Grand final replay rule is an old gem
The immediate disappointment is understandable. I was slain by it too. So were the Swiss guy, the British couple and the Argentinian bartender that…
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Thanks for all your comments folks.
First things first Gilly, I am going to El Alamo (Uruguay 1175, between Santa Fe y Arenales). It is a sports bar that is more commonly packed with North Americans watching college basketball and the young Argentine things waiting to be courted by them. But you can’t be picky in the middle of the night. I’ll be there.
Secondly, I acknowledge that the tennis parallel isn’t a match on all levels. But like extra time, the tie-break it is a neat, modern way to package up a result quickly and swiftly dispense with uncertainty in sporting contests where neither competitor has proven itself superior in the conventional way. Like the tie-break extra-time denies the possibility of epic, unique,and grotesque happenings like the 70-68 fifth set or the ungainly feeling in AFL circles this week of no one quite knowing what to do.
Bayman’s comment is spot on, the fans who whinge about flying to see the game and not getting what they wanted need to examine themselves. Changing the rule to appease them would be precisely what I don’t want to see: making decisions for entertainment value instead of the value and authenticity of The Big Prize.
This little exchange between Lazza and Bayman is fascinating because what Lazza is saying challenges the AFL finals system as a way of determining the premier. I think he has a point. You can say that a home and away system is a more reliable system of identifying consistent excellence over the course of a year. So what is it about finals that we like?
Once again I think it has something to do with the fact that they have always been there. The history of them has informed our sporting culture. Being the best all year but choking in a Grand Final is a legitimate way for a team to lose its mantle of excellence. People in the AFL states seem to grow up embracing that. On a player level it’s the same: after last week and with no chance to redeem himself, Leon Davis will unfortunately always have his big game issues cited whenever his name is raised in any front bar around the country.
For me it continues to come back to the “legend-making potential” of any system. Pure home and away systems don’t have it like a finals system has it. And extra-time doesn’t have it like a replay has it. And the longer that continues the stronger those arguments become.
Grand final replay rule is an old gem