The recent judging controversy at the Olympic Games in Utah is not a new one to say the least. If the judging can be as flawed as it was in Utah, what affect will it have on athletes of any level in competition? The Russian and Canadian pair skaters were victimized in front of the entire world. I, like millions of others, felt that the Canadians performed better than the Russians did. However, I am not very knowledgeable as to the rules and requirements of that particular sport. I do know the feelings that the Canadians went through, knowing you did your best and it wasn't good enough. Not because of your performance but rather because a judge denied your right to compete equally by playing with the scores.

My brush with questionable judging happened in high school. I never won a high school contest. The incident I refer to occurred near the end of my senior season many years ago. I was elated because my performance was challenging my future famous teammate. It came down to the last dive in the contest when he did a back 1 1/2 somersault pike. It was a great jump with slow rotation but unfortunately he was a little too close to the board and eventually hit it while coming out for the entry. The penalty for hitting the board at that time was no more than 4 1/2. The scores that were kept for calculations were 4 1/2, 7 1/2 and 7 1/2. When he hit, it wasn't just a graze. He hit the back of his legs and the board flipped his legs so that the dive went beyond vertical. It wasn't pretty. Because of the way the judges scored, I was denied what would have been my only win ever as a high school diver. I finished second by less than 1 point.

The feeling of being cheated ran through my mind just as it did with the Canadian skaters. But in my situation it really wasn't that at all. It was a matter that some of those judging knew the rules and what to do while others didn't. It appears that this is where my crusade to improve the diving judging for any contest originally began. That contest was just as important to me at that time as the skating fiasco was for the Canadians. Nothing can ever be done to change those sour feelings. Giving the Canadians a Gold Medal didn't satisfy the competitive nature of those skaters either. They felt that they had won but in the end, the judging still shows that they were second.

These kids put a lot of time, hard work and made plenty of sacrifices in an attempt to achieve their best and be recognized for it. The Canadians did their best but still haven't been or, in all probability, will never be truly recognized for it. You see they were ranked second by the judges. Olympic history will show exactly that…the Canadians were second but received a Gold Medal. It will be something that they will have to deal with for the rest of their lives. What a sour memory to have to carry around for that long. That is the affect when judges don't do the right thing.

To those that are in a position to judge a contest, I implore that you do the following to avoid the mistakes made by others:

1. Know the rules and know how to apply them.
2. Apply or assess all penalties (if any) equally and without bias.
3. Pay close attention to each performance.
4. Set your standard for the contest and stick with it.
5. Give an honest score whether the contestant is well known or not.
6. The only thing that should influence your score is the contestant's actual performance not your anticipation of what they might achieve.

Judges are being asked to evaluate a performance. Keep in mind that while judging a contest that the scores you give will affect the outcome of that contest. If judges inflate/deflate scores arbitrarily, they will be taking the competition away from the athletes. It thus becomes a judging contest, which is not the reason for being asked to be on a panel. Be fair and impartial for everyone's sake.

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