Monday, July 29, 2024
In recent weeks, former President Donald Trump has been asked by a few journalists whether he will accept the results of the upcoming presidential election if he loses. He has equivocated each time. What he essentially says is that the only way he wouldn’t be victorious is if the elections were rigged in favor of his Democratic opponent. Some of his surrogates have said similar things in various interviews.
Mr. Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election and his current stand about the upcoming one make me wonder whether he watches competitive team sports such as football and soccer. If he does, he should know that life is filled with injustice. Even if the previous election was stolen from him, as he claims, he should also know that it is quite counterproductive for him to nurse that grievance so permanently in the manner that he is doing.
Bad referee calls happen all the time in competitive sports. In football, sometimes what would otherwise be a sixty-yard gain from a beautifully designed play is nullified when the referees fail to call a blatant pass-interference foul. The wronged team and its fans feel particularly aggrieved when such a thing happens on a fourth-down play in the dying minutes of the fourth quarter, meaning that there is little chance of the team getting the ball back for another shot at tying or winning the game. Teams have lost Superbowl contests in such painful fashion.
In soccer, the most common grievance pertains to the award or waiving off of penalty kicks. Although the rules for these spot kicks are quite clear, their application by referees can sometimes seem arbitrary. The introduction of video assistant referee (VAR) systems used in reviewing on-field referee decisions was supposed to help minimize mistakes, but the technology has at times injected even more controversy.
The governing bodies of football and soccer leagues take pains to ensure that any potential sources of referee bias are eliminated from the sports. They succeed to a large extent, and teams and their fans generally have faith in the people who officiate matches. But referees are human so no one can expect perfection from them. Apart from the fallibility, other natural forces can affect their behavior and performance. Environment is one. There is something called home-field advantage that teams move heaven and earth to gain. Although no game official will admit it, some referee decisions are influenced by the intimidating presence of thousands of fans cheering on the home team.
I have seen players and coaches fly off the handle when egregiously bad referee calls go against them. But the beauty of sports is that athletes and coaches are trained professionals who know how to quickly regain control of their emotions, no matter how unjust a decision is. Quite often, they use the injustice as fuel to play even harder. Sometimes that attitude powers them on to win; other times the disadvantage is too great to overcome and they lose. Either way, they move on. They return home and prepare for their next games. This learned graciousness is what helps maintain the integrity of the sports that so many of us love to watch.
Due to the fast pace of sports like football and soccer, it is easy for referees to miss things, hence the occasional mistakes. Voting systems don’t involve that kind of speed so it is reasonable to assume that poll workers are not as error-prone as game referees. Whatever mistakes occur at voting precincts are unlikely to be on such a scale as to materially affect election results the way Mr. Trump has continually alleged these past four years. America is not a banana republic where incumbents can rig elections with impunity. Other than his die-hard supporters, Mr. Trump has been unable to convince many people that he was massively cheated in the 2020 election. His grievances have mostly been without merit because hardly anyone else can see what bad referee calls went against him, if any.
By discrediting the nation’s electoral system so loudly, Mr. Trump has alienated a lot of voters, particularly independents. He would be in a much better position today if he had graciously conceded defeat after the 2020 elections—the way aggrieved players and coaches do at the conclusion of contentious games. His aides should perhaps draw his attention to that point. Currently, bookmakers think that Mr. Trump has a good chance of winning in November but if he loses, he should remember to be a good sport.