December 21, 2012

I feel bad about all the winners of the Big Ten's Suzy Favor Athlete of the Year Award.

If your name has been pasted on others as an honor, you have a special responsibility not to besmirch it. I feel sorry for the winners of that award, but otherwise, I wasn't in the mood to add to the exposure of "Three-time Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton [who] says she coped with depression and a troubled marriage by turning to a life of prostitution."
One of the country's best-ever middle-distance runners, Favor Hamilton competed for the U.S. at the Olympics in 1992, 1996 and 2000 but did not win a medal. She won seven U.S. national titles. She lives in Madison, Wis., where... she and her husband, Mark, live in a $600,000 home and appear to be in no financial distress....

Favor Hamilton told the website that only her husband was aware of her escort work, but that, "He tried, he tried to get me to stop. He wasn't supportive of this at all."
Favor Hamilton has been attempting to tweet her way back into respectability, working the mental health angle, saying she had "reasons for doing this made sense to me at the time and were very much related to depression" and that she was "drawn to escorting in large part because it provided many coping mechanisms for me when I was going through a very challenging time with my marriage and my life."

This is the standard approach famous people use to explain sexual misbehavior when they get caught. But here's a person who worked for an escort service that scheduled $600 an hour dates for her in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago. It's a business venture that seems organized and deliberate, not some sad symptom of mental illness. Too bad she can't own it.

74 comments:

KCFleming said...

This is the twitter equivalent of when she deliberately fell during the 1500m final at the 2000 Olympics.

Ow, my knee!, er, my psyche!

rhhardin said...

She liked her job, a perfect situation.

Shouting Thomas said...

Favor Hamilton has been attempting to tweet her way back into respectability...

She's lost her way in the struggle for respectability?

Looks to me, at first glance, like the lady wanted a lot of sex. Which is also, I'd bet, the driving motive of ladies who decide to go into porn.

I'll bet Suzy has been doing Favors for quite some time. This inclination is unlikely to have just popped up in the past few months or years.

She isn't a good role model? Hauling in $600 an hour is pretty impressive! Show me one of those feminist English majors pulling that off!

Anonymous said...

rhhardin said...
She liked her job, a perfect situation.


Her mental health issues were the husband's fault. He wasn't, you know, "supportive" of her career choice...

PS: her overall brand is going to take a hit in most areas, though her hooker market may see an uptick...

Sorun said...

A woman's mid-life crisis. Her and hubby are bored, and she needs to know that she can still attract men.

purplepenquin said...

Given the way some prudes are so uptight about the world's oldest profession, it is no surprise that she is trying to do some PR-spin now.



Shouting Thomas said...

Academia should learn to embrace its whores.

San Francisco does. Sally Stanford is a legendary heroine of Baghdad by the Bay.

I think that "Stanford" was really her last name, too!

Whores are good people!

KCFleming said...

Hookers are fishers of men (see IL Allen).

A far easier catch than an Olympic medal.

Jesus's hook was for the larger brain.

McTriumph said...

Badger bares beaver!

Shouting Thomas said...

She should have declared herself a sex therapist!

Medicalizing things makes all the difference. She could have lobbied for payment for her therapy under Obamacare!

Freeman Hunt said...

Yikes! Maybe we should only name awards after dead people.

Craig said...

Cardinal beavers badgers!

Shouting Thomas said...

Left unstated... Did she pay her taxes on her earnings?

She could be hearing from the IRS.

FedkaTheConvict said...

Hmmm...I wonder if she's on Ashley Madison

Menahem Globus said...

That's three famous people from Madison I now know of. Ann Althouse, Norbert Sykes, and now this midlife crisis gone horribly awry.

One sane person out of three isn't bad.

MadisonMan said...

I feel bad for Favor Hamilton, not the award winners. She's clearly battling demons, and apparently has been for a while.

Shouting Thomas said...

One sane person out of three isn't bad.

Which one are you referring to? C'mon... give us a clue!

kjbe said...

