck off. Had she thanked god or even just left it at 'all the glory goes to god' I probably wouldn't have blinked. But the blessings coming back down to her just did her in for me. If she was blessed by god, then the others were specifically NOT blessed. God doesn't choose the outcome of the Olympics - or any sporting event - and to say that she has received his blessing is arrogant and downright insulting to all the other gymnasts who trained just as hard and put in just as much time, energy and effort.

God didn't kick Jordyn out of the all-around and he didn't win it for Gabby. Jordyn had an off Olympics, Gabby had an on Olympics. Things played out because of mistakes of others and Gabby nailing some things. Just as all competitions do; just as they're meant to do. God probably wasn't even watching.