The quest for perfection

This week we talked about the Grinch of perfection. When I think about the quest for perfection, my mind nearly always turns to sports. It seems like sports, as a microcosm of our lives, is a place where all these grinches are personified. You certainly see that with expectation and a great parallel can be drawn with perfection.

In 2007, we nearly saw a quest for perfection completed. In 1972, the Miami Dolphins finished the season unbeaten, a perfect 14-0 i n the regular season and winning both playoff games to go 16-0 and earn an NFL championship. Since then, many have tried to match that mark but none has.

But in 2007, the New England Patriots sought to match that mark. Of course, to be perfect, New England had to go 19-0. Early in the season, that didn't look like a problem as the Patriots destroyed the competition. But as the season wore on, the pressure began to mount and cracks began to appear in the exterior.

Still, New England played tough, finishing the regular season 16-0 and winning their first two playoff games to move to 18-0. All that remained was the Super Bowl game against the New York Giants. The Giants were the opposite of perfection, a team that had an up-and-down 10-6 season. The Giants lost their first two games of the season, allowing 45 points on opening day to the Cowboys, and had to go on the road for three tough NFC playoff games. They weren't favored in any, but won them all. They were the scrappy underdog facing a powerful giant.

It turned out the Patriots were a paper lion. The team was supposed to light up the score board in a coronation as the best team in league history. It didn't happen. With one miraculous catch and play, the scrappy Giants bested the Patriots and squelched their quest for perfection.

You see the pressure, the weight of expectation, and the quest for perfection was too much for the Patriots. They couldn't hold up under the weight of it. Neither can we, in our lives, when we try to hold ourselves or, worse yet, others up to that perfect standard.

That's why it's another sports story, one of a perfect game that wasn't, that was my favorite sports moment of the year. This summer in Detroit, pitcher Armando Galarraga was one out away from a perfect game, the rarest achievement in all of sports. On what should have been the final play, Jason Donald hit a ground ball that was fielded cleanly and tossed to Galarraga covering first. It was a clear out. But umpire Jim Joyce saw it differently, ruling the runner safe and nixing Galarraga's bid for perfection.

In the post game press conference, with everyone in the world knowing that Joyce blew the call and cost Galarraga a chance at history, the pitcher was asked what he thought of the call and the moment. He said, "Nobody's perfect. Everybody's human. I understand."

The next day, Galarraga brought the Tigers lineup card to the plate, handing it off with a hug for Joyce, who was noticeably moved. I was too.

I don't know whether I was more impressed with the way Galarraga handled a tough situation or the fact that sportsmanship is so rare that we're shocked when we see it. Either way, his response is what we should all aspire to when it comes to holding ourselves or others up to a standard of perfection.