Then word spread that the vault — the “horse” — had been set almost two inches too low. But the mistake wasn’t discovered until after 18 athletes had competed in the women’s all-around final. Apparently, no one had bothered to measure it before the competition began.
Now, certainly, for most of us, a couple of inches doesn’t matter a whole lot. But that’s not the case for a finely-tuned athlete. I remember, years ago, reading about a star pro basketball player who was shooting hoops at a local gym.
Or, rather, missing hoops.
The fellow relating the story said the player looked confused, thought about it, apparently adjusted his shot, and started draining them. As he walked from the court, he commented “Your hoop is about half an inch low.” The fellow checked it out. The player was right.
That was what happened to Khorkina and the others. Only they didn’t have the privilege of adjusting to the mistake then and there.
The judges ruled. The score cards flashed. Next.
Years and years of preparation right down the drain.
Surely, it wasn’t her fault. But in Sydney the “do-overs” were limited to a chance to try again at the end of the night. Several of the women said the damage was already done because those poor early vaults had affected their psyches. Of the five gymnasts who did repeat the event, none placed in the top 10.
By the time Khorkina heard of the mistake, she was feeling awful. Having fallen off the uneven bars — her trademark event — she had dropped to 10th place. She skipped the vault do-over. (And when reporters tried to stop her for an interview after the competition, she told them to “get lost.”)
See you in four years.
How fortunate it was — in the midst of that unfortunate incident — that the games weren’t held in the United States. Here, it seems safe to speculate, the people who set up the vault, the judges who said that particular competition would continue, the head of the Olympics and everyone else who could possibly be named would be facing major lawsuits.
After all, Khorkina didn’t really lose. She was denied the opportunity to fairly compete by the heinous act of… And so on and so on and so on.
As the son of a lawyer, I know attorneys don’t think the same as non-lawyers do. Or, more accurately, they think like lawyers when they are called on to think like lawyers. I don’t mean that in a negative way. I, as a writer and editor, think like a writer and editor when I’m called on to do just that.
I remember years ago there was a case that was making big-time news (no, not O.J. Simpson) and I asked my father if he thought the person was guilty of the charge. Oh, yes, he said, but the fellow wouldn’t be convicted because it couldn’t be proved.
And that seemed perfectly fair to him. If not necessarily right, certainly just.
I believe lawyers have a noble profession. I do not believe all lawyers always act nobly in their profession. The same is true with most professions.
Unfortunately, in our own time, lawyers are seen as — and some appear eager to play the role of — the loud-mouthed kid who screams “No fair! Do over!” We, children on the same team, didn’t necessarily like that kid’s antics but, still, if he or she could get a do-over, well…
So what will the fallout from Florida be? Not the final — if there ever is or ever can be — tally, but the long-range effects. The impact that hits home. The lessons our children will learn.
Sad to say, but the most apparent seems to be: If they say you lose, argue. If you don’t make a stink, you really have lost. If you do make a stink — if, in one way or another, you throw a fit — you still have a chance to win.
But then most kids already know this. And they, at times, act that way because they are kids. We expect them to act childishly. And we expect them to grow out of it. It’s called maturing.
I also think Florida offers us Catholics a few reminders about God and winning.
1. It is possible to work very hard at something truly worthwhile. To pray very hard that a particular something happens. And then it doesn’t. That can be the case because we live in an imperfect world, one that is messed up in countless ways by sin and the effects of sin. But that can also happen because God, in his infinite wisdom and love, has other plans for us. A future — a purpose, a job — we can’t even imagine. And the path to that future begins with a stinging, brutal “no” to what we want right here and right now.
2. God does allow do-overs. We don’t just live in a world messed up by sin. We ourselves sin. Each of us. We add to the mess. But, through the sacrament of Reconciliation, we can ask God’s forgiveness for the times we have sinned and he will give it to us. Every time.
3. God doesn’t allow do-overs. Not forever. There’s a time limit and the clock is ticking. We have only one lifetime to choose him and we don’t know how long that lifetime will be. We can’t see the clock.
Then we will stand before Jesus, the judge, and even as our “case” is examined there’s no room for argument. There’s no “Yes, but…” that we can present. There’s no loud-mouthed kid we can rely on to yell, “No fair! Do over!”
This would be a truly terrifying prospect if there weren’t another thing we can rely on: God’s mercy. Fortunately for us, that’s infinite, too.
