I remember the days of sports before instant replay review on TV. In many ways sports were better then. Close play, official makes a call, move on. Yeah, sometimes a call was so egregious that you wished for an instant replay, but for the most part close calls balanced out.
When we were kids playing on the schoolyard, there was no instant replay, there were also few arguments.
Tie goes to the runner.
If someone says they made the tag, then he made the tag.
In bounds, out of bounds? The closest person to the line made the call and the call always stood.
Games were fun in those days. We played to win, but if teams were not fair, they were rearranged on the fly to even things up. There were no arguments to speak of…
Except.
Every neighborhood always had one. One kid that knew all the rules and used the rules to win. To this kid winning was everything. He was THAT kid.
If there was a clean hit and the man running to first base turned the wrong way in returning to first base, THAT kid would be waiting with a tag.
“You rounded the wrong way, you crossed the line by a half an inch, you’re out!”
If a fielder missed stepping on second base by a fraction, The "In the neighborhood" rule which existed in the major leagues did not exist for THAT kid.
“You stepped over the bag, I’m safe.”
THAT kid was the only one on the field who knew what a balk was, and he called it when ever it worked for him.
THAT kid called every fumble a fumble when on defense, when on offense he decided "The ground can't cause a fumble."
THAT kid fought every call, pulled out rules that no one had ever heard of and would do anything to win.
Why you ask, did we even let THAT kid play?
THAT kid was also the kid who brought the ball. If you did not agree with his rules and calls, he threatened to take his ball and just go home.
Like I said, every neighborhood had THAT kid.
I wonder what ever happened to THOSE kids when they grew up.
