Our society, in fact all societies, put on a pedestal the wise people we select to be the final arbiters of disputes. We have called them judges, solons, caliphs, referees, umpires ... lots of other names.
But by any name, their role is to try to see to it that disputes are settled fairly and that both sides receive justice. Sometimes, both sides get part of what they want, sometimes one side gets everything, and sometimes the loser winds up with less than what he or she went into the dispute with.
It is what defines a civilization, this practice of settling disputes according to a set of laws or rules.
However, lately in the world of sports, it seems that those who are charged with the task of handing down decisions that are fair and follow the rules. Another example occurred this week during the U.S. Open tennis tournament at Flushing Meadows, New York.
Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati were going at it in the women's quarterfinal. It was one of the marquee matchups of the tournament.
Williams had won the first set, 2-6 and Capriati took the second, 6-4. In the first game of the third set, Williams hit a backhand shot past Capriati.
The line judge said the shot was in, giving the point to Williams. However, the umpire, the one who sits in that high chair, overruled the line judge and said the ball had landed outside the line. The umpire, Mariana Alves of Portugal, awarded the point to Williams.
It was just one point out of many, although observers say there were two other points in a critical portion of the third set that TV replays showed should have gone to Williams but were awarded to Capriati instead.
Capriati won the match and moves on to the semifinals.
The whole thing was reminiscent of the Wimbledon Tournament last July, when Serena Williams' sister, Venus, lost in the second round on a call that clearly should have gone her way. The umpire in that case, Ted Watts, was dismissed from the tournament.
It would seem that we are seeing a trend developing here. Going back to the 2002 Winter Olympics, when an out-and-out vote swapping scandal and the subsequent investigation wound up with the awarding of a second gold medal in Pairs Figure Skating.
In the just concluded Summer Olympics as well, there were some judging oddities.
Start with the Japanese judge who informed the U.S. Men's Gymnastics team just before the competition that part of their routine no longer had the difficulty rating it had had in all the international competitions leading up to the Olympics. As a result, the U.S. men had to quickly adjust their routines, something not easily done after months of practice.
Still in Men's Gymnastics, judges used the wrong difficulty factor in computing the score of a Korean gymnast. That resulted in an American winning a gold medal and the resulting ugly argument over whether he should return it or not.
We need to keep in perspective the fact that sports judges, referees, umpires, whatever you call them, are honest and hardworking and do their jobs for the purpose of providing a framework in which a true winner can be decided. The high profile errors and/or cheating are a very small fraction of the many quick and accurate decisions and rulings made on the playing fields and courts each week.
But I don't believe the recent spate of judging issues is simply a matter of heightened scrutiny. There does seem to be a problem with the competence or integrity of those involved in the recent judging questions.
To the credit of the sponsoring organizations, judges who have displayed incompetence or lack of integrity seem to have been quickly dealt with.
We also need to make sure that we don't generalize our opinions of sports officials based on the well publicized cases.
It is a hard job, one most of us would never choose to take on, to make immediate decisions on a fleeting moment of action, all based on a book of rules and hours of training.
Hang in there, Stripes.