Politics and Sports...Too Bad the Former is not More Like the Latter Part II: Making the Calls

In sports by and large--a bad call happens and folks criticize the call and not the person making the call.  In politics a decision that some constituents do not like becomes their "bad call"--and unlike in sports-- it becomes all about the person and not the "call."

In sports there are competitors, spectators, and referees.

Referees manage the games and make the calls during the games to insure that the rules are followed and that the game is played fairly.  Referees and Umpires know the rules, they apply the rules, and for the most part they tune out the noise from the spectators and apply the rules to the game.

Sometimes the referees make a bad call--and the call is challenged.  Sometimes the calls are upheld, sometimes they are overturned.

People get mad at the calls, sometimes loudly criticizing the calls (particularly in baseball)  Umpires take it for the most part--the screaming and yelling from the stands--because typically the criticism is of the "call"--not the "person."  Sometimes players are ejected though if they don't let the situation go--and depending upon the level of personal attacks aimed at officials--sometimes spectators are removed as well.  We've all seen this.

But typically at the end of a game after one side wins and one side does not win--good calls and bad calls and all aside----- the issue of the referees fades into obscurity.  As it should.

I mean, who actually remembers the name(s) of the official(s) that blew the Saints/Rams Missed Pass Interference Call in 2019?  --the referees were not even named in the scahing press reports of the missed call. It was a bad call--a terrible call.  It was a missed call--and everyone knows that.  But the call was bad, not the person! 

The person is a human and humans make mistakes. 

In that instance--the participants on both side of that play worked together to insure such a bad call would never happen again and followed the process to change the rules of the game to allow instant replay reviews of Pass interference calls.

So what the heck do referees and umpires and penalty calls have to do with politics, you ask?

A lot.

In politics, particularly on the County Commission, we have to make tough "calls" on many of our votes (zoning changes, ordinances, taxing decisions, land value determinations, union negotiations, etc.)  We utilize our common sense, we apply the "rules" (ordinances, laws, regulations) and we make "calls" (votes)--often times with an evenly-split, vocal and motivated constituency on both sides of an issue.

But here is where the huge differences come in.

In politics and particularly on the county commission--folks zero in on the person if a "call" does not go their way.   And it can get very personal in a mean-spirited, ugly way in a real hurry---just over one vote on one position/proposition.  It is not about the call, it becomes about the person.

And then the attacks come.

I've seen it first hand and it is quite appalling.  A good person makes a vote on something because he believes this is the right thing to do and that person is demonized and trashed online, at meetings, and in the press (sometimes even  by the press)

A retired commissioner with whom I spoke about this phenomenon confirmed it to be true when he said to me  "Jeff, you can do something for someone on twenty different occasions--fixing pot holes, getting a road repaved, doing something with zoning, or whatever.  But on that 21st issue--if you have to say NO or you can't fix the problem for whatever the reason--they will turn on you, they'll forget the good you have done.  That's just the way it is"

Yes indeed, and it is a shame.  It does not turn into just one call with the call being criticized--it becomes personal with the action ("call") being weaponized.  I've lived it personally now over the last three years on a number of decisions I've made.

So yes, in this instance, it sure is too bad that making "calls" in politics couldn't be more like making "calls" in sports.  Because, just like the referee or the umpire--politicians are humans too--and none of us are infallible.