Unfortunately, it doesn’t get played that way.
Sadly, to make sure the game runs smoothly, they invented a thing called a “foul,” which is a punishment for interfering with the ability of a player on the other team to move the ball... a punishment for disrupting the fluid nature of the game. But fouls don’t have any real penalty attached. So they’ve become a strategic tool used by teams when they need to get the ball back. Basically, they grab the player with the ball and the action stops. A foul is called. The opposing player gets to take a shot at the basket, and then the team committing the foul gets the chance to get the ball back. In effect, they are openly cheating because they are willing to take the penalty of getting caught.
In my book, this is a horrible lesson to teach people. Rather than teaching people to step up their game, it teaches people to intentionally break the rules if they think the benefits of breaking the rules outweigh the punishment. That’s not a type of thinking society wants people to internalize because it leads people away from doing the right thing on principle and instead gets them thinking in risk/reward terms. But risk/reward thinking is not enough to make society work unless you want a hardcore police state with sharp punishments. And here is basketball, teaching people this very lesson.
Even worse, I see this kind of thinking spreading to other sports now. I’m amazed how happy people get when they watch football and penalties happen to the other side. It seems that winning by penalty is fast becoming just as acceptable to fans as winning by skill... penalties are now seen as “good plays.” That’s kind of shocking to me because it again flies in the face of the spirit of the game. Isn’t the game about superior play? I guess not. I guess, having the refs hand you the game is just as satisfying as winning it yourself. Again, this is not a good message for people to internalize... it sounds rather socialist actually.
Ditto on instant replay. Instant replay wrongly gives people the sense that we can and should achieve perfection. It also gives us a twisted version of perfection. By showing frame by frame images, it lets people wrongly imagine that it should have been easy for players or referees to do something that no one would ever consider possible when seen in real time. In effect, it wrongly makes us believe that perfection should be easy and only the incompetent fail to achieve it. That then reflects poorly in people’s expectations in every other facet of their lives, where perfect in anything is ultra-rare.
What I think makes these lessons particularly dangerous is that these lessons are taught without anyone realizing what they are learning. If a politician does something stupid, we debate it, and you consciously decide if their behavior is something you accept or you don’t. But the things above don’t strike us as lessons. They just slowly change our perceptions and our expectations. They are, in effect, the way brainwashing really works.
Thoughts?
20 comments:
I like women's college ball best. It comes closer to that ideal. Maybe if two points were awarded when a foul is committed?
Refs suck. The best basketball games are the ones where the refs step back and let the players do anything and everything short of trading punches. Those'll get your heart pumping.
Jed, I doubt basketball will change because they see this as adding excitement to the game because it gives the losing a team a chance they wouldn't otherwise have. Unfortunately, that adds the other lesson that the powers that be will don't like competition, they like the perception of competition.
If they wanted to change it, they would give the fouled team a point and the ball back beneath their won basket so they can start again.
T-Rav, The best refs are the ones who control a game without interfering in it... much like the best government. But it's becoming too common that refs are deciding games. The NFL, for example, should make pass interference a ten yard penalty with an automatic first down, not a spot of the foul.
Okay, I still like basketball, but conditionally. I love March Madness and I do enjoy the Olympic version as well. The pro level, however, has become so robotic that I liken it to torture- or being forced to watch 'The View.' You couldn't make me watch the NBA if you held a gun to my head.
However, using fouls to try to win the game at the end is cheap, drags it out, interrupts the play that we want to see, and just plain stinks. It's rotten at every level and that's when I change the channel in any situation.
But, Andrew, if you want a sport where cheating definitely isn't rewarded, I offer hockey. You commit a foul and get shamefully put on display in the penalty box, while your team is forced to play a few minutes with a man down. In other words, nice goin', bum. Plus, the NHL has been cracking down on diving, so trying to win an Oscar and a penalty isn't being rewarded like it used to. And best of all, in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the refs get a little more permissive- in others words, they let the teams play it out. No soft calls here and there, for the most part.
Now, before someone brings up fighting, I'll address that that, too. Opponents say it's unsportsmanlike, and it is. Then again, it's an emotional sport and proponents compare it to letting the bad blood out or policing a goon who's been getting away with cheap shots. It's also been compared to standing up for yourself and firing up your team. And remember, fights always get automatic penalties.
Oh, and on instant replay, Andrew, I think your argument works best with the pro level. College has replay too, but only on scoring plays or when the refs think a call is close and they want to make sure they get it right.
Also, college gets it right again by having set yards for pass interference penalties and no spot fouls.
Hm...I'm detecting a pattern of increasing irresponsibility (or just lack thereof) as the level of sport gets higher, with the pro level being the worst. That just seems backwards, doesn't it?
