I wanted to run a quick survey on your feelings on the long standing factor of bad calls in sports. Do you feel that it is a intergral part of sports, or should we try to replace it with more fool proof technology. For example, put a microchip in the center of a baseball, and recievers in on the corners of the plate, and let a computer triangulate to see if it is a strike or not. I guess you would have to measure each batters stance ahead of time to see the top and bottom of the strike zone. Or maybe an image recognition system from several points in the stadium that could figure out the path of the ball, and the size of the player. Or using a transmitter to tell if the football crossed the goal line. I can’t figure out how to tell if the players knee hit the ground before then, but I’m getting off the point anyway.
Assuming that the technology was developed to make perfect calls every time, would you want it used, or is it more fun to bitch at the ref\ump?
Think about what the impartial human element gave us through the years: some of the greatest moments in sports:
The Long Count,
The Immaculate Reception,
and of course,
That Fucked-up, Shitty Call That Went Against My Team, Just Because It Was An Away Game, And The Mother-Fuckin’ Coward Of A Ref Thought The Hooligan Home-Town Dipshit Fans Would’ve Killed His Worthless Ass If He Didn’t Do What They Wanted.
You see what I mean? What would we argue about in the bar, what would we remember for thirty years? Just the athletes’ performances.
And they’re usually just not worth it. Not usually, but sometimes.
Ah, this part obviously refers to 1st Base umpire Don Dekinger’s bad call at 1st base during the 1985 World Series, which resulted in the Royals winning Game 6. The Cardinals should have won that game (and that game meant winning the Series). Instead that bad call ultimately forced a Game 7 and the Royals won the World Series.
But that was years ago, and I’m over it and no longer bitter about Don Dekinger’s bad call. Good old Dekinger, wonder what he’s doing now - THAT BASTARD!!!
Seeing as that bad call is an extreme example of human error shifting a game (in this case, the entire Championship), I’ll still vote against technology. Yes, I’m obsessive enough to still fume over a bad call made at first base over 15 years ago, but I’m realistic enough to realize that those occurrances are rare.
Tempting as it is to dream of technological solutions for determining whether the player’s knee actually hit the ground, or whether his toes touched in bounds as he caught the pass, I’ve got to side with the common consensus here. Bad calls against my team piss me off, of course, but bad calls in favor of my team (like the foul-no-wait-it’s-fair line drive that won the game for the Twins tonight) make me feel vindictively proud.
Being vindictive is a major part of sports, I see.
