When I first got into the business of broadcasting, instant replay wasn’t much of a topic. The USFL(not the NFL) was the first major sporting league to use the technology. Harry Usher, who was the last USFL commissioner before the NFL figured out a way to kill off the fledgling league, saw replay as a way to enhance the product.
Today, you can’t get through a sporting event without a stoppage.
Umpires in baseball talk over a play in question, put headsets on for all the patrons to see(a bad look), wait, and then get a response from someone in another part of the country. Same goes for the NBA, NHL, and now horse racing.
Saturday’s Kentucky Derby went through a reported a 22-minute delay before a final decision was reached to overturn the result witnessed by the naked eye. Instant replay determined the outcome.
The idea of a human error being taken out of play because we have technology is a fair point. I just wonder if we’ve gone too far in all sports.
Alabama was the first state to approve replay in high school football. New Jersey, Texas, and Minnesota tried out replay in the high school playoffs last Fall. The AIA is looking into the use of replay, but coaches I’ve spoken with our mixed at best on the topic.
Perhaps it’s just the rules of replay. The New Orleans Saints were probably feeling some sort of anxiety if they were watching the end of the Derby on Saturday. Texas Tech basketball players were likely in the same boat.
Watch any sporting event and you’ll see players and coaches look up to the video board for replay as soon as ANY call is made.
I don’t know how to reel back in the use of replay. I just know that the beauty of competition and the idea of the call not always going the right way because of an officials call, is part of life. It’s one thing if it’s a pass interference that’s as plain as day. It’s another when the camera’s have to be in use for twenty-two minutes to determine an outcome.
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Brad Cesmat
Media personality Brad Cesmat first rose to fame in Southern California with the launching of "The Mighty 690" all-sports radio station in the late 1980's and early 90's. Brad came to Arizona in 1993 to begin a 10-year run at KTAR Radio followed by nine years at KTVK-TV in Phoenix. Brad is the Founder/ CEO of Sports360AZ.com. His vision of multi platform content marketing through sports began in September of 2011. Cesmat has served on the Advisory Board for the Salvation Army for the last 18 years. He and his wife Chris have four children.