Do no Hamm
Mood:  hug me
Topic: sports
The South Korean gymnast who took bronze in the Men's all around has been awarded a facsimilie gold medal and the same $20,000 cash prize that is awarded to all South Korean gold medalists. He also plans on appealing his case, which has been denied by the International Olympic Committee and chortled at by the U.S. Olympic committee, to the World Court of Sports (or something like that).

For those of you who aren't familiar with this case, it basically breaks down like this. A judge made an error, and as a result the outcome was affected. Sound familiar? It should. It happens all the freakin' time.

Just this past weekend refs made a mistake that allowed Tennessee to kick a game winning field goal over the Florida Gators. And T.O. made a touchdown grab that, upon further review, was neither a touchdown nor a catch. But both of these plays stood, and the results were affected. (Although, the Eagles were going to win that one anyway, but for argument's sake, go along with this one.)

This happens in sports (all sports, not just ones where judges determine the outcome, but any sport where there are human officials) all the time, because the judges or refs or umps are humans, prone to mistakes, even when aided by technology. We all must live within these bounds, and the fact that the Koreans are continuing to harp about this speaks more about their poor sportsmanship, rather than Hamm's (which many American sports columnists alluded to soon after his victory.)

Kudos to Hamm for not giving in to the pressure to return his medal in the "spirit of sportsmanship." And huzzah for the U.S. Olympic committee for sticking with him.

Tony