Are male sportsmen allowed to cry

Is it acceptable for male sports competitors to cry

  • Yes

  • No

  • Davek should be teaching the cadets

  • Cheese on tears


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I can't vote both 'Yes' and for Dave, so I voted for Dave.

It's 'yes' because men can cry in sports. When their teammate drops dead on the pitch, it's OK for male sportsmen to cry. When the paramedics miraculously bring him back, it's OK for them to cry. When they accomplish the dream that they've been working towards their entire lives, it's OK for them to cry.

When you lose, you're supposed to take it like a man. When Tom Watson met the media after getting jobbed out of his sixth British Open by a sprinkler head and a bad putt, then by having Stewart Cink take it away from him in the playoff, he didn't cry. He looked at the assembled, very quiet media and said, "Guys, this isn't a funeral."

Dave's on point here.
Spot on mate. And I defo concur with the example of players on a pitch in bits over a team mate in big trouble. That takes it out of th category of a mundane sporting matter.
 

Tell Giannis not to cry, 6'11' and built like a tank.. see who gets a good 'kin hiding.View attachment 135215
Means nothing to me.

The GB boxer today who lost out on a gold and had to make do with the silver reacted by crying and refusing to acknowledge the result...later on, however - and to his credit - he said he doesn't want to be remembered for that reaction as he doesn't want the world to think he's a petulant child and a cry baby...even though he still reckons he was the gold medal winner by rights.

More of that self analysis is to be welcomed.
 

Means nothing to me.

The GB boxer today who lost out on a gold and had to make do with the silver reacted by crying and refusing to acknowledge the result...later on, however - and to his credit - he said he doesn't want to be remembered for that reaction as he doesn't want the world to think he's a petulant child and a cry baby...even though he still reckons he was the gold medal winner by rights.

More of that self analysis is to be welcomed.

Just read that and nowhere did he say he was ashamed of crying. He was ashamed of how he acted towards his fellow competitors. How he pocketed the medal and refused to acknowledge the others on the podium. There, of course, may be another interview where he says he is ashamed of crying but the one I read was more about the petulance than the tears. He was basically saying he is a bad loser and that he even acts that way to friends when losing at FIFA.

This boxer, the runner, the hockey players, the winners, the losers all have their own personal story and I think it is extremely arrogant of people to put it all on them to be man enough and not she a tear.

It is all relative, we can all point to specific examples where a man or a woman reacted in a certain way but it does not answer the question 'Why are some men uncomfortable seeing another man cry, regardless of the reasons for the tears'.

I am not in a position to say that it isn't OK, I for one am not in to all that masculine 'back in my day I would have got leathered for showing weakness' crap. Secondly, we do not know the whole story, maybe they were doing it to make a loved one proud, maybe there has been a loss in their family/friends network and it is just a release of those emotions that they can't control. I would never ever consider to have a go at these people.
 
Most of the competitors in the Olympics don’t have a Super Bowl or Champions League or something like that, and they don’t make hundreds of thousands a week, and they don’t get endorsements or everything for free. The Olympics is the absolute be-all and end-all of their sport. If they work that hard for that long and they get emotional about the result, they absolutely deserve it.
 
Mate, thats a bit different to a bloke having spent a decade training, getting his one chance to win a medal. And coming fourth.

It's not, really. I spent a year trying to win the fraternity ping-pong tournament I organized during my last semester of college. (University, for those of you whose flavor of English is the King's.)

I played a lot of ping-pong. I mean a lot. I could get away with this because I only needed a light course load to graduate. I only had two actual classes the last semester. The third was my honors thesis.

I got all the way to the final. It was double elimination. I got beat in the semis by the guy I faced in the final, who I could never beat. This meant I vanquished the other guy I could never beat to advance to the final.

I took the guy I could never beat to a third and final set, which was a first. I got behind 20-12. I started making absolutely impossible diving shots for winners. He got frustrated, and the pressure started to mount. I got it back to 20-17.

Then he painted me into a corner and smashed one by me to win. I dove for it, and missed.

I smacked the ground in frustration once, got up with a smile and congratulated him. I had played the best ping-pong I will ever play at the end. I made him earn it. He beat me, and deserved it.

That's how you lose. Do everything you can to prepare and leave it all out on the field of competition, and you walk away with your head held high and no regrets whether or not you lift the trophy or medal.
 
It's not, really. I spent a year trying to win the fraternity ping-pong tournament I organized during my last semester of college. (University, for those of you whose flavor of English is the King's.)

I played a lot of ping-pong. I mean a lot. I could get away with this because I only needed a light course load to graduate. I only had two actual classes the last semester. The third was my honors thesis.

I got all the way to the final. It was double elimination. I got beat in the semis by the guy I faced in the final, who I could never beat. This meant I vanquished the other guy I could never beat to advance to the final.

