![]() Basketball referees are unable to tell whether the tip of a sneaker was behind or over a rounded line. An umpire staring directly at first base frequently can't tell whether a ball hit the mitt before a foot hit the bag. Seven NFL officials can't determine whether an oblong ball crosses a stationary, identified, parallel line. (Challenges, which are rarely accepted let alone reversed, can use replay solely to determine starting difficulty, another moronic practice that's a whole other story.) I'm not saying I want replay - I abhor replay it's the bane of sporting existence - but if any sport needs the process it's one in which an athlete is judged on their takeoffs and landings and the multiple flips, twists, dips and ducks that come in between, all judged by an impenetrable rulebook that's as dense as a calculus lesson.Īnd these 10 judges are supposed to watch all of this in under two seconds to make a determination about who wins a gold medal and who is left with a lifetime of regret? They don't have access to replay when delivering their original scores. ![]() Maybe you know this, maybe you don't, maybe you've thought about it, maybe you haven't - but either way, it's worth repeating and ridiculing: Judges on the vault and all the other gymnastics apparatuses (apparati?) don't use replay. Watching Simone Biles win gold medal in the vault on Sunday you couldn't help but feel awe, marvel and bewilderment - not at her (though the words fit) but at the fact that the leaders of her sport believe that 10 judges can possibly give an accurate score without the benefit of video on a lightning-fast routine that takes less time to finish than it took you to read the last portion of this sentence. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |