On the Debacle in Daytona

As I write this, the time is 6:36 EST, the Rolex 24 at Daytona ended a little over four hours ago, and IMSA just announced the winner of the GTD race. My Twitter timeline is clogged with epithets toward IMSA and it higher-ups. But as I wade through the anger, I cannot help but think that this is par for the course with sports.

Many are quick to crucify IMSA for their snafu in their first race of the new unified sports car series, often mentioning the snail's pace with which they moved during the off-season to publish  various rules and regulations. Don't get me wrong, I was in the midst of the pack of sports car fans with pitchforks banging on Scott Atherton's door since the checkered flew at the Petit Le Mans in October, but I'm not sure if I'm a part of the group tonight.

Every sanctioning body has dealt with this sort of criticism for a bad call. Look at NASCAR last year after "Spin-gate," which saw Michael Waltrip Racing driver Clint Bowyer purposely spin to solidify teammate Martin Truex Jr.'s spot in the Chase for the Cup. The decision to swap Truex for Ryan Newman in the championship battle came almost 48 hours after Bowyer's arm "itched of poison oak." It took the better part of a week for NASCAR to decide to add a thirteenth spot to the Chase for Jeff Gordon after some nefarious doings between Team Penske and Front Row Motorsports.

Going beyond the racetrack, stick and ball sports are subject to poor decisions. In 2012, the NFL decided to play on despite contract disputes with their regular referees. The situation came to a head when Seattle Seahawk's receiver (didn't) catch a game-winning touchdown in the fleeting seconds of a Monday Night Football matchup with the Green Bay Packers. The moment became popular fodder for meme-makers and the like and is still a black eye on the NFL's reputation today.

On the baseball diamond , we've seen this happen as well. Young Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga was one out from a perfect game when umpire Jim Joyce blew a call that resulted in a hit during the ninth inning. Proponents of the instant replay in baseball have used the moment as a shining example in favor of their cause. In the years following the incident, Galarraga and Joyce even co-penned a book about the ordeal.

I'm not saying IMSA's call in the kink of the Daytona International Speedway didn't hurt their reputation, but I simply don't understand the calls for them to get their stuff together. In sports, much like life, does anybody really have it together?