Instant Replay Giveth, Instant Replay Taketh Away

The concept of changing anything that affects sports as we know it has always been controversial. 

The NFL, for example, has implemented numerous rule changes over the past decade — from disallowing players to get a full running start on kickoffs, to restricting contact on defenseless players. As a result, many of the sports long-time fans have taken exception. Major League Baseball has also had its fair share of proposed and implemented rule changes — instituting the “three-batter minimum” for relief pitchers and automatically sending a runner to second to start each inning of extra inning games. The NHL, as old-school of a league as there is in sports, also changed its overtime rules in 2015 to have 3-on-3 play.

And yet, nothing is as controversial as replay in sports. Initially introduced into games to be used sparingly in order to get calls right, replay has become much more than just a seldom used mechanism to confirm or reverse consequential calls. It’s become an overused crutch for referees to avoid making mistakes. 

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Over the weekend, there were two perfect examples of why replay can, at its worst, ruin games, and, at its best, save them.

Not surprisingly, the use of replay on Sunday night in the NBA is the example of when replay goes wrong. 

The NBA has used instant replay to the extreme, going to the monitor for almost any call that has a chance of being overturned. 

Late in the fourth quarter of a tight game between the Blazers and Celtics, Portland’s Jusef Nurkic was called for an offensive foul on a moving screen set on Marcus Smart. It was an obvious call, and one that should have warranted a quick change of possession. 

Not in today’s NBA. 

Inexplicably, the referees went to the monitor to review the play in what felt like ten minutes of real time. 

Marcus Smart got ejected late after this play on Nurkic 👀 pic.twitter.com/bSWpbwu0Db

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 3, 2021

Smart, in trying to get around the illegal screen, inadvertently hit Nurkic below the belt with his arm. It’s a play scene often in sports, as it’s very difficult to always be in control in a game that’s moving so quickly. 

After the review, the referees deemed the play by Smart to be “unsportsmanlike” and he was ejected from the game. The ejection played a major part in deciding the final score, as the Blazers soon went on a run to close out a 129-119 victory. 

It was a classic example of the NBA and the refs overusing their replay powers to potentially change the outcome of a game. The NBA, which has seen more and more use of replay during games over the past few seasons, has a problem on their hands. The end of games has lost all flow due to its increased use of replay in the final minutes. It should be a major topic of conversation this upcoming offseason. 

Now, let’s get to when replay works. 

The week in baseball concluded on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball with a matchup between the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies. 

The Mets entered the 9th inning with a four-run lead, with closer Edwin Diaz coming in to wrap up a series win for New York. After a walk, triple, and another walk, Rhys Hoskins came to the plate as the tying run. Hoskins smacked a 2-1, 100 MPH fastball to right field in what was initially ruled a three-run game-tying home run. 

Umpires originally ruled that this was a home run for Rhys Hoskins, which would’ve tied the game.

The call was overturned and ruled a ground-rule double. pic.twitter.com/iKIp6igtbu

— ESPN (@espn) May 3, 2021

The umpires went to review to make sure that the ball did in fact leave the yard. After a lengthy review, the umpires determined that the ball hit the top of the railing and never left the park. It was the correct call, much to the chagrin of the Phillies and their fans. 

This is why replay was implemented in Major League Baseball — to get calls correct on the field that determine the outcome of games. Baseball, for the most part, has gone about replay the correct way. Balls and strikes are not reviewable, as they are considered to be part of the game — umpires have different strike zones. Deal with it. 

Overall, replay is good in sports. For years, fans were subjected to terrible calls with no recourse for reversing them, but it’s a slippery slope. Replay threatens the sanctity of the games we’ve grown up watching. It should be used to better the games, not become more important than the games themselves. 

Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers and the NBA for Sporting News.

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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