Play It Again, Ref.

• Author: RATTO, RAY
• Position: National Football League introduces new instant replay system - Brief Article

Instant replays--and controversy--come back to the NFL

The last time the National Football League (NFL) tried instant replay for its officials, the system failed, largely because it wasn't very instant.

Between 1986 and 1991, the league allowed referees to watch the televised, slow-motion video of a disputed play--the same footage TV viewers could see at home--to correct a blown call. But the process took so long, and proved so inconsistent, that it infuriated fans, players, and coaches. After six years of trying to get the system to work, the league finally gave up and decided to live or die by what the refs called the first time, as it had since the game's inception.

Now instant replay is back. This season, the NFL has introduced a new system, one it says will work much faster. But using videotape remains controversial, not only in football, but across many sports. Some fans and players believe replays undermine the authority of league officials, who need to know their split-second judgments will stand as law. Others say that with so many dollars and jobs riding on the outcome of a contest, it's absurd not to use readily available evidence to overturn a missed call.

PEOPLE VS. MACHINE

Should technology be used to supplant human judgment? If so, when and how? Do replays insure greater fairness, or do they open an avenue for more mistakes?

Last year, the NFL suffered a series of high-profile mistakes that decided the outcome of crucial games. The most embarrassing occurred on Thanksgiving Day, when, in a tie game between Pittsburgh and Detroit, officials bungled the coin flip preceding overtime and awarded the ball to the wrong team, which then scored to win the game.

Where football could have used a replay system last year, hockey had one and, at the decisive moment...