There have been several bad officiating calls recently in sports contests - two home runs which weren't at Yankee stadium, two miscalled goals in a hockey playoff, and a three-point basket launched after the quarter clock had expired to name just a few. And I haven't even mentioned other games in baseball, hockey, or basketball (much less football or other sports).
Perhaps it is time to rethink the role of technology in helping those who call the games in all sports. Each sport is unique in some ways, so I won't try to suggest a "one size fits all" approach. Yet I do feel that there are some principles which apply universally to officiating, including principles involving the use of technology.
1) Officials should be in charge of the game. In some sports (notably hockey), when the officials go to a replay, the decision is passed to the replay officials. I do not agree with this. Under conditions where the technology is not immediately or conveniently available to the principle officials, those officials can still be "advised" of what the replays show by those who do the review. The primary officials would have the freedom (and the risk!) of overrulling this advice.
2) Officials should have access to all available technology. This does not mean that every play should be reviewed, but that any time the officials feel the need to review something (whether the game clock had expired, whether an off-side or lane violation occurred, etc.) they would have the option of using whatever technology is available.
3) Only the officials can decide whether to consult a replay technology. Managers and coaches, players, and fans may request replay reviews, but the officials make the final decisions regarding whether to do it. And they may initiate a replay review even if not requested by anyone else.
Individual sports may want to tweak implementation of these principles. Baseball, for example, may want to discourage review of every questionable called ball and strike. My advice in these cases would be to indicate to the game officials that "excessive" review is to be discouraged, but not prohibited. Appropriate use of technology should be one criterion upon which officials are judged.
If these principles can be applied across all sports contests, there will be some teething problems for a while. But in the long run we will find that they can be used to render fairer decisions with less disruption in the continuity of the game.
Jarah Mariano
Jullie Henderson
Manny Being Manny
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