This week, I published my latest NERD ALERT podcast called “To Be Fair.”
It’s all about rules and fairness and some possible ways to look at things. And I can’t figure out if the way our world seems to be in conflict with the rules and the rule enforcers has been right in front of my face every day without me obsessing about, or if my podcast has just pulled certain things out into the forefront for me right now?
It doesn’t really matter because either way, this week has had a lot of fodder to consider in the area of “the rules.”
First off, you’ve got the Vontaze Burfict situation. He’s the Oakland Raiders linebacker who was suspended for a record 12 games this week for his latest controversial hit on an opponent. But he’s, of course, appealing this ruling… (Ugh. That makes “burfict” sense…) And then there’s also an interesting wrinkle to consider regarding this piece of California legislation called the Fair Pay to Play Act — which prompted me to record a bonus episode of NERD ALERT that I will post very soon.
But for me, one of the most stunning stories was featured on Sports Center two nights ago. I was just sitting down with a lovely little cocktail when Lou flipped the channel to ESPN, and they had just started covering the story of a Korean golfer named Bio Kim.
In case you don’t follow golf, Kim is one of the most elite Korean golfers, and he won the Korean Pro Tour that day. However, on the 16th hole, Kim flipped someone in the gallery the bird after that person’s cell phone went off in Kim’s backswing. At the end of his round, Kim apologized for his outburst. But in a crazy turn of events, the Korean Tour unanimously voted to ban Kim for three years and fine him the U.S. equivalent of $8,350 for his “obscene gesture,” bringing the player to his knees and basically ending his career for the foreseeable future!
Back when Lou and I were fancy, Lou used to golf five to six times a week, and one of the first things he ever taught me was to never talk or move in someone’s backswing when he or she is teeing off. It’s like the most horrible sin you can ever commit when you’re a “good sport,” and when you’re watching a tournament from the peanut gallery.
So… I guess I automatically understood that Bio Kim had a good reason to be upset, and in the grand scheme of things, I kind of understood his knee jerk reaction because he totally pulled his shot, and, when you’re playing at such an elite level of pro sports, that kind of thing can cost you so much! But in the case of Bio Kim, it was his reaction that cost him everything!
Some random guy broke a rule of etiquette… Which caused Bio Kim to break one, too. But the consequences of the rule-breaking only impacted Kim! And that fact has left me spinning with thoughts.
In a way, I have to say I admire a good solid consequence for a clearly defined rule because it helps people know how to move through life in a way that makes things as fair as they can be for everyone involved — if everyone is willing to follow the rules, that is. Or, I guess I should say, that’s the theory behind well-enforced rules!
But my goodness…
A three-year suspension?
For flipping the bird?
Not cracking a skull?
Or breaking a highly publicized rule of the game?
Clearly Korea doesn’t mess around when it comes to enforcing rules and making the consequences painful. And maybe that’s what it takes to keep people in line these days…
Zero tolerance.
No empathy.
No grace.
No accountability in the setup — just in the breakdown…
Gosh. That’s a lot to consider.
And I’m just going to confess to you right now that I don’t exactly know what I think. Maybe I’ve lived in a country where rule-breaking has gone so awry and gotten so “willy nilly” that Korea’s stance on Bio Kim’s “obscene” conduct seems overly punitive to me. Yet…I can’t help but think about how strong the Korean Tour’s statement is about the value of their rules when the consequence of breaking one is so swift and painful.
And I can’t help but also think that it’s just another illustration to me of how complicated the concept of fairness is in our modern times. When I contrast Bio Kim’s situation to Vontaze Burfict’s case, I honestly think Korea is demonstrating an extreme kind of “fairness” while Burfict and his people are leaning on that word in such a way to insinuate that his 12-game-suspension for a rule he’s blatantly broken many, many times is “unfair.”
But the two games are so different — in one game, hard hits and dirty play are second nature, and something the fans seem to actually encourage! But golf is a “gentlemans” game where etiquette and decorum matter deeply, and where the individual is front and center because there is no team to shadow breaches in the code of conduct. Yet fairness and the rules still shoulder the framework of both sports, and in my eyes, that really does matter…
I really don’t follow golf that closely anymore — I mean, now that Lou doesn’t golf every day and I don’t belong to a country club where I eat fancy food on Sundays or get a simple “turn dog” on the ninth hole when I’m meeting Lou for lunch. But this story has left me spinning as if I do care about Bio Kim or the deep traditions of the boring-ass sport of golf.
