The e-mail string started simply enough. I received an email from my Uncle Alex with nothing in the text. The subject line read “Still like instant replay?” Years ago, right on this very website, he and I debated the merits of adding instant replay to Major League Baseball. My uncle, the consummate purist was against it, saying mistakes and human error were and always will be a part of the game. I suggested his prehistoric way of thinking was no longer an excuse and that baseball needed to modernize. They did, sort of. Since incorporating replay into the game, well, let’s just say things haven’t gone as planned. Please continue at: http://sportschump.net/2014/05/11/debating-instant-replay-uncle-alex/13833/
Sure there are kinks in the system, but it will get much better. Getting the call right is more important to me than tradition.
I'm a purist by heart, hate technology sometimes in the worst way, but this can't go unaddressed when the resources are readily at hand. Tired of seeing teams, even when it goes against mine, get screwed by bad angles, 'nobody saw it', & especially the favorite...home town calls. I'll live with the growing pains over some of the horrific calls I've seen thru time...
I've been trying to tell my uncle that for years, Dawk. Tark... But how difficult can this all be? How long are the growing pains gonna last?
I'm with you on the growing pains, SC It's ridiculous that there are many to begin with but it's still the right direction. Just cuz buffoons are screwing up shouldn't make 'no replay' the right choice. Hate arguments that don't promote how good 1 idea is over another based on merit instead spending the effort to promote 1 idea by the mismanagement of the other.
This is a great topic SC. I hate replay in all sports for 2 reasons. 1) Whatever you do,you will always have a human element,and humans are imperfect.We want a perfect system but have imperfect parts. 2) Paralex error.As someone who has a great interest in video & photography,the concept of parallax error is something that people who advocate the use of replay generally either do not understand or dismiss too readily. Using cameras for determining a call on a line is a dumb idea,unless the camera is directly on the line.This rarely happens,so you have 3 or more camera shots,from 3 or more angles all showing 3 or more "different" results.While there are experts who understand and can make allowances for parallax error,I don't know of any who are involved in replay in any sport.It is a complex area and requires mathematical formula to get an accurate result. Replay is a far more complicated issue than most administrators and fans believe,and trying to introduce it in baseball is extremely challenging because of the various linear and non linear playing areas involved. It is a topic that will never gain consensus until the human element is completely removed,and the imaging technology is vastly improved.Those days are a long way off. Uncle Alex: 1 SC: 0
Tark... I just refuse to believe that implementing a replay system from scratch is all that difficult. Can't these boys figure it out? Dawk... it's 2014. What other advancements are necessary? Wow, Aussie. Wait til I tell him he actually got a vote. He'll be ecstatic. Probably rub it in a little too.
Make steriods mandatory and I'll be happier. Thus far, I'm not thrilled with instant replay, too time consuming really
I was against the use of replay when it was first mentioned. Human error has always been part of the game and to take that away didn't seem right. Events like Armando Gallaraga's no-hitter/perfect game could have been corrected but I say leave the game the way it was. That said, replay is here to stay so just better hope they perfect it I guess.
I'm all for instant replay as long as the CORRECT CALL is made. With instant replay in baseball this year though, that has not been the case as the umpires have ducked up some obvious calls even when consulting with instant replay. I'm not saying get rid of instant replay but it has been brutal so far this season.
I guess what confounds me most (and what simultaneously supports the uncle's argument) is that baseball, for whatever reason, can't seem to get replay right. Keep hope alive?
As brutal as instant replay has been so far this season, definitely keep hope alive for it to get better in the future.
It's never going to be right 100% of the time, but for the most part it works. With the exception of the time delay, which will improve over time, it's better for the game overall.
as long as the call is right,i have no problem with it.like dawk said,it will never be 100% acurate regardless.