I have been watching a lot of football this weekend (which is true for most weekends in the fall) and a recurring theme needs to be discussed. I think instant replay is important and should stay with football, because the officials make a lot of stupid calls and only replay has preserved the proper outcome of the game (remember the tuck rule game, imagine if justice wasn't served?).
The major gripe I have with instant replay is the fact that you never really know what's real until minutes later. I have seen a lot of exciting games, and sometimes you want to jump up and cheer for an amazing play (like an INT returned for a touchdown). But now I find that I don't really celebrate as much, you feel like you have to be reserved, there is a little bit of you that doesn't want to get emotionally attached to the outcome because it may be overturned by instant replay.
Last but not least, I do NOT believe that officials are sticking to the policy of NOT overturning a call without "indisputable evidence". I think they turn over calls all the time based on what they thick happened versus seeing a clear replay that would be considered "indisputable".
2 comments:
I agree with you. It also drives me nuts when the 2 guys covering the game talk about everything else except what is going on on the field. They talk through flags and I have to figure out what happened. I also think someone should wake up the officials during the last 2 minutes of each half so they can review any plays that should be challenged since the coaches can't challenge then.
I think the Patriots are in trouble losing the good players and replacing them with new players. It puts them at a distince disadvantage with the other teams. It doesn't look good.
I also was watching a lot of football today... figured I'd contribute by offering up two instances of "Instant Replay Abuse" by the coaches. They were both in the Vikings-Bears game.
1. Vikings coach challenges a fumble. He is correct and call is overturned. Kicker is, the fumble was recovered by his own team, and the team nets like 2 yards on the play.
2. Bears coach challenges an incomplete pass on 2nd and 10... for 4 yards. Worse yet, he loses the challenge, therefore loses a timeout and has no more challenges.
If I were a GM, I'd slap these coaches and teach them to think risk/reward.
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