12/21/24
February 13, 2002
The role of subjectivity in sport: Simon Barnes, in The Times, discusses the Canadian ice skating incident, and more interestingly, the role of subjectivity in sports.
tony kornheiser was discussing this on his radio show yesterday: postulating, and subsequently dismissing, the notion that "Is Foo a Sport?" can be answered by the level of objectivity which goes into determining the victor. judges --be they called judges or referees or umpires-- will always have some sway on the outcome of a given contest. but i feel there is some validity to defining a "sport" to some extent by just how much sway judges have. downhill skiing is more a sport than ice-skating in this definition -- as it should be ;-). christine brennen touches on this in her reaction to the pairs skating controversy.
posted by danostuporstar at 09:48 AM on February 13, 2002
Folks, there HAS to be some controversy, just to keep the buzz going. But it has to be of a 'decent' sort such as this, because NBC doesn't want their viewers so mad they tune out; otherwise they would remind us every five minutes about the bribery involved in a city being 'awarded' the Olympics. This Olympics has the disadvantage of not having a Tanya Harding type incident, so the pot wasn't already boiling, so to speak. BTW, last time I was in Vancouver, Washington I ran into Tanya; she's as cute as ever.
posted by Mack Twain at 11:24 AM on February 13, 2002
Unfortunately, even if the judges are found to be in collusion after a review of the incident, the Russians will not be stripped of their gold medal. The worst that can happen is that the judges will be suspended.
posted by RGarraud at 01:28 PM on February 13, 2002
Well, the French judges claim they were manipulated, but the skating federation will take its time...
posted by adampsyche at 02:06 PM on February 14, 2002
The Ice Skating incident is under review. Hopefully something comes of it.