From: v079m8ta@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (JONNY B. GOODE)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.pro
Subject: Re: Bring Back Instant Replay
Date: 30 Sep 92 18:03:00 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <1992Sep30.092829.27990@morrow.stanford.edu>, GC.SUL@forsythe.stanford.edu (Sullivan) writes...
>In article <BvDAvI.LKM@acsu.buffalo.edu>,
>v079m8ta@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (JONNY B. GOODE) writes:
>>In article <tokuno.717807558@milton>, tokuno@milton.u.washington.edu (Ken Tokuno) writes...
>stuff deleted
> 
>>judgements to perceive what everyone has just seen on the field.  Bang! (to
>>paraphrase John Madden) The play is over, and the decision is made.  Argue all
> 
>bad decisions made.  I saw them as bad decisions ON TV long before
>the refs call them.  Instant replay may not be the answer, maybe
>pro refs, but these guys suck.
	
	A very good point which I did not bring up.  Pro football refs should
be licensed for full-time work.  This 'weekend warrior' crap is exactly why
bad calls have been made in the past.

> 
>>you want (just LOOK at how long Art Monk's supposed TD in the SB last year went
>>on!!  Cripes!), but I thought professional sports were played by and officiated
>>by humans, not video cameras.
> 
>Every sport is played by video cameras now.  few are judged by it.
>Videos, snapshots, films are taken from every angle to improve the
>player results, why not the refs?

	Few?  NHL, NBA, and the NFL have all had video replay instituted in 
their systems.  My entire point is that a game (regardless the sport) should
be officiated by judges that are on the field of play.  What recompense does a 
baseball manager have if an ump blew a call?  A losing argument.  That's it.
Game over.  Baseball is the only pure sport left, from a replay standpoint.

> 
>>        What is next in the ever-increasing need to introduce technology into
>>pro football?  A small probe in the pigskin, with sensors scanning the goal
>>line to see if the ball crossed the plane?  I think two referees with good
> 
>Who the hell has asked for that?

	Although we're not in English class, this is called sarcasm.

> 
>>eyesight will do fine, thank you.  This isn't rocket science, it's football.
> 
>video replays aren't rocket science either.  My 5 year old daughter
>can figure it out.
	
	And can she referee?  So you're saying put a child in the replay booth,
and we an equivalent of a person who can overturn a critical call?

> 
>>        It was obvious to me and my football colleagues how much dissention and
>>uncertainty was present in the referees on-field the previous years when replay
> 
>In all the BAD, STUPID, calls made in the 49er/Saint game this past
>week, not one involved a decisive, clear, strong call.  There was a
>zebra herd to decide it.  Give me a break, - decisive.  Is there a
>Saint fan who thinks that the Rice TD/down at the 1 yard line was a
>fumble?  If they thihk he was down first, no TD, I agree.  But
>everybody from TV to fans in the stands saw that play but the Refs.
>I've already made a stand that there was at least one bad call
>against the Saints, but THAT call defines incompetence and demands
>reform. It was nearly as bad as the successive phantom PI calls
>against LOTT and Wrignt in the 1984 conference championships against
>the Skins/zebras.

	Replay would have no effect on PI calls.
> 
>>was in effect (especially the last two years!).  They knew they could rely on >'Big Brother' to come to the rescue if they weren't sure about a receiver having
>>two feet inbounds or the like.  I think in order for an official to command
>>respect on the playing field, he _himself_ has to be sure of his own
>>capabilities.  This was not the case for the last few years.
> 
>Instant Replay didn't originate out of the blue, it started from
>games decided by bad calls by bad referees.  Is there a sport
	
	Really?  Where did you get this information?  

[deletions]
> I think the NFL can figure out what refs
>use crowd noise as their only climax of the week.
	
	Oh come now.  You actually think referees make bad calls just to incite
riots in a crowd?  Please.

>>        I love, needless to say, the return of control of the game to the real
>>referees.  Not some retired ref who just can't run up and down the field like
>>they used to...now relegated to the intricasies of FF and REW, and changing the
>>outcome of an NFL game with a frame-by-frame advancement of a VCR.  It's really
> 
>your only good point. you admit they are incompetent.
> 
>>ridiculous, once you think about it.  Thank Allah that the game has finally come
>>back 'down to Earth'.  Instant replay, by the NFL's own admission, was a 'tool
>>that was being considered'.  I guess it's consideration is finally decided.
> 
>By an ignorant, stupid ownership.
>I'll abandon a claim to have instant replay if they'll turn reffing
>into a profession instead of a hobby of egocentric losers.

	Correct.  See point on full-time training above.
> 
>Mike


Jonny B.
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.pro