No Judgment Calls
I love all sports. Of course, golf is my number one sport from every perspective, but more on that later. For now, I want to talk about how “judgment calls” have been batted around in the media lately and how I, as a golf junkie, deal with it.
The Super Bowl seems to have blown the lid off the issue of the role of officials in the outcomes of games. Not only is the sports media talking about the “worst refereed game in NFL history,” but they are also digging up past transgressions of officials. Someone last week on ESPN 1000 brought up the White Sox versus Angels blown call in the ALCS as another example of the fix. Then Phil Jackson goes on a tirade against the officials in Dallas for not calling fouls on the Mavs because, he asserts, Mark Cuban (the Mavs Owner) intimidates them. I can’t wait to hear somebody dredge up Ohio State’s National Championship a few years ago and the catch (or non-catch) in the end zone. And I’m sure it will really heat up this week when figure skating and ice dancing start in Turin.
For me, I love it. I love the controversy that judgment calls stir up and it does not turn me off in the least. I have learned to expect bad calls because that is just the way human beings work. If it makes you mad enough to stop watching football, basketball, or figure skating, then that’s your problem. You’re cheating yourself out of a lot of great drama and you’re being unrealistic with your expectations.
Maybe one of the reasons I’m so tolerant of this is that my number one sports and gaming pursuit - GOLF - has none of this controversy. Whether I’m playing or watching, I don’t have to deal with bad calls at all. In golf, all you have to do is take fewer strokes than your competition, and you win. That’s it…just hit the ball fewer times…nothing else can get in your way of victory.
My Monday morning quarterbacking the day after the Masters only relates to the competition on the golf course. It’s about who executed the shots and who didn’t. It’s about who crumbled under pressure and who didn’t. I never have to waste my breath on bad calls, or poor coaching decisions, or conspiracy theories. I just talk about the game and the ability of the participants to excel (or not) in the purest form of competition known to man. Mano-a-mano, no coach, no officials. Can you take fewer strokes than your competition? Can you do what it takes to win? Can you get the job done?
Now granted, I have done my share of dealing with externalities in the world of sports and gaming. I am a big fan of Notre Dame football and dealing with off-the-field issues comes with the territory not only because it’s football, but also because Notre Dame is such a polarizing force in college football. With so many supporters and detractors, you can’t avoid some faction blowing some issue way out of proportion. A bad call in their favor becomes a conspiracy by the NCAA to drum up better ratings for college football. The coach has a decent season and he becomes the savior of the program and college football in general. It goes both ways and I have started to relish it despite my large, emotional investment in the outcomes of games.
I relish it because at least we’re talking about sports, and that can never be bad. But for me, a conversation about college football will never be as good as a conversation about golf. Golf discussions are much more constructive, intelligent, and rewarding because we don’t have to waste time sorting through all of those off-the-field issues. We talk about the game - the game that we love.