I agree with everything you wrote here.

However, what if the Korean team didn't notice the SV error until an hour after the medal ceremony? Should they be allowed to protest that objective mistake and get the medals shuffled?

What about two hours?

Or two days?

Or two months?

I agree completely that objective errors should be corrected, and that all teams should expect them to be corrected. However, I also believe that they should be corrected timely, and the only proper measurement of timeliness is that prescribed in the rules.

If a runner fails to touch a base in baseball he can thrown out up to the point that the next pitch is thrown. If everyone knows that he missed the base - the runner, the infielders, the pitcher, the umpires, the fans in the stands, and your cousin Fred watching on TV 12,000 miles away on Diego Garcia - and the pitcher mistakenly throws the next pitch before throwing out the runner, then the runner is safe. Is it sportsmanlike for the team at bat to allow him to be thrown out after that pitch? In a word: no. It's against the rules.

If the Korean team did not protest the SV within the time allowed, their situation is no different than that of the baseball team on the field, and the American team's situation - and Paul Hamm's, in particular - is no different than that of the team at bat. The rules of the contest must be followed; failure to follow the rules is unsportsmanlike.

 

I know that I said I wasn't going to agree with you today, but I have changed my mind and will agree with you on this one. But I still think that if the Koreans DID object at the time (as they say they did) but were blown off by the judges, then the objection should still be considered now.

 

You're absolutely right.

 

Bloody hell fire .... we are agreeing with each other !!!

 

Another point to this is there were deductions that missed and were not taken against the Korean when the tape was reviewed. So if they decide to use a higher SV, they could also decide to use the other deductions that were missed. In this case the score might not be as high.

 

You forget that he was out of the competition until all the other competitors fell on their routines or had major deductions.

 

[QUOTE=MrForgetable,Aug 23 2004, 10:34 PM] but Hamm's reputation will go down the tubes in the international level if he doesn't give up the gold.