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In amateur sports, there is no prize money, but parents and individuals and occasionally companies put a lot of money into the team or individual athlete, and it is miserable to watch all the money go down the toilet because of a bad call against a deserving athlete or team.
What happens all too often is that the parents/individuals/companies get disgusted and choose to leave the sport and invest their money elsewhere. In individual sports, this is too bad, but for team sports, it can mean the end of the team (and the end of a job for the coaches).
Good coaches will do their best at “damage control” after a bad call. They try to remind the athlete or the team to “enjoy the game and the human element in it.” But many parents refuse to enjoy a game and human element that isn’t fair, and I can’t say I blame them. When we were involved in elite-level synchronized skating, we were paying $600 a month (and this was back in the early 2000s, when gas was still fairly cheap). In addition, we had to pay for overseas trips. Can you see why it’s pretty hard for parents who are paying this much to sit back and say, “Well, that call was bogus, but wasn’t the competition fun anyway?”
There are certain sports that are absolutely battling corruption. Figure skating is one of them. Boxing is another. And in no way am I saying that corruption is part of the game. If a “Bad call” is the result of cheating or incompetence or corruption then that is one of the worst sins in all of sports. But the reality is that it is rarely the case. Especially in the “big sports” The reason is that we are talking about obscene amounts of money. That may sound like a reason to cheat, but it actually keeps things as “honest” as they can be. You see, if an NFL MLB or NBA ref “fixes” games then we are talking potentially billions of dollars of damages that could be sued for or even potential criminal charges filed. Prison is a reality.
For a Baseball fan to whine about a call is about as blind as you can get. Baseball is publically one of the most corrupt games now. That does not mean that the other sports are clean, but the amount of steroid and drug abuse that still goes on is astounding. Not to mention a clear history of cheating. (Shoeless joe) (Pete Rose) just to name the most well known. A Rod has to sit out a year. 1 year. And that is it. then, he swings away adding to the wins and home runs and RBI’s that he cheated to get. Imagine all the games won because of roids OF JUST THAT ONE MAN! Not to mention Bonds, Mcgwire, etc and the huge number of players that have never been caught.
But a call!? A Call is the reason “my” team lost, was eliminated, missed a perfect game!? You have got to be kidding me!
I played collegiate football. Bad calls were always available to blame a loss on. Funny, the teams that got into the habit of doing that were always the teams that lost more weeks than not. Notice that it is the end of the game that replay is mandatory or gets talked about. The powers that be just care about the appearance of the game. The fact is that a bad call with 6 minutes to go in the first quarter can decide the outcome of a game just as much as the bad call with 30 seconds left.
The real test is the players. Fans get all upset but watch and listen to the players. The VAST majority of the time they. move on. A bad call can cost an individual NFL player MILLIONS of dollars. Yet the leagues rules on silence of criticising the refs are obeyed.
I like the human element. Even if it means my team loses because of it. It is as much of any game as a “homefield advantage” or a baseball park being different dimensions in different places. Or elevation. Jason Elam was the best NFL kicker. don’t you think elevation had something to do with that? Don’t you think there is a reason a pitcher considers denver a career killer?
Cheating is a serious no no. ANd I said in my previous post that it should not be tolerated.
BUT go back and watch the officiating of the 1992 olympic Dream Team. The refs were HORRIBLE. Some of the worst called games of all time in that sport. The refs were not prepared for that type of game. But do you hear anyone complaining about it? No. Because “we won”
Baseball has killed itself. It has ignored its own cheating and time issues and tried to give the impression that replay some how makes the game better. 3 and a half hour games now have replay?! But they can’t seem to catch a steroid user even after the public is aware of the issue. ALl that replay and some manager still kicks dust on an umpire.
You are the skating guru, so I bow to you on that sport. I have seen questionable tactics by judges there for sure. But almost anything that is “judged” lends itself to problems.
Tennis:
It has taken a dive as well in popularity. Gone are the days of Johnny Mac smashing an OJ table and screaming “Are you serious!” " You cannot be serious" Gone are the days of arguing a call. Now, we wait and watch “shot spot” decide if a microscopic piece of the ball touched a proton of paint on the court. All based on “technology”
IF it is cheating, it should be rooted out! But if it is just a bad call. It is part of the game. As much of the game as the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field, The green monster, or Jesus helping Notre Dame score a field goal.
There is a lot wrong with sports. The amount of money involved. The thugs that play no matter what their criminal or personal lives are like. Drugs, steroids, unions, owners, rule changes for “safety concerns” Layers, etc
Bad calls is not even on the radar.
“kill the ref” is the oldest excuse in the world, right up there with the sun was in my eyes.
I just notice that the losers always whine about the calls, or the conditions. The winners walk away and prepare for next week.
