Is it just me, or have there been more blown officiating calls this year than any other year?  I mean, not just minor infractions, but big-gun, game changing, career impacting judgments of idiocy.  Just off the top of my head:

  • Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers had his perfect game go up in flames when umpire Jim Joyce called Jason Donald safe at first when he was clearly out
  • The US Soccer Team at the World Cup had their perfectly good goal against Slovenia wiped away from the scoreboard due to an offsides call – essentially described as the “worst world cup call ever” – which changed the complexion of the match 
  • The US Soccer Team again, this time against Algeria (in what had to be the best match of anything I’ve ever seen) with another blown offsides call
  • This past weekend’s Formula 1 European Grand Prix when Mark Webber launched his Red Bull-Renault over the Lotus-Cosworth of Heikki Kovalainen (footage of the unbelievable crash here), which rightly brought out the Safety Car.  However, Lewis Hamilton of McLaren decided that the Safety Car was merely a suggestion, passed it, and gained tremendously in the field.  Even after the stewards imposed a rather lenient drive-through penalty, he finished second ahead of Ferrari rival, Spanish hero Fernando Alonzo.  Another “worst call ever” has plagued the results of this race

This doesn’t include another blown call during the knock-out World Cup match between England and Germany, or the regular knock-on-the-door-with-urine-cup-sample-in-hand Lance Armstrong has been subjected to over the last decade.

 First, in paragraph 1882 of our trusty CCC, we see the following: 

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…the creation of voluntary associations and institutions must be encouraged “on both national and international levels, which relate…to sport….” This “socialization” also expresses the natural tendency for human beings to associate with one another for the sake of attaining objectives that exceed individual capacities. It develops the qualities of the person, especially the sense of initiative and responsibility, and helps guarantee his rights.

Well, one could argue that “rights” were certainly violated with some of these bone-headed calls.  Perhaps this is one of those, “someday you’ll be a butterfly and it will make sense one day” moments. 

But, sport, to me at least, is life lived at its most accelerated moment (although I suppose this would be a tough observation to make during a Cricket Test Match). Our limits our tested; our commitment to teamwork is only as good as the individual is willing to push himself; and our zeal to win is often driven by our hatred of losing. 

Sport is also a mirror of society.  The crumbling of the family unit, the disdain for authority (um, French World Cup team anybody?), or the impassioned commitment to overcome odds – it’s all there.  And we have to deal with it. We have to compete against it, integrate it into our game stratagem, and develop it.

We as Catholics have the obligation – yes, obligation – to stand above the fray.  To compete, yes, but also to recognize that our final victory rests with Christ.  The blown calls hurt.  They’re unfair and downright abhorrent.  But, the way we comport ourselves as spectators or players must reflect our Catholic nature.  This doesn’t mean we have to like the call.  It merely means we have to the love the ones who made it. 

 

Author

  • Laurance Alvarado

    Laurance Alvarado is a senior director with a prominent New York-based international turnaround and restructuring firm and the board chairman of the Morley Publishing Group. Over the last 25 years, he’s run consulting practices in Washington, D.C., Latin America, and the Middle East and has done business in more than 20 countries. He is active in social concerns, attends Traditional Latin Mass, and is a member of the Pinellas Schola Cantualis. He’s a cycling enthusiast, commutes around Washington on a Brompton, races Porsches, and competes in anything with wheels. He’s a native Texan from San Antonio and a Texas Aggie who served his country in the Air Force. He loves history, strategy, free enterprise, sailing, dogs, and — most of all — his bride of 18 years.

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