Sports are
complex, leading to a constant series of errors. In fact, success in many
sports is the exception. For example, in
baseball, a good hitter makes a hit only 30% of the time, meaning that most of
the time the batter fails. Of course,
the reason for a given lack of success is often hard to identify since the
interaction of a large number of players creates a complex interplay of forces.
In the above example, the hitter can fail to get to first base because of good
pitches, poor swing, heavy shifting of the defense, a great play by an opposing
player and sheer bad luck, to name just a few.
Occasionally, a player makes a mistake that he can only look at himself
and wonder how he did such a thing. The
fans, even the most sympathetic ones, often react to such mishaps in the most
direct way – boos. The less
understanding ones want the head of the offending player.
Continuing with
our first example, American baseball, players are faced with numerous
situations where they are face to face with the ball, all by themselves. A loss
of concentration can lead to the ball rolling between their legs, leaving the
poor player looking really stupid.
Sometimes, a player forgets to touch all four bags after he hits the
ball out of the park, nullifying the hit. A very rare example of being spacey
is thinking there are two outs when there isn’t or vice versa. That will lead
to a lot of kidding and even a fine on some teams.
Basketball is
fast paced, team game, which leads to many mistakes of circumstances. However,
there are some moments of individual ridiculousness. The most common example is the player
standing by the net with no opposing player around him and slamming the ball on
the ring instead of the net. The only that goes higher than the ball is the
blood pressure of the player. Ball
handling skills are taken for granted, especially for guards. Yet, from time to time, the ball handler
forgets that he has already dribbled but does it again in full view of the
referees, who have no choice but to call double dribble. On a more ridiculous
level, last minute confusion sometimes leads the player holding the ball
outside the court to pass it quite accurately to a player of the other
team. Try and explain that to the coach
and fans.
American
football combines speed, violence and complexity, also leading to a large
number of mistakes and penalties. Most can be explained by the interaction of
the large number of players but some cannot. An example is the player called
for lining up behind the line of scrimmage when the rules require that the
offense have at least seven players on the line of scrimmage. As the
commentators so sarcastically note, it is not hard to look left and right to
see where you are located. Another infrequent error is the poor pass between
the center and quarterback, leading to a fumble. The two players practice this transfer tens
of thousands of times. It should be automatic, right? On the defensive side, cornerbacks and
safeties are supposedly taught to look for the ball. Unfortunately, under the pressure of the
situation, a few forget to do so and get in the head with a flying
football. If they didn’t have a helmet,
they would have a red welt on the back of their head. Instead, they are merely very red-faced.
My discussion is
limited is American sports with which I am most familiar. I would happily love to hear about
unforgivable errors in other sports. For
example, in European football, aside from a self-goal, are there other WTF
moments?