Sounds like a pretty simple case of self-sabatoge. Catch me and hate me like I hate myself. Tiger, Tressel, Favor.

Shouting Thomas said...

She's clearly battling demons, and apparently has been for a while.

Then again, she could just have a hot box. In which case, she was just having a hell of a good time!

Wince said...

The moral of the story: It's not a sexual Favor if you're getting paid.

Astro said...

Depressed, why? For having such a double-entendre name? I mean, c'mon... "Suzy Favor".

Ann Althouse said...

"She's clearly battling demons, and apparently has been for a while."

Why is this clear?

Demons? Really?

Craig said...

And it's only acting, protected by the 1st amendment, if the performers' proceeds come from rights to the video.

Anonymous said...

Yep. Seemed organized. She even offered a 24-hour ultimate girlfriend experience for $6000.

She was doing a lot of traveling before and her exposure on the road probably left her feeling her life in Madison was dull. Sh likely had a few tumbles in the hay on the road and decided she should at least get paid for it.

purplepenquin said...

Demons? Really?

Well duh!

A woman who not only enjoys sex, but enjoys getting paid for it?! She gotta be nucking futz to feel that way, no?

No sane man, if given the chance, would ever do what she did.


tryinghardtosayallthatwithastraightface

BaltoHvar said...

Ann Althouse said... "She's clearly battling demons, and apparently has been for a while.
Why is this clear?

Demons? Really?

More like an enviable capacity to enjoy testing and reaching the limits of endurance.

What's the difference between parlaying your abilities to be pictured on a Box of Cereal and this?

Sorun said...

The Smoking Gun article is very good. It's clear she enjoyed what she was doing and was very popular with clients.

rhhardin said...

I always had play for pay jobs too.

kjbe said...

Why is this clear?

Her depression. Perfectionism. Her family history of mental illness. Her erratic behavior over time. And if you've ever seen her speak, there's something a little off, maybe a little manic about her. I feel bad for her, too. Hope she gets the help she needs.

traditionalguy said...

Athlete of the year nominee??? Since this distance runner had to keep in shape with exercise, why not monetize the workouts?

Her bigger failure may be in keeping her heterosexual orientation. That seems so last century.

Shouting Thomas said...

The answer to all of this is...

Endorphins.

Long distance running unleashes a shower of endorphins. So does a lot of sex.

ndspinelli said...

Her husband states he was ok w/ it. Gee...I wonder who calls the shots in that marriage???

I wonder if some impotent guys just paid her to go jogging w/ them?

traditionalguy said...

Seriously, Favors seems like a nice woman who has a strong erotic side to her personality.

I do not want to line up with those who condemn her.

test said...

purplepenquin said...
Demons? Really?

Well duh!

A woman who not only enjoys sex, but enjoys getting paid for it?! She gotta be nucking futz to feel that way, no?


Why work so hard to misunderstand? She's committing a crime. If she was just interested in sex all she'd have to do is not charge for it.

William said...

Is there an insanity defense against IRS rulings?...If you play the probabilities, I'd go with greed and not lust as her motivation. But I like the concept of an attractive woman with an Olympian body driven mad by insatiable sexual urges. It makes for a far better movie.

ricpic said...

A middle distance runner? She was probably perfect for guys who couldn't do long distance anymore.

madAsHell said...

Can a woman with a daughter really have a mid-life crisis??

This is a call for help!

purplepenquin said...

She's committing a crime.

You say that as if "committing a crime" is in&of-itself a bad thing. Do you feel that way or am I mis-reading ya?

If she was just interested in sex all she'd have to do is not charge for it.

I reckon part of the thrill/allure was knowing that men didn't just want her, they were wanting to pay her.

ricpic said...

When is committing a crime not a bad thing?

edutcher said...

Keep in mind, in contemplating the Big Ten's Suzy Favor Athlete of the Year Award, the word, athlete, has several meanings.

Sorun said...

