Comments on: The Price of Injustice?

By: Brett @ Personal Loan Portfolio

Brett @ Personal Loan Portfolio — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:20:42 +0000

@ Miranda: “The higher start value often means that something that is poorly executed gets a higher score than something that is very well done, but has a lower start value.”

That is what I read also. There is hardly any art left in the sport although I still enjoying watching the amazing things they can do.

By: Lazy Man

Lazy Man — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:21:25 +0000

I sometimes have a problem calling subjective sports, sports. I know it’s very competitive, but sometimes it appears very much an art to me. Plus, you get into a gray area… does Iron Chef (not that I’ve seen a full episode) count as a sport?

By: guinness416

guinness416 — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:18:40 +0000

Have you read this? I find the "subjective" sports hard to understand (especially because I don't know my pike from my tuck except at olympics time) but I imagine they're trying quite hard to avoid any ice skating type scandals.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:00:11 +0000

Any sport that is judged by humans is prone to problems. Apparently some of the judges haven’t even been paying attention. I think that these games haven’t done anything to improve the standing of gymnastics in the world (which is a shame).

I wonder if an independent body could be created to help judge sporting events – a corporate one rather than a series of national judges.

By: Ron@TheWisdomJournal

Ron@TheWisdomJournal — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:03:56 +0000

She DID get robbed, but so have a lot of USA athletes. Have you watched any boxing? Sheesh! I wonder how things will be in London in 2012?

If I were to be an athlete, I would much prefer to compete in a sport that was scored, measured, or timed rather than one that was “judged.” There are too many opportunities for bias in a judged sport.

By: jim of Blueprint for Financial Prosperity

jim of Blueprint for Financial Prosperity — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:00:45 +0000

Gymnastics scoring is so odd, the one thing I don’t understand is why they don’t have set judges. When something is so subjective, why not have the scoring all done by the same judges on one apparatus? The same judges for all the uneven bar performances, the same for all the floor, that way it’s at least normalized across the competitors.

By: Dedicated

Dedicated — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:12:45 +0000

100% in agreement here. It broke my heart watching that young girls face. I didn’t understand it at all last night! The morning hasn’t cleared it either.

By: Miranda

Miranda — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:12:22 +0000

I don’t like the way gymnastics are judged, either. The higher start value often means that something that is poorly executed gets a higher score than something that is very well done, but has a lower start value. Additionally, I like watching the events (like swimming) where the competitors have to be the first. It’s more objective. After all, in such “artistic” sports as gymnastics, there is a certain amount of subjectivity.

Anyway, you could compare gymnastics to investing: A higher risk (start value) can lead to a bigger payoff. Of course, the higher start value in gymnastics is supposed to lead to a greater risk in terms of points losses if you make mistakes…