Well, it happened again.
This past weekend, while viewing a college men's game, one of the commentators " reflecting on a questionable decision by an official " stated that a particular player had "earned that call."
In a flash, my eyes were bulging and the blood at a low seethe. Nothing sends me into a boil like that particular phrase, which is usually meant to cover up a bad call by an official that favors a star player. The implication is that the call is justified because that player is an all-star, or has been around long enough to deserve preferential treatment. Mid-draft rookies or bench players need not apply.
As my Daily Item colleagues will attest, it's a personality trait that not only infuriates, but sends me into voice-raising flashbacks. My two favorite examples are Michael Jordan and Greg Maddux, who " thanks to ESPN and TBS " were ubiquitous during the heyday of their careers.
Jordan was, in my humble opinion, the greatest basketball player of all time. But during his time on the court, he benefited from hundreds of extra free throws, compliments of officials who decided that the legitimacy of a call wasn't based on the actual facts. Rather, Jordan got the benefit of the call because he was a superstar. Touch fouls that were never called in favor of the other nine players on the court almost always seemed to send Jordan to the foul line.
Why? Because he had "earned" those calls.
Basketball isn't alone in this phenomenon. In baseball, Maddux is the perfect example.
Maddux, a certain first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, was a terrific pitcher who deserves enormous credit for overcoming the lack of a 90-mph fastball with great movement and consummate control of his pitches. I was a huge fan during his time with the Atlanta Braves.
At the same time, Maddux was the beneficiary of an umpiring mindset that gave him the benefit of the doubt " even when TV replay removed all doubt.
Because he lacked an overpowering fastball, Maddux always nibbled at the corners. After a while, his nibbling went two or three inches off the plate, and the umpires kept calling them strikes. Later, the Maddux strike zone became about four to six inches wider than the plate itself, and batters were left to swing at just about anything that was remotely close.
Great contact hitters were made to look inept by umpires who apparently bought into the premise that Maddux had "earned" the right to have obvious balls called strikes. The umpires didn't say so, but their calls were buttressed by the chatterboxes in the broadcast booth.
And now, as last weekend proved again, it's prevalent at the college level.
I know, I know: On the scale of things to become upset about, this should rank at or near the bottom. But sports are a microcosm of life, and if this behavior becomes widespread in the wider world, heaven help us. One can only imagine the Wall Street investment banker whose poor judgement " or willful criminality " costs shareholders and consumers hard-earned dollars out of their pockets. Will MSNBC claim that banker "earned" a reprieve because over the course of his career, he had gotten it right more than he had gotten it wrong?
How does all this tie into high school girls basketball?
In the girls game, I have yet to see any of that star-power effect where players have "earned" calls that go their way. I was fortunate enough to witness the exploits of Montoursville phenom Kelly Mazzante " certainly the biggest hoops star from the Valley in the past decade " during her junior and senior seasons. She was already a big name by then, but I don't recall her receiving favorable treatment from the officials, who certainly were aware of her acclaim.
Mazzante went on to star at Penn State, where she was a three-time All-American, and still plies her trade in the WNBA. But as Montoursville was losing two consecutive PIAA Class AAA finals to Blackhawk in 1999 and 2000, she certainly wasn't accorded any special treatment as she struggled in both games.
So there is good news out there, for those who get as infuriated at "earned-call syndrome" as I do: The malady doesn't seem to have made its way down to the high school level. At least not yet.
But come on, officials and commentators: A foul is a foul, whether it's committed by a superstar or the last person off the bench. And the converse is equally true: Don't call a foul just because the supposed foulee happens to be a superstar. And don't call a strike when a pitch is six inches off the plate.
And please, don't try to convince me " yet again " how a certain player has "earned" an obvious erroneous call.
n E-mail comments to mcorbett@dailyitem.com
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Sports
Matt Corbett's column on high school girls basketball: When a foul isn't a foul
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