OLYMPICS: TEN REASONS WE MISS THE TEN

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A silver medal is impressive no matter what scale you're using.

Watching the women's gymnastics team final Wednesday afternoon at Beijing's Indoor National Stadium, one thing came to mind over and over again. (No, not that the women's team choked.) This sport is much less engaging to fans without the 10-point judging system. So, with that, we give you the 10 reasons we miss the 10.

10. The math required to decipher the new judging system requires a whole lot more than a built-in iPhone calculator. If we're sticking with the new scale, spectator seats should come with Ti85s.

9. "A" and "B" scores should be reserved for drug tests and English Lit papers.

8. In years past, after a flawless routine, the crowd chanted, "Ten! Ten! Ten! Ten!" and you bet they affected the judges' scores. Chants of "Higher B Score! Higher B Score!" are totally ignored.

7. "Perfect 10" just sounds cool. The phrase "Near-Perfect 17.2" will never
catch on.

6. Sometimes, it's nice to wrap up perfection with a nice little bow. A scale should award perfection, make perfection ambiguous and elusive.

5. An athlete can fall from the bars and earn a higher score than a teammate who turns in a perfectly executed routine. This is hard to understand. (And seems wrong.) Yes, gymnastics fans are smart about their sport, but they shouldn't have to be Rhodes Scholars.

4. The new start values can be arbitrary and make the sport even more subjective. This kinda defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

3. When scores are posted, there's no reaction. One day, a 16.5 is the highest score. The next, someone scores a 17.1 and a 16.5 doesn't seem so impressive anymore. Only, it is.

2. It is hard to imagine little kids growing up dreaming of one day earning a seven-point start value and maybe, just maybe scoring in the high 17s.

1. It is much more difficult to come up with 16.574 reasons we like the new scoring system.

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