Softball Gold

Japan upset the United States in women’s softball at the Olympics.

Softball has been taken off the Olympic roster and may never return. One of the reasons was that the USA has been so dominant in the sport. It has been as if people want to give them the gold medal before the tournament begins. In Beijing, you could have made a good case for doing just that.

Whether softball returns in 2016 is hard to say. Japan’s astounding win certainly improves the chance that it will, but a lot will depend on the politics of the Olympic sport associations.

I was reading the CBC comments to their report on their website. Somebody hinted that the fix was in. That person doesn’t understand softball very much and he knows the people who play it even less.

To start, it is a team sport. On any given day, any number of players can have a substandard game. If it is the pitcher, the team may be in big trouble. Even something as simple as who the hurler is going to be may be the determining factor.

In 1984, Canada was at the men’s world championship. In the semi-final, Canada’s pitcher dominated the USA and we won 4-0.

Rather than following through on the rotation, the coaches made a last-minute decision to go with the same pitcher. He wasn’t aware he was on the mound until two hours before the game. Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough time to prepare mentally, emotionally and physically. It was apparent from the first inning that he wasn’t as sharp as he had been the day before. Canada lost 3-1 to New Zealand.

On to the second point. As is the case with many sports, the difference between first and second place can be very small.

Finally, to suggest that a fix was in is an insult to the athletes. Do you really thing that the players would spend four years preparing for this competition, only to throw it away?

Don’t suggest for a minute that the officials might have decided the outcome. In international competitions, the umpires compete for the right to do home plate or be one of the officials in the final game. They are as proud to be a part of the Olympics as the players. There is no way they are going to favour one team or another. This is not like judging in many sports. It is a final game, and if the International Softball Federation used its regular formula, none of the umpires on the field was Japanese or American.

Yes, a great upset happened on the softball field, but not as much as you might think. This is the same Japanese team that lost a previous match to the USA in extra innings. And, no, there was no fix that the US loss was planned. On the contrary, give more credit to the planning to the Japanese coaching and the execution by their players.

And finally, yes, the result was good for softball in general. Having the US women dominate makes it boring. Having been the technical director when Canada lost the final game of the Men's World Championship to New Zealand, my heart goes out to the American women. It it tough when you feel that your moment of glory has been denied when you honestly believe you were the better team, but didn't perform up to your expectations on the day.