Replays ruin the flow and continuity of games
One of my favorite sports books is Instant Replay by Jerry Kramer. It was written about the 1967 Green Bay Packers football season, which ended with the Packers beating the Cowboys in the Ice Bowl and then advancing to beat the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl II.
The book got its name because instant replay was relatively new, and Jerry Kramer threw the block that enabled Bart Starr to go into the end zone in the Ice Bowl. The instant replay of that play and that block brought Kramer fame; the book brought him fortune.
Instant replay was a great innovation, but in this reporter’s humble opinion it is being abused lately and is ruining the games that it is used in to replace officials decisions.
Football, basketball, hockey and baseball have adopted some form of video review to get crucial calls correct. In professional football the coaches are allowed to contest some calls and the referee views the replays of the play or call in question and tries to get it right.
That is ruining the game.
Replays ruin the flow and continuity of the games. The game is not played in slow motion and stop action. Game officials get most of the calls correctly, but they do make mistakes. So do the players and coaches. Players and coaches don’t get do-overs. Why should officials?
If replays are to be used, then the official should only be able to see the play one time from every angle at game speed and make the call. Humans still play the games; let humans officiate the games.
I have a horrible idea. During one pre-season football game (The NFL no longer uses the term exhibition game, which is what they really are.) let us totally do away with the officials on the field and use video referees. Let’s call them vidiots. Have a camera on the pit to call holding. Have cameras on all of the receivers and defensive backs to call pass interference. Use cameras to spot the ball after every play and to decide if a first down or touchdown is made.
The game would last six hours or more because there is holding on every play. While we are at it, let us eliminate coaches and have computers call the plays and the defenses and have robots play instead of players to eliminate injuries. Wait a minute. We already do that. It is called Madden. It is named after the coach who lost to the Packers in Super Bowl II.
The same could be done in baseball. The technology is already in place to call balls and strikes. Cameras could be set on every base for safe and out calls.
They already use cameras to call home runs. It would be horrible. Instead of “Kill the umpire,” some idiot would yell “Give the computer a virus” or “Overexpose the camera!” The game would be ruined for the players, officials and fans.
Other things that must be fixed or nixed are “TV Time Outs.” It seems that after every change of position there is a four-minute time out. Games that used to last three hours are going four and a half hours.
Games could go back to under two hours if video replays and TV time outs are toned down. They already have information strips under the action telling the scores of every game being played on the planet. Run the commercials there. This score is brought to you by a product that is only for old men or young women or drunks or whatever. Or this police report is being brought to you by the makers of a drug that can cause death, dismemberment, projectile vomiting, blindness and baldness but will help you with your complexion. Or this golf score is brought to you by the Divorce Law Firm of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe.
The best time of the year for viewing football games is here. Let us enjoy the games. Let us be allowed to question the calls of officials. Reduce the commercials to the time it takes to make a refrigerator run. Get back to family-oriented sponsors. Let the games begin!