In the Midst of Footballmania…
Since we are only hours past the mayhem of the Superbowl I thought I’d join in the discussions. However, my contribution is not exactly what you may think. I don’t really care who you were pulling for last night (I actually liked both teams), but am more interested in discussing an ARTICLE I read on Sunday afternoon that focuses on the utility of instant replay.
Now you may be saying “I hate football! Why do I have to read an article on the sport” Ah, good try. I’m sure there is some sport (skating, swimming, softball, tennis, basketball, bowling) that you have an affinity for so just transfer the “meat” of the article to that sport (most of the aforementioned have instant replay)/
So what do you think? Is it a curse or blessing?
Oh yeah, Go Pokes!
Instant replay, in my opinion, has gotten in the way of enjoying the game. I can’t sit through an entire game of football because there are so many instant replays. Really, what is the point of watching the game when the evening news or ESPN will show you the highlights if you missed the game or want to remember it.
As for our lives being “on stage” because there are cameras every where, well, that is a little creepy. I don’t want to get into Big Brother. