Replay – I’m Over it Stop it now

The need to get things exactly right in games that are imperfect is getting very tiresome to me.  Replay is becoming a bigger problem then the problem it was supposed to resolve.  It seems to me that not only is replay slowing games down but it is also leading to more and stranger officiating errors in all sports that use it at all levels.  What is worse,   Getting the call wrong and then playing on or looking it over for 5 minutes getting it wrong anyway and playing on?  I would rather have it wrong eliminate the wait and then move on.

Replay was sold with the idea that we need to get the calls right.  In theory the idea is fantastic.  Of course we want to get all the calls right.  The problem is that even with replay there is still judgement involved.  Replay is not as cut and dried as when it was initially promised.  And there is no way that it can be.

We either need to do away with replay or use replay on every play.  Which is an absurd thing.  Could you imagine how slow the games would be if every play was reviewed?

In many instances replay has actually done the opposite of what it was intended to do.  Referees are getting more calls wrong and at worse times in  the games.  Then the replay officials are getting them wrong too.  The number of bad calls per game has not gone down but the number of bad calls that affect the outcome of a game have gone up.  What has led to that?  It is difficult to say but I am thinking that a few things are happening.  The officials are either making calls they would not have made before because if they get it wrong they have replay to fall back on.  It may be that they are scared to make certain calls because of the replay.  There is no clear cut answer here.

I do not see replay getting things more right.  There really is no difference from when we were not using replay.  Replay falls in the category of just because you can.  Does not mean that  you should.  Our unending quest to get things “right” is taking away from the games we love.  It is changing them in very strange ways and not for the better of the sports or the fans.  How many times have we had a replay where everyone can see the correct call but the replay officials still choose the wrong call?   What this really shows is that it is a judgement call.  The call on the field is a judgment call.  The call in the booth is a judgement call.  So all we have done is added a call to the call.  Waste of time.

Replay has really added nothing to the sports we watch.  If a call goes our way it is great.  If it goes against us then it is bad.  I say lets get rid of it and go with what happens on the field.