For those who may not be aware: the Green Bay Packers beat the Detroit Lions last night on the final play of the game when Aaron Rodgers threw a 65-yard touchdown pass. But that final play only happened because on the previous play in which time expired, Lions Defensive End Devin Taylor was called for a face mask penalty, giving the Packers one additional untimed down. It was patently obvious to everyone it was a penalty, until CBS showed a very slowed down replay from the perfect angle that revealed that Taylor's hand barely brushed against Rodgers's face mask, which made it patently obvious to everyone it was not a penalty. But it did manage to turn the helmet and head just enough that, in real time, it looked exactly like what would happen if you grasped his face mask in an illegal manner. And since this was not a reviewable play, nothing could be done about it.
We've discussed before on this board about the fact that technology has now reached a point where it can reveal things that no human being could ever determine in real time, but this was quite possibly the perfect example. There was absolutely no way any official would not have called that foul in real time: even the head of officiating for the NFL said as much. But that replay was the definition of indisputable visual evidence. http://deadspin.com/the-facemask-penalty-on-the-lions-was-the-right-call-in-1746177269 If ever there was a moment to well and truly step back and determine what role we want technology to play in sports officiating, this is it. Because we're now at a point where we can review to an absurd degree what just transpired on the field of play. The fans of replay want to make *everything* reviewable, while the opponents will use this as an example of the absurdity of what would happen if we did just that. And I fear that trying to use artificial restrictions (mine: review replays can only be shown at 1/4 speed and cannot be stopped at a point of determination) will simply enrage people who have access to information that isn't admissible. I'm curious if anyone else has any thoughts about this. -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