Prostitution should be completely legal. How come women, with their majority numbers and "my body my choice" views, haven't made prostitution legal yet?

test said...

purplepenquin said...
She's committing a crime.

You say that as if "committing a crime" is in&of-itself a bad thing. Do you feel that way or am I mis-reading ya?


Risking your freedom and reputation seems a reckless choice to me regardless of whether I think the law is appropriate, especially when you don't appear to need the money. Combine that with questions about her athletic perfomance - where she claimed to have tanked an olympic race while winning? - and it seems perfectly reasonable to suggest she's having difficulties we don't understand.

Anonymous said...

Lol. Modern whore tries to pretend her whoredome is respectable or a product of mental illness. Never her fault. Never something that shows her character.

Such is trash of a modern American woman.

Makes me long for the whores of the old west, who would proudly advertise how good their "cuts of meat" were and had no illusions that they were anything but depraved whores.

garage mahal said...

Say you went to Vegas and took some pics on your phone. When you delete them, are they really "deleted"?

Asking for a friend.

edutcher said...

Don't bet on it.

ndspinelli said...

Garage, You cheap bastard..no way you would pay $600 unless it was Nancy Pelosi!

MisterBuddwing said...

I'll always remember Suzy Favor Hamilton for that Nike commercial she did back in 2000 that caused such a stink:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljItuZevzRQ

(As I recall, Favor Hamilton said she had fun making the commercial.)

Xmas said...

The silly thing was her talking about her real life with the clients. Even assuming that 99% of the clients kept that information to themselves, it only takes 1 to spill the beans and make a mess all over her life.

purplepenquin said...

When is committing a crime not a bad thing?

The first examples I can think of is helping slaves escape and hiding a jewish family in your attic.

Of course, those aren't nowhere as comparable to other victimless crimes...like prostitution and poking smot...but they show that breaking the law ain't always a bad thing, but rather sometimes it is the right thing to do.

Patrick said...

Garage, they are deleted, but Apple still has them.

Even if you're not using an Iphone.

NitneLiun said...

I wonder if the Big Ten will remove her name from the award, as they removed Paterno's name from the conference football championship trophy.

Probably not, because Suzy wasn't charged with .... oh wait, neither was Paterno.

Chip S. said...

Another data point in support of nominative determinism.

Known Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Known Unknown said...

Tiger, Tressel, Favor.

One of these things is not like the others.

Known Unknown said...

victimless crimes...like prostitution

I suppose there's no victim, unless you're married to the prostitute and are not 'supportive.'

furious_a said...

I suppose there's no victim...

...unless Ms. Favor-Hamilton is pictured prominently with one's logo.

USA! USA! USA!

edutcher said...

purplepenquin said...

Of course, those aren't nowhere as comparable to other victimless crimes...like prostitution

Prostitution has plenty of victims, as we learned after a few big cities went the "victimless" route.

The girls, for one, the neighborhoods for another, and the collateral casualties from VD.

Big Mike said...

I remember her Nike commercial. I guess if you get filmed running through the woods in just your bra and panties then it's a very short step to prostitution.

raf said...

How does that go? Faster, Higher, Harder? Longer? Whatever. Infused with new meaning, it is.

Michael Haz said...

Hamilton Favor likes to get laid and turned it into a profitable business....a cash business, no doubt, which now presents other problems.

Testosterone causes significant increases in libido in women who supplement. It isn't unusual that female athletes dope with a bit of testosterone to increase performance and muscle mass.

SteveBrooklineMA said...

Pretty sad. She's been scrubbed from the real estate web site she had with her husband. I remember seeing it a year ago and thinking how successful they looked as a couple.

carrie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
carrie said...

Suzy's brother who committed suicide was bi-polar and what Suzy did is classsic bi-polar behavior. She keeps talking about depression being the culprit, but the escort job is something that a bi-polar person in a manic phase would do (or the hypomanic phase) and not a typical depressed person. Bi-polar people in a manic phase often think they are invincible, are often hypersexual (think of Margaret Trudeau leaving her husband and little kids to run off with the Rolling Stones), and other risky behavior. It is my understanding that bi-polar mental illness runs in families. I feel sorry for the winners of the Suzy Favor award too because it will always be tainted by this revelation.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
WineSlob said...

