tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3082331.post5741126645366407285..comments2023-12-22T15:39:43.656-07:00Comments on debitage: Pragmatism and instant replayStentorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13629599671442149938noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3082331.post-62085077210184331392009-02-08T14:54:00.000-07:002009-02-08T14:54:00.000-07:00American Football, especially at the professional ...American Football, especially at the professional level, is the most over-planned, over-coached, and over-officiated "game" I know of. It is really more a celebration of pure competition rather than an athletic contest <I>per se</I>; "violence interrupted by committee meetings" as one commentator once described it, or pure strategy combined with the challenge of execution. So much of the "game" hinges on things like player personnel decisions (made YEARS in advance), who is healthy and who is injured, who has the better "game plan," and who makes the fewest mistakes. And yet, ironically, the game only gets interesting when the players are compelled to step outside the game plan and take some risks -- to throw the ball down field, move to a no-huddle "hurry-up" offense, or perhaps go for a "gadget" play like a fake kick or a half-back pass.<BR/><BR/>But back to Instant Replay. Instant Replay is the product of Football as Spectacle: there are cameras EVERYWHERE at a typical NFL contest, including ones invented to duplicate perspectives originally created for video games. Television revenue likewise drives the league, which is why these games seem to last forever. With seven officials (plus the "chain gang," the scoreboard operator, and a "replay" official) it takes as many people to officiate the game as it does to field a team, which seems a little bizarre to me. And since it really is about competition rather than performance, why SHOULDN'T there be a right to appeal, which of course has now been integrated into the competitive flow of the game itself?<BR/><BR/>Oh, and have I mentioned the gambling angle yet?<BR/><BR/>OK, so I guess it's obvious that I'm not that great a fan of the NFL... and it's not just because I have to compete with them for people's attention on Sunday morning, or that someone like Tom Brady can make millions of dollars for standing around on the sidelines holding a clipboard, while someone like me (with four graduate degrees)....<BR/><BR/>Instant Replay is stupid. But professional football is also stupid. They deserve each other. And it's really only the folks in Las Vegas who care....The Eclectic Clerichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12692982208236857534noreply@blogger.com