Sports Outrage

As a sports fan I am outraged. This is a great time of the year to be a fan, with the World Cup, NBA and Stanley Cup finals, baseball in full swing, a great French Open just completed, and summer full of action sports on the way, but the NBA and MLB are making it very difficult to enjoy.

Earlier this week, Armando Galarraga threw a perfect game. He didn't walk anyone, no one got a hit, and only 20 people have done this before him (Two this year, however, the odds of which are crazy low). There was only one problem - on the last out of the game the first base umpire called the runner safe on what was clearly an out.



The umpire apologized, but a man who threw a perfect game will not have his entry into one of the most elite clubs in sports. The fault here may lie in baseball and its older fans, who see instant replays as an affront to the sport's integrity. BS. Almost all sports use instant replays and retain integrity. Slow down the game? I'll watch an extra 5 mins to know a call will be the right one. Technology could replace umpires altogether in baseball. Would this be a better alternative? No unique "yerrrrrr out!" calls, but at least we would have clean games.

The real outrage comes with the NBA and its rules that allow for too much flexibility in calling fouls. This year's playoffs have highlighted this sore problem. Soccer players, long considered the Best Actor in a Sporting Role, now look like hockey players in terms of toughness and reluctance to accept a foul/ penalty in comparison to basketball players. You can't convince me that being touched on the arm or back by someone's hand will make a man fall on the ground time and time again.



It's pathetic and the league needs to change its rules so as not reward flops and acting and to reward hard play. Fans don't tune in to see the game stopped every 30 seconds for some chicken shit foul. We want to see players play the game and when a foul is committed it should be obvious. I won't go as far as to say I think the referees in basketball are biased toward a team or want the results of a series to go a certain way - I tend to shy away from conspiracy theories and I don't think they're even good enough to plan that out. I just think the league wants to promote a "clean" image for a sport that is often tarnished by its players' actions off the court. Wrong approach.

The World Cup is starting in a few days and I think the NBA should pay close attention to how fouls are administered. I risk eating my words, but fuck it.