Suzy Signed the Recall
Continuing her FreeFall
The Schmoozy Choosy Floozie
Got Used in the Jacuzzi
Now She Favors Chins 'N Balls
Suzy Coulda Had it All.

Anonymous said...

"Just Do It"

"Tramps like us, baby we were born to run"

Methadras said...

I wish people were just honest about prostitution. She wasn't depressed, she was able to make a shitload of money for being on her back. She liked it and kept doing it. She got outed and now it's over. What amends could she possibly make for something she got paid huge dollars to do? Clearly she didn't want to do anything else.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

If I were paying her $600 for a boink, you better believe I'd insist she lube up with Hydropel or Sportslick

carrie said...

I wish that people would be honest about bipolar disease and the risky things that people do when they are in the manic phase. Depression has lost its stigma so people aren't afraid to admit that they are depressed. There is still a big stigma attached to bipolar disorder so people deny that they have it. I think that the research shows that 70% of people with bipolar disease attempt suicide while in the depression part of the disorder and 30% of people with bipolar disorder do eventually commit suicide. Then they do crazy things while they are in the manic phase of the disorder that tear apart their families too. It is a terrible mental illness and it is ignored. If she didn't have a brother who was bipolar and committed suicide, I would agree with everyone else who says that she knew what she was doing and now must live with it. But with a family history of bipolar disorder, I think that there might be more going on here than just making money.

Cedarford said...

In my way of thinking, she tainted herself more in deliberately falling in the 1500M Sydney Olympics than being a sexworker in the shitty Bush-Obama economy.

In her day though, especially as a junior and collegiate competitor, she was truly a world-class, phenomenal athlete. #1 ranked in the nation in mid distances, had a number of NCAA titles and junior records. And very good looking.

As the liberal and progressive Jewish media has been out glorifying promiscuity, glorifying all things gay...and trying to tear down our Christian moral codes as archaic so that we can be
"more like Europe"...one outcome is we may become more like them in accepting sex work as just another valid job occupation.
And there, and in Asian nations like Japan, and Latin nations - some attractive women that have come up through their media as sex objects - soap stars, athletes, TV models, starlets...want to get paid for being sex objects. Hooking, mistressing, and porn are not uncommon ways for women from Czech Republic to Columbia to Korea to India back over to Page 3 girls in the UK to make more money. Even command a premium as a former prominant model, gymnast, etc.


carrie said...

As much as I have been harping on bi-polar disorder, I also think that she is hurting her credibility by saying it was depression that caused her to do this. Depressed people are sad, want to sleep all the time, cry all the time, etc.--they are not party people and I don't think that she would have been the third highest rated escort at her service or worth $600 an hour if she was doing this while she was depressed--she would not have been a good time.

purplepenquin said...

Prostitution has plenty of victims, as we learned after a few big cities went the "victimless" route.

I ain't familiar with any big cities in America that legalized prostitution. A few may have tried to decrim it, but I'm of the opinion that decrim of something causes more problems than a flat-out ban.

The girls, for one, the neighborhoods for another, and the collateral casualties from VD.

All problems that could easily be solved with some basic regulations...like an I-9 form, zoning laws and physicals/testing.

Of course, ya can't regulate an illegal trade...sotheresyourproblemthere.

Darrell said...

From the link--

Favor Hamilton told the website that only her husband was aware of her escort work, but that, "He tried, he tried to get me to stop. He wasn't supportive of this at all."

Sounds like the scene between Steve Martin and Kathleen Turner in The Man With Two Brains where he catches her charging old men $15000 to touch her ass and when he is mortified, and she accuses him of never being supportive of her career.

Petunia said...

She really, REALLY needs to stay off Twitter.

Well, EVERYONE needs to stay off Twitter. But she ESPECIALLY does.