The "Bodi Principle" of criticism
If you don't keep up with the Olympics, I'll recap the topic. Downhill skier Bode Miller was disqualified on his "combined" run for straddling a gate in the slalom. He's an athlete in a precision sport. That happens.
But all I've heard today from sports analysts is how much Bode choked. "He's not living up to his own hype." And "He's talking big but he can't perform." And all sorts of other nasty things. And you know what, that grates me the wrong way.
Fine, Bode said he gets sloshed and goes skiing. A lot of other people do that except they're not Olympic athletes. Bode said this, and that, and the other thing. Let's go over something here. From all I can see, he's a skier. Skiing is a LONE sport. You go on the mountain, and even if you're with buddies you're going down the hill alone. So when he's talking about skiing, he's basically on his own too.
Skiing is a precision sport, especially slalom skiing. Athletes are not robots, they're not machines. They're people. And people do make mistakes. When I checked last time, even the biathlon athletes missed targets once in a while. Bowlers don't roll strikes all the time. Barry Bonds doesn't smack homers all the time (with or without 'roids, but who's counting that?)
So he missed. BIG FREAKING DEAL. He's a "star athlete", but he's also still human. I wonder what sports analysts would do if they were scrutinized by athletes as harsh as they give it out. "Well he is a Cornhusker, so it's no surprise who he's rooting for. You know his facts are totally wrong on the other team. I can't believe a professional like him would even say something like that. Was he drunk when he wrote that?"
Harsh? Possibly. People, these are athletes. They play a sport. Some make a living at it. This does not make them heroes, role models, or infallible. It also does not give us the right to judge them as a human being if they make one mistake under pressure. Besides, in the end it's JUST a game. If it decided the fate of the universe, I can understand being upset. But what, it means the USA doesn't get a gold phallic symbol?
Sports analysts, get over yourselves. Play a sport, and then let your co-workers rip you apart like you rip these guys apart. Then I'll start to respect you.
But all I've heard today from sports analysts is how much Bode choked. "He's not living up to his own hype." And "He's talking big but he can't perform." And all sorts of other nasty things. And you know what, that grates me the wrong way.
Fine, Bode said he gets sloshed and goes skiing. A lot of other people do that except they're not Olympic athletes. Bode said this, and that, and the other thing. Let's go over something here. From all I can see, he's a skier. Skiing is a LONE sport. You go on the mountain, and even if you're with buddies you're going down the hill alone. So when he's talking about skiing, he's basically on his own too.
Skiing is a precision sport, especially slalom skiing. Athletes are not robots, they're not machines. They're people. And people do make mistakes. When I checked last time, even the biathlon athletes missed targets once in a while. Bowlers don't roll strikes all the time. Barry Bonds doesn't smack homers all the time (with or without 'roids, but who's counting that?)
So he missed. BIG FREAKING DEAL. He's a "star athlete", but he's also still human. I wonder what sports analysts would do if they were scrutinized by athletes as harsh as they give it out. "Well he is a Cornhusker, so it's no surprise who he's rooting for. You know his facts are totally wrong on the other team. I can't believe a professional like him would even say something like that. Was he drunk when he wrote that?"
Harsh? Possibly. People, these are athletes. They play a sport. Some make a living at it. This does not make them heroes, role models, or infallible. It also does not give us the right to judge them as a human being if they make one mistake under pressure. Besides, in the end it's JUST a game. If it decided the fate of the universe, I can understand being upset. But what, it means the USA doesn't get a gold phallic symbol?
Sports analysts, get over yourselves. Play a sport, and then let your co-workers rip you apart like you rip these guys apart. Then I'll start to respect you.
posted by Rob "Tyger" Rubin at
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
2 Comments:
I was recently thinking the same thing about soccer/basketball/football moms/dads/even coaches. They sit aroung screaming at players to shoor/jump/block/run, and very possibly may have never done it themselves. Now, they may have played in high school or college which changes everything, but generally, all they've watched is pro sports and how it "should" be played.
By
Anonymous, at Tuesday, February 21, 2006 6:50:00 PM
I've seen the same thing Bonestock but at the paintball field, I was reffing young guns at the IAO a couple of years ago, and one of the Dad's was yelling at the kids to "Prove that they wanted it" "They had to earn more paint" and "Prove that they deserve it" it got so bad that one of our ref's (for this to make sense you have to understand we are Canadian) turned around and said "you are such a Hockey mom" it stopped the guy dead in his tracks, I never heard a word out of him again all day.
By
Anonymous, at Monday, September 18, 2006 8:48:00 AM
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