Rustbelt, Agreed about hockey. Hockey is a sport that sends the right messages, at least now that they've cleaned up the fighting and the diving. It's too bad it has such limited appeal with the public.
That is correct about instant replay at the college level. And it is interesting, isn't it, that there is more responsibility the further you go down the amateur ranks than up at the pro level. That does seem backwards.
I haven't watched a basketball game in more than a decade so I've got nothing to add to the main topic.
Anybody else extremely excited about the impending release of GTA5?
I recommend that the uninitiated watch the video below to see what the fuss is about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-xHcvug3WI
Anthony, I admit I'm tempted.
As an aside, I've spent my afternoon waterboarding a dachshund who found something delectable to roll in, which smells vaguely of a million rotting corpses.
Anthony,
I broke down and pre-ordered GTA5. I'm an idiot.
I've been playing the series since Vice City because it's one of the few that I can actually sit down and really enjoy. I lose interest in too many games, and I really don't care for first person shooters that much. I used to enjoy RPG's, but now I just google for exploits because I'm lazy.
I did laugh at the Amazon description of the game, which lists yoga first as one of the side activities. I'm looking forward to doing the downward dog.
Andrew....Don't know if this applies here, but golf is one sport where the players are the ones who call "fouls" on themselves. And if they don't, and someone else sees the foul and brings it up, then the player can be disqualified for not calling themselves out.
And talk about 'rules and regulations!' Look at "The Rules of Golf" for anyone playing the game. Not knowing the rules is no excuse. Players must know every rule and be able to interpret them in all situations. It's crazy!
Imagine if basketball players called fouls on themselves, or were allowed to call fouls on other players. The game would be stopping every second.
The penalty in golf for your ball moving even a fraction if caused by the player is one of the more controversial rules for players. Look at the Tiger Woods penalties in the BMW tourney this weekend. Also, the movie "Bagger Vance," has a penultimate scene where the golfer calls a penalty on himself, even when no one else is around to witness it, that perfectly encapsulates what the game of golf should be.
And best of all, every shot in golf, by every player who ever played the game, has been unique. Every shot is different. It's a dang amazing feat that golfers finish a hole, much less a tournament without being dq'd.
Further proof baseball is the greatest game God let us have. Now to stop those powers-that-be from letting instant replay become more a part of the game.
Eric, Instant replay would completely ruin baseball. Debating calls is part of the game's history.
Patriot, I don't follow golf personally, but it certainly has a level of honor/sportmanship attached that no other sport approaches.
I hate it when the refs think that they are an intregel part of the game. The should be rarely seen or heard from. The NFL right now is a mix. Take the last two games the broncos and ravens played. In the first one, the referring crew was awful while in the second game they played a minimal role. I do prefer Hockey in this terms because generally the teams are allowed to play and you may have several play time minutes of essentially uninterrupted play. I don't mind automatically reviewing all scoring plays. Players have gotten so fast and precise the literally the difference between a score or not may be in the miliseconds and inches. I also agree that not have replay in baseball makes it better. It allows for great arguements-he was safe! No, he was out by a mile!
There may be an overreading between what happens in sports and what happens in the real world. Trying to make the other team "foul" as a strategy is not necessarily bad, especially when they are fan-induced fouls such as illegal motion or drawing a team to be offsides. I have mixed feelings about pass interference and agree that it should be a distance rather than spot foul. But if you do this you will see defensive back outright tackel a receiver who has beaten him so prevent the long bomb touchdown.
I can deal with instant replay assisting in getting home run calls correct (and umps respecting it -- looking at you Tribe/A's clown crew-chief who ignored beyond conclusive evidence ... which worked against my In'juns). Beyond that, though, human error's alright with me provided umps who exhibit too much of it need to be bumped back to the minors till they improve. What's good for the players and coaches, don'tcha know.
This blue abides.
I hate basketball; there I said it, and I don't much care for football...I'm more of a baseball person...
Eh, I'm more of a Quidditch fan.
I don't like watching professional games much anymore no matter what it is. I don't despise the games and will gladly play in one if there is a friendly pick up game.
But there is one game I heard about from an Indian (the Asian Continent) co worker that intrigues me. It is called Kabbadi and I am not 100% certain of all the rules as there is a circular field that it is played on as well.
However as I understand it the game works like this. There is no ball. A field is broken into squares let us say nine on a half. There are nine defenders and they each are assigned a square. Defenders must stay in their squares.
The runner must cross one end and get to the other end of the field. Defenders get points if they can tackle the runner as he comes by but they cannot tackle the runner outside their square.
I may have the actual rules a little skewed but I like the version as I understand it. To heck with the passes and catching. This game is all about the tackling. Never has a chance to see the game. Evidently Cricket is more popular in India. Go Figure!
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