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[http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/mcrae_feb15.html
The Insanity Of It
McRae's World
EARL McRAE -- Ottawa Sun
February 15, 2002
The poor, the starving, the homeless here and around the world are probably wishing to hell they'd get the same outpouring of concern, compassion, and rage that we're seeing over a couple of figure skaters having been robbed in an entertainment called the Winter Olympics.
I could be wrong, but I doubt Jamie Sale and David Pelletier winning the gold medal would have cured poverty, starvation, and homelessness here and around the world.
Since every reporter on the planet dead and alive is yapping on this controversy, guess I might as well, too. Jesus and God should be coming out with statements any moment now.
To tell the truth, I'd never heard of Sale and Pelletier before the grand larceny. I'm into figure skating like I'm into grave digging. I suspect a whole lot of Canadians share my disinterest.
Along with a whole lot of the poor, starving, and homeless who have other things on their minds, and have never cared a whit about figure skating because, for one thing, they've never had the big money it takes to get involved in this elitist activity should they have wanted to.
I agree Sale and Pelletier got jobbed, and that's unfortunate, and if an investigation proves the fix was in, the culprits should be banned, fined, jailed, whatever, and maybe give the two Canucks gold medals, who knows, I sure don't.
Short of having the Russkies and the Canucks skate their programs again, and I can't see that happening either, whether the judging defies all the laws of human nature and is unbiased, if not fixed, it still reflects the convolutions of human opinion. If the Russkies win a flawless re-skate or the Canucks win a flawless re-skate, you're still going to hear the howling and yelling of "unfair."
Dust-up
Ask a baseball umpire. Ask a tennis judge.
The only ones who seem to have their heads screwed on right in this dust-up are the two skaters who are showing a lot more composure and maturity than the wild-eyed, mouth-foaming legions in the media and the public, and, as for the latter, I truly wonder how many citizens as a percentage of the whole are slitting their wrists.
Those who are, get a bloody life. You're probably eating tonight, with a warm bed to sleep in.
As Sale and Pelletier have rightly said: Yeah it hurts, but their great performance will always stand as gold in their hearts; and I'd add it must be damn nice becoming the most popular celebrities through defeat in human history, with riches coming the Russkies will never see.
Okay, so what's the answer, if there is one? Well, maybe you go to instant replay the way the NFL does. Maybe you stick a "ref" on the ice. If there seems an obvious judging "infraction" that deprives one of the pairs of its just medal, the "victimized" team appeals for the replay of the programs, the ref watches the film, the ref makes the final call.
Truth serum
Except the ref would have to be overdosed with truth serum; either that or be God Himself because there'd still be the howling.
Or maybe you do this, which isn't perfect, but better than now: You automatically toss out the highest score and the lowest score and, through an additional math formula based on the remaining scores, you come up with the winner. That's what they do in diving. Must work. I don't recall any coin tosses to settle a tie.
Personally, had the Russkies not had those flubs, I thought they should have won. More graceful and artistic. Their program more challenging. Their brighter costumes and more streamlined bodies (I'm referring to the lumpier Pelletier) wouldn't have hurt them either.
McRae can be reached at (613) 739-5133, ext. 469 or emailed at earl.mcrae@ott.sunpub.com. Visit his online home page.
Letters to the editor should be sent to oped@sunpub.com
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