Instant Replay

I have to admit I’m a fan of instant replay in sports. Tennis has always been a sport involving judicial error but since they’ve gone to instant replay for line calls there are virtually no missed calls any longer. John McEnroe was simply born twenty years too soon. It’s hard to argue with the giant JumboTron showing slow motion replays. Football has also been a sport where officiating errors could change the course of a game. Now? The infamous booth will review just about anything short of the popcorn guy short-changing a fan. Fumble? Well Chet, let’s look at the 247 camera angles we have on this play and we will slow it down and see if Number 34 fumbled before the far left quadrant of his shinbone touched the grass.

Two major sports continue to spurn instant replay: basketball and baseball. Basketball is a super-fast sport played on a relatively short and compact court. Add in the size and athleticism of the players and it’s a wonder any of the calls are correct (one never is any longer; traveling or walking with the ball is a joke in modern basketball. My grandmother could get the ball up the court with the license they have with dribbling and taking steps). Baseball on the other hand is quite slow and is played on a giant field with several umpires. Do they miss calls? Yes, they do. As a Tigers fan I’m still not over the perfect game that was taken away earlier in the year…and yes, my grandmother could’ve made the correct call as it wasn’t even a close play. Baseball needs instant replay. For crying out loud it’s the 21st Century!

Ever wondered what life would be like if we each had our own instant replay official and we could go back and take a second look at decisions and actions? Hmmm. I wonder if that was a mistake? Let’s go to the booth for a second look. It would indeed be wonderful to live a life of fewer poor choices and mistakes, but in the end we would not benefit from daily instant replays. Like them or not, mistakes are teachable episodes that provide gist for character development. If the onus was removed from mistakes and bad judgment calls we would never have to strive to become better persons; life would be a series of do-overs. Plus, what would the Holy Spirit do in our lives? Instant replay would remove the need for an indwelling God in our hearts and lives.

So, in this age of instantaneous replay I vote no for daily life and yes for baseball and basketball. And maybe for chess. Chet, let’s go to the booth for a replay on that last move by Vladimir Checkov. It took him so long to make the move that his opponent is fast asleep. Let’s wake him up and show him the move!

Michael McCullar