As I dropped off the kids this morning at Grandma's (who took me to meets almost EVERY weekend as a kid) I started ranting about the Worlds. She said, "Could you believe he was hitting her?" To which I replied, "Huh?" I was talking about the world records.
She didn't know details, but it made the news that a man was literally hitting a female swimmer, close-fisted. She was trying to defend herself and run away... not too much information, as all she saw was the trailer.
What the heck? Can someone fill me in?
I watched two hours of coverage on Fox tonight without seeing this mentioned. I hope it is not "the" story of the meet.
As Jim Clemmons said, I think this is a case of whack-a-dad. Good reason why dad should not be coach. Dad should not be discussing boyfriends right before a race -- control yourself and take it up later in private. It was pretty inappropriate at that venue in front of a crowd. But she looked pretty adept at whacking to me in that vid. It didn't look like a first time occurence. I don't think anyone needs to get whacked. But if it's the culture, whack in private if you really must, not before a national audience so that you end up on youtube. If you have to whack in public, don't complain about the publicity backlash.
The guy should not be expelled for life for that. I think what Skip Kenney did was worse and more of an abuse of what he considered unquestioned power. This guy apparently freaked out that his daughter was having "boy" issues and she freaked out back. Bad overreaction. Very unfortunate. Hardly newsworthy. Better for US Weekly or some other tabloid.
It's interesting the dad is taking all the heat. What about the swimmer? Was her behavior so great? If my kid did that, she would be tossed from her travel meet faster than I could blink.
Barb:
If some guy actually slapped me hard, I'd be hard pressed not to slap back. That's unacceptable. If I was alone or in danger, I wouldn't think twice about it if it would help the situation. Happened to me once in law school when I was getting out of my car. I launched a well placed kick, heard screaming and ran. No regrets.
LBJ:
I'm glad you gave up the psychotic women and got a cool wife who worries about your dreams of swimming off into the distance ...
I watched two hours of coverage on Fox tonight without seeing this mentioned. I hope it is not "the" story of the meet.
As Jim Clemmons said, I think this is a case of whack-a-dad. Good reason why dad should not be coach. Dad should not be discussing boyfriends right before a race -- control yourself and take it up later in private. It was pretty inappropriate at that venue in front of a crowd. But she looked pretty adept at whacking to me in that vid. It didn't look like a first time occurence. I don't think anyone needs to get whacked. But if it's the culture, whack in private if you really must, not before a national audience so that you end up on youtube. If you have to whack in public, don't complain about the publicity backlash.
The guy should not be expelled for life for that. I think what Skip Kenney did was worse and more of an abuse of what he considered unquestioned power. This guy apparently freaked out that his daughter was having "boy" issues and she freaked out back. Bad overreaction. Very unfortunate. Hardly newsworthy. Better for US Weekly or some other tabloid.
It's interesting the dad is taking all the heat. What about the swimmer? Was her behavior so great? If my kid did that, she would be tossed from her travel meet faster than I could blink.
Barb:
If some guy actually slapped me hard, I'd be hard pressed not to slap back. That's unacceptable. If I was alone or in danger, I wouldn't think twice about it if it would help the situation. Happened to me once in law school when I was getting out of my car. I launched a well placed kick, heard screaming and ran. No regrets.
LBJ:
I'm glad you gave up the psychotic women and got a cool wife who worries about your dreams of swimming off into the distance ...
