Judge not

Lack of accountability for officials is the problem

Unless I've forgotten a few sports, my kids played baseball, basketball, ice hockey, soccer, lacrosse, tennis, golf and swam. As anyone who's ever had the experience knows, nothing is more painful than watching your own children in action -- especially as they strike out, drop the ball, miss the ball or generally screw up. Nothing, though, was ever more excruciating than watching my daughter perform in horse shows.

Because there she was ... judged.

I could take her getting beat 7-6 in a tiebreaker or getting touched out in the backstroke. She tried, she lost, fair and square. It hurt, but she and I understood. But horse shows? In one event she would win the blue ribbon. The next -- same judge, same pony, same daughter -- she'd finish 10th. It made no sense, the winning or the losing. The figure skating coach, Frank Carroll, said it best the other day: Give your children skis or speed skates, where they can determine their own fate on the field of play.

Athletes are meant to compete against one another, not for judges. That said, I believe most athletic judges try to be honest. They're probably better than people in other disciplines who are suddenly cast as judges. Ted Williams was once denied a Most Valuable Player award because two Boston writers just didn't like him and refused to put him on the ballot at all. This year a baseball writer wouldn't vote for Ichiro Suzuki as Rookie of The Year because he decided that the rules were wrong and that Ichiro wasn't a rookie. In the Academy Awards, actors often win, not because they deserve to, but because "it's his turn" or "she should've won last year."

In fact, not to be a homer myself, but in my own judgment I believe that American sports referees are probably the most honest. In many parts of the world, it is understood that visitors are going to get rooked by the officials. Your refs cheat me, I cheat you. But our referees operate under a different ethic. Call 'em as you see 'em. Even in the most objective of games, though, referees can be influenced. That's why we call it the "homecourt advantage" -- because referees, however subconsciously, can be swayed by the home atmosphere. All sports have precisely what we know as ... judgment calls.

Looking beyond the current brouhaha over sham figure skating judging, there are two very simple things that can be done to make all judgment calls more honest. First, simply use the technology at our disposal. Let judges view videotape in slow-motion. Get it right. Referees generally have a fit when you suggest that. But that removes the human element, they wail.

Well, exactly. The photo-finish camera at the race track is still the best referee in the world, and it has zero percent human element ... or human ego.

Secondly, every organization that runs sports -- starting with the Olympics, especially the Olympics -- must make it mandatory that all officials, especially judges -- starting with figure skating, especially figure skating -- would be required to meet with the press after each event and explain their decisions. It is absolutely incredible, in the 21st century, that the people who make Olympic decisions are allowed to hide from a free press.

Once officials are held up to the light of day and forced to be accountable for their decisions, they will be more honest. That's the way I judge this matter.

Sports Illustrated senior contributing writer Frank Deford is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com and appears each Wednesday on National Public Radio's Morning Edition. His new novel, The Other Adonis (Sourcebooks Landmark), is available now at bookstores everywhere.

The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.

 

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