The Creepy World of Competitive Gymnastics

[grumbler]

Love the "money-making universities" narrative.  You can always tell who is just arguing based on emotion and reading blogs when they trot out the idea that any significant number of universities make money on athletics.  There were only 20 schools that took in more from athletics than they spent in 2013.

I agree with you about youth sports and how the money-making ones are pretty toxic, even when they try not to be.  I'd blame parents more than coaches for this, though.  You can leave a toxic coach, but not a toxic parent.

[Valmy]

College football could be added to that list, although afaik there is a movement to finally get those players recognized as professionals in all but name, exploited by money-making universities, and give them something more valuable than a free "education."  To the extent I can give one shit about sports, that seems like a good idea.

Man I see why you had to leave the south.

[Tamas]

2)Is there a reason we support this manner of gymnastics, or even permit it to be legal?  It seems kind of altogether grotesque.  Even ignoring its attraction to pedophiles, it's basically putting adult levels of emotional stress (and physical damage) upon children who, in other such matters, we wouldn't say have the ability to consent to it.  Plus, does anybody outside of a small fanbase even care about gymnastics?

You could say more or less the same thing about any youth sport.

Yeah. eg. there is a reason why the top level Hungarian swimmers are so good:  merciless "training" that in all other situation would be considered abuse, from a very young age.