I took the guy I could never beat to a third and final set, which was a first. I got behind 20-12. I started making absolutely impossible diving shots for winners. He got frustrated, and the pressure started to mount. I got it back to 20-17.

Then he painted me into a corner and smashed one by me to win. I dove for it, and missed.

I smacked the ground in frustration once, got up with a smile and congratulated him. I had played the best ping-pong I will ever play at the end. I made him earn it. He beat me, and deserved it.

That's how you lose. Do everything you can to prepare and leave it all out on the field of competition, and you walk away with your head held high and no regrets whether or not you lift the trophy or medal.

So not remotely like losing an Olympic final then. Nor like a multiple golf major winner losing one neither.

Glad we cleared that up.
 
Imagine, just imagine that you spend your youth homing in on your passions, you find you have a bit of talent at your task, the other kids can't get near you.

Your talent in your profession starts to blossom, you're breaking youth records whether that be goals, distance, timing, points.

You're being recognised, random people are in your ear all the time, your dedication is absolute, penny/pound/in for.

You're now full time, you're a rising star, you're starting to dream of the big move/finals/Olympics.

You made it! You're ecstatic and your family couldn't be prouder, you're on the cusp of reaching the pinnacle of your passion!

You faulter, all your dedication and talent were superseded by someone else; a perputually angry orange cat on an internet forum declares that you're a sad act because you feel like you've not spent long enough honing your skills and finally, a lone tear rolls down your cheek.

What, that makes you sad? What a pathetic excuse of a human you are, to Burger King with you!
 

Just read that and nowhere did he say he was ashamed of crying. He was ashamed of how he acted towards his fellow competitors. How he pocketed the medal and refused to acknowledge the others on the podium. There, of course, may be another interview where he says he is ashamed of crying but the one I read was more about the petulance than the tears. He was basically saying he is a bad loser and that he even acts that way to friends when losing at FIFA.

This boxer, the runner, the hockey players, the winners, the losers all have their own personal story and I think it is extremely arrogant of people to put it all on them to be man enough and not she a tear.

It is all relative, we can all point to specific examples where a man or a woman reacted in a certain way but it does not answer the question 'Why are some men uncomfortable seeing another man cry, regardless of the reasons for the tears'.

I am not in a position to say that it isn't OK, I for one am not in to all that masculine 'back in my day I would have got leathered for showing weakness' crap. Secondly, we do not know the whole story, maybe they were doing it to make a loved one proud, maybe there has been a loss in their family/friends network and it is just a release of those emotions that they can't control. I would never ever consider to have a go at these people.
I didn't claim he said he was ashamed to have cried. I stated he'd recanted his earlier position and didn't want people to remember his contribution to the Games in that way.
 
When you lose, you're supposed to take it like a man.

Ridiculous statement.
Take it like a man.?

LmWQ.gif
 
Ridiculous statement.
Take it like a man.?

LmWQ.gif

I disagree very, very strongly. We all know exactly what it means in this context, and it stuffs a lot of meaning into a very small package. It is useful in this context because it says precisely what I mean to say.

In my opinion, this sort of judgmentalism is exactly why the right has a foothold. If the left wants to get what it wants, then the left would lose trying to police triggers. Instead, the left should accept that the person with the trigger has the problem (even though those triggers are almost never that person's fault), and help those people get help at the expense of the person that installed the trigger. If that's not feasible, then society needs to pay for it, because society failed to prevent that person from installing the trigger in the victim.

If the left did that, they would win over the middle and the right would never win another election. So long as the left is being authoritarian about what people can and cannot say, the right always has a shot.

So not remotely like losing an Olympic final then. Nor like a multiple golf major winner losing one neither.

Glad we cleared that up.

It's exactly like that, with the difference being that the other guy committed ten years of his life, rather than the several hours a day I spent for a year.

If the guy accepted the fact that the only thing he controls is his own performance, and that he had performed to the best of his ability and therefore won despite finishing fourth, he'd be a lot happier.

Just making the Olympics is a monumental accomplishment. I have a cousin who got close. She'd swap places with that guy in a heartbeat.
 
We do know. It is sexist to say nothing of how unhealthy it is to repress your emotions.

I'm not suggesting that these people change their emotions. I'm suggesting that they change their thinking, which will in turn change their emotions. I'm suggesting, just like Dave is, that it is the win-at-all-costs mentality that is unhealthy.

Dave is saying that society is guilty on that one. I agree, but I also would say that the individuals in question still choose to buy into that mentality of their own free will.

Michael Jordan is the living exemplar of that mentality. He won six titles, and the GOAT label. Watch his Hall of Fame induction speech. Think he's happy? I don't. He's a ball of resentment towards everyone that ever slighted him.

That resentment propelled him to greatness, and destroyed him as a person at the same time.

I have a lot to say about your accusation of sexism, but I'm keeping that one to myself.
 

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