American television audiences sat stunned as they watched Chinese gymnast Cheng Fei take the bronze medal after crashing to her knees in the women's vault finals. A beautifully landed vault by Alicia Sacramone placed fourth. Mere hours later, we once again gasped in disbelief when Nastia Lukin lost the gold medal on uneven parallel bars to He Kexin after receiving the same score. Even if you overlook the fact that the gymnast might not even be old enough to compete in the Olympics, to the casual observer it is obvious that the scoring system contains glaring flaws. While watching the credibility of those Olympic judges tumble, I was reminded of another championship-deciding system that also carries some of the same frustrating flaws: the BCS. It seems that women's gymnastics actually does have a little something in common with college football.
In both college football and gymnastics, the past carries weight in the present. Before the first ball is snapped or the first somersault is spun, teams and athletes with past success are automatically given an advantage. USA Today's pre-season pollsters give Michigan entry into the top 25 despite the fact that they are breaking in a new coach and are recovering from some stumbles last season. Why? Because they're Michigan. Even though they've recently failed to come through when it counts, Ohio State is sitting pretty at number 2 or 3, depending on which poll you count. USC and Oklahoma are again near the top for the fifth or sixth year in a row. These rankings set up the race for the championship before nary a play is made. Those teams enter every season with a national championship advantage that is very difficult for lower teams to overcome simply because they've done well before, very often despite the previous season's performances. In women's gymnastics, judges, too, are aware of the "favorites" before the opening ceremonies are completed.
There are no tie breakers in either sport. There is no slugging it out on the field or in the gym to see who really is the team on top. For Nastia Lukin's uneven parallel bar tie, it went to the computer. Let's take away this score, throw this score in the mix, add a cup of sugar, a tablespoon of butter, and voila! looks like the Chinese gymnast comes out on top. Football is basically the same recipe. Let's take this poll, a little of that poll, a coach's vote here, a reporter's vote there, and boom! these two teams play for a National Championship. Sorry, Football U. you're schedule wasn't as "difficult" as Number One University.
Subjectivity. In sports where a championship is the goal, where one team or one person strives to prove their dominance in the sport, their unarguable, undeniable worth of being declared the best, subjectivity plays too large a role for the result to be taken seriously. There is no true number one. Pollsters decide, often disagreeing, throughout the season who should be first, second, etc. in college football. In gymnastics, judges often score the same routine with vastly differing scores, despite there being a set formula for difficulty and deductions. Human judgment decides in a big way who gets a chance to play for the prize. And as any of us who are human can tell you, it is very difficult to separate bias and emotion from our decisions no matter how hard we may try.
While I don't really care that much about women's gymnastics, other than pride in my country and a disdain for cheating in any sport regardless of who's playing, it is upsetting that there isn't a more objective scoring mechanism. How about gymnasts all do the same routine? Judges will have a consistent look at the same elements. Or perhaps judges could actually follow consistently the guidelines set for point deductions.
Now, I do care about college football and am growing weary of seeing worthy teams sitting on the sidelines watching a less worthy team play for a national championship simply because they're popular and happened to play in a conference that, let's face it, didn't prove too formidable. Popularity shouldn't decide national championships. This isn't homecoming; it's football. The BCS doesn't work. Is it going to take an undefeated USC left on the outside looking in, yet again? Or will it be Ohio State's undefeated season that leaves them playing for position number 3 in a Rose Bowl that causes those conferences who refuse to let go of the past to examine the realities of a playoff system? But hey, boys, it's the Rose Bowl....
Would the playoff solve all problems? No. But at least teams would be given an opportunity to decide it on the field and not let an objective computer filled with subjective information decide. The BCS is broken and only a real-live grind it out on the field playoff is going to fix it, IF our goal is to crown football champions and not homecoming teams.
No comments:
Post a Comment