Praise was also heaped on the sport itself which so exemplified Christian principles. It's uncertain what treatment the distinguished player later received from teammates but some journalists attending the competition lauded the valorous deed to the skies. The shock must have taken it's toll Pittsburgh fired off three straight points, and in a matter of a few minutes, Germantown went from national champs to second place. Like stunned mullet, the Germantown players returned to the court with a slim 15-14 lead. In those days, the "honor system" required a player to call his own touch if unseen by the referee.- a single mortal in an epoch of imperfect optometry - and it promoted the high ideals of the YMCA. Slowly the captain, Bill Nenner, raised his hand to the referee in admission that he had touched the ball in his attempt to block it. Was he praying? Giving thanks for the victory? Not at all. It happened in 1924 at the cliffhanger finals of the National YMCA Championships in Pittsburgh's Central YMCA the match-point spike by a Pittsburgh Central hitter landed long, and the Germantown Y six erupted, leaping into each other's arms with the joy of victory - except for one player who remained at the net, immobile, head down. No headlines, but at least it made the sports page in some of the nation's major newspapers, and that was a first for volleyball. I'm in the process of reading Volleyball Centennial: The first 100 years. Refs making the occasional mistake are the same way. It would be annoying if some team decided that it was unsportsmanlike to win points that way, and deliberately faulted the next point in protest. But they are part of the game (for now), and that's that. I don't like them when they go in favor of the team I'm rooting for, and I don't like them when they go against my team either. I hate tape shot serves that trickle over for a point. If every play comes down to a vote about what happened, why even have refs? I guess you could say that maybe the first baseman should have told the umpire right away, but that's not his job. A few innings later, the first baseman casually told the umpire what had really happened. The Mariners complained, but the game went on. But the ump was confused and called the runner out. He never touched the bag, and the runner should have been safe. But for some unfathomable reason, the pitcher ran in front of the first baseman and caught the ball. The other team fielded it and threw it to first in plenty of time. I remember a Seattle Mariners game last year where a Mariner hit a ground ball. I see accepting a ref's decision, even if you think it may have unfairly been in your favor, as totally different than intentionally trying to cheat. Well I think that applies regardless of whether the bad call went against you or went in your favor. We tell people to not get rattled by a bad call - to accept it as part of the game and move on. If you try to play the right way and do your best and be a good sport, that isn't incompatible with wanting to win. This does not mean they can not also be about fun and good sportsmanship. Sometimes against yourself, sometimes against a standard of performance, sometimes against other players. Remember when Armando Galarraga had a perfect game ruined by a mistaken call? And he accepted the apology from the umpire and moved on with life? Well what if it had gone the other way, and he had a perfect game in the record books even though an out should have been called? In some ways that is harder to deal with emotionally, but I think they are two sides of the same coin.Īll sports are about competition. Because, like the calls themselves, it is part of the game. Now if there is a mechanism for questioning the refs (video replay, etc.) then use that too. But it accepts that the refs sometimes make what you think are mistakes, and they may make them in either direction, and that's just part of the game. That does not condone deliberate cheating, like trying to hide fouls from the ref. If the sport has refs and it is their job to call the fouls, then let them do it and play on. If the sport does not have refs and you are expected/required to "call your own fouls" then do it. But I guess I haven't really heard anything that makes me change my mind.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |