If Dee Brown had backed out of the championship game for mental health reasons I'd have supported him. These people don't owe me a damn thing. Their mental health is infinitely more important than my desire for them to win, which is really seated in my own personal reasons (i.e., I'm a fan of the Illini, or an American). I'm a grown up.
The funny thing is how many people are sitting behind their keyboards calling her weak or selfish. The girl who at 25 has competed in multiple Olympics, competed through broken bones, a kidney stone, sexual assault perpetrated and covered up by the very infrastructure meant to support her. SHE is weak and selfish, but the people whose investment in her performance ends at "I wanted her to win for me" are alphas. Fuckin' nonsense man, some middle school shit. It's not a coincidence that damn near every athlete of her stature is supporting her, saying they've been through similar things, etc. and the massive majority of complaints about it are coming from keyboard warriors. Simone Biles is stronger than damn near any of these morons criticizing her, and has proven it time and again.
Let's say she decides, you know what I don't have it today, my head's not in it, but I'm going to go out and compete because if not these idiots will have a field day with me ... and then she gets bronze. Who are the first people criticizing her performance?
Again, she doesn't owe me anything. I'm glad she did what she needed to do. I’m always going to side with the athletes over the grown ass men who pretend the athletes owe them something.