YES
By Michael Jones
Remember Purdue, folks? Remember toward the end of the first half, when that Purdue defensive back pulled that Mister Miyagi chop on UW tight end Jason Pociak? That call was so blatant, an officiating crew consisting of Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and the Blind Boys of Alabama could have called that foul. But for some reason, the zebras on the field didn't.
Before you go jumping up and down about how pass interference calls are not reviewable, hear out the whole case. That outrageous play simply speaks of a much larger issue plauging college sports and, specifically, the Big Ten.
Officiating is an extremely difficult job. Very few jobs, outside air-traffic controller or neurosurgeon, require near-perfect judgements like an official. So whats the harm with a little technology? This is not Questec, where the technology is the primary actor in making a call. Instead, it'll be like the NFL system, where a reversal requires evidence that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the official made the wrong call.
What is the big deal about that? Would it be so bad if we made sure that the calls on the field were the right ones? Instant replay takes a few minutes, yes, but it does not add up to enough time to possibly interfere with your day.
Three years ago Florida receiver Jabar Gaffney caught and almost instantly dropped a touchdown pass in the final seconds of a game against rival Tennessee. The refs ruled it a catch and that was that, game over. Sorry Vols. Had instant replay existed this score could have been reviewed and, if appropriate, overturned. Instead, college football had one of its biggest games come down to the judgement of someone who could not keep up with the play.
Those who say that this will cheapen the game or diminish the on-field excitement by being too precise and creating a reliance on the technology are as wrong as possible. This is merely a rapid oversight system that will strengthen the at-times poor officiating that has left men like the venerable Joe Paterno sprinting for the zebras' jugulars.
-Greg Porter contributed to this column.
NO
By Josh Salm
What? How long does a Big Ten game on ABC or ESPN have to be, even without instant replay being implemented into the game?
The average Wisconsin Badger football game this season runs between three and three-and-a-half hours for the 60 minutes of play to completely unfold. Considering the number of television timeouts that are taken during a nationally televised game (by the way, thank you, advertisers, for giving the Big Ten-moreover Wisconsin-money), the game is already drawn out without having to add instant replay.
Wait, what money? If the Big Ten does add instant replay, it would mean that there would have to be a lot of money stuck into this from the conference. All 11 Big Ten schools would have to add the necessary equipment to their stadiums so this would be readily available for each game. Also, salaries would increase because there would be more time put into each game, given each demand of instant replay.
The idea of instant replay would have been nice for the Wisconsin vs. Purdue game earlier this year because it could have easily changed the outcome of the game. However, could you think of any games in the past few years where Wisconsin has benefited from the fact that instant replay was not a part of the game at all? I know of a few games and that's not even thinking that hard.
The fact of the matter is that at their current pace, Big Ten games are already exciting. The game moves well, with its advertised hard-hitting game. However, if the momentum of the game is killed by a coach challenging whether or not his wideout made a first down in the middle of the game, then I have to say that it would not be a beneficial system to add.
Implementation of instant replay into Big Ten play would take away precious money that UW Athletics could put in places other than just adding cameras and video equipment so poorly-trained referees can waste the time of the countless thousands of fans in the Big Ten. Let the game stay the same way. If it is not broke, do not fix it.
