Who Wants to Be a Figure Skating Medallist?
CBN.com - From Tucson to Toronto to Tokyo people were transfixed last week not on America's War on Terrorism, nor the exploits of Copycat the cloned cat, but on the cutthroat world of Olympic figure skating.
For those of you who may have been on a remote tropical island, or were just completely engrossed in your midwinter drawer cleaning project, let me set the scene for you. The Russian duo of Elena Bereshnaya and Anton Sikharudilize won the gold medal in pairs figure skating despite making several small technical errors. Meanwhile, the Canadian team of David Pelletier and Jamie Sale were awarded the silver medal, even though they skated a near-flawless performance in the free skate program. Within hours, reports of possible deal making between judges arose causing Canadian officials to cry, "Hold the gold!" In the four days that followed, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Skating Federation (ISU) huddled, the French judge pleaded guilty of being coerced in a backroom deal, and on Friday, Pelletier and Sale were awarded a (not THE) gold medal. Got it?
Pondering all of the evidence as events unfolded last week, I arrived at a startling conclusion: none of this would have happened if the Winter Olympics had been televised on ABC. Use your imagination as you consider this. In the months leading up to the Games, ABC's Entertainment chief declares that the figure skating competition will employ "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" game rules into the judging system. So rather than judges using only traditional subjective scoring methods, based on technical merit and presentation, they can now employ "Phone a friend," "Fifty-Fifty," or "Poll the Audience" into the process when necessary.
Here is how it would work. Having just completed a routine that is a borderline medal performance, a judge who is wavering on giving a pair a higher mark than he/she thinks they deserve could opt for the "Millionaire" option. He could then:
A) phone a pre-determined friend who is watching the event at home on television for their opinion;
B) throw out the pair's worst demerit in each category, (this would hopefully bring more clarity to the score); or
C) have the audience place their scores on keypads attached to the arena seats that the judge could then consider.
Based on the "Millionaire" outcomes, the judge could then place a more educated, well-informed score. Doing so would hopefully alleviate any controversies like the one seen in Salt Lake.
All kidding aside, the controversial issues that were presented last week are very serious. Deal making and bloc voting between judges is completely unacceptable in figure skating, as well as the pantheon of other Olympic sports. To allow such behavior denigrates the integrity of figure skating, but more importantly the Olympic Games as a whole. People are drawn to the Olympics more than any other athletic event because of what it represents. It is an event that heralds spirited competition between rival countries while promoting a vastly needed element of peace throughout the world. The realization that strong-armed, threatening tactics are being used only tarnishes what the Olympics are all about. Its good reputation must be preserved at all costs.
The Bible speaks very eloquently about a good reputation. In
it says, "A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, loving favor rather than silver and gold."Fundamentally speaking, a good reputation represents who and what we really are. An inner quality that every person should possess is character. We should strive to develop high moral standards, know the difference between right and wrong, and be consistent in our attitudes.
If we live our lives in high esteem, i.e. with a high degree of truthfulness, kindness, moral decency, forgiveness, and integrity, we will not be as susceptible to worldly temptations. When presented with situations that foster temptation at home or in the workplace we will be able to stand firm in our Christ-like character.
As you go forward through the remainder of your day remember this: your reputation influences all who you come in contact with.
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