Bias and Perception

As I was watching Game 3 of the World Series last night, I was very frustrated with what was becoming an unwinnable game for the Astros. As the extra innings piled up, I was less and less confident of an Astros win after a couple of missed opportunities. Following an Astros double play, Geoff Blum hit a solo home run in the top of the fourteenth inning to put the White Sox ahead by 1. Suddenly the bases were loaded and Blum and company in the dugout were shown holding four fingers up to the crowd taunting them about a potential grand slam. I was infuriated by the cockiness of it. When the Astros failed to score in the bottom of the fourteenth and the game was over, I went to bed agitated. I was agitated by the lack of respect that I felt everyone was giving the Houston Astros.

After sleeping on it last night though, I reminded myself that bias is all a matter of perception. If the commentators seemed like they were overly praising the White Sox, it's only because they moved ahead to 3-0 in the Series. If it seemed like the White Sox players were mocking the Astros, it's only because they were excited about their team's prospects of winning a World Series for the first time in 88 years, almost twice as long as the Astros have existed! On top of all that, I read a few posts on some message boards before going to sleep and some White Sox fans thought that the coverage by Fox commentators in Game 3 was slanted towards Houston! So bias is certainly in the eye of the beholder.

I am disappointed that Game 4 could be the end for the Astros, but I can say that at least we've gotten our money's worth in the first three games. I wish the balls had bounced a little differently, but I can't say that Games 2 and 3 haven't been exciting games to watch full of ups and downs. Bring on the drama!