Re: Careful What You Wish For (444 Views)
Posted by:
fkach (IP Logged)
Date: September 25, 2007 09:59AM
I think peformance standards matter in our perceptions.
When people were watching the best human milers in the world struggle to beat a 4 minute mile decades ago, they would still get excited because they were the best milers and 4 minutes was an established obstacle.
If we were watching the best milers now and they were struggling with 4 minutes because of the track condition, I think it would take some of the edge off the performance because we are trained to expect faster times. New track records, world records etc....always add to the excitement of a great performance.
The same is true of every sport, but in different ways.
Personally, I can cope with the slower times even though it's not quite the same for me either. What I don't like seeing is high level horses stagger home through the last quarter mile and the winner being the horse that died the least. You can visually see the difference between horses that are dead tired and horses that may be decelerating a bit, but are still game, extending themselves, and fighting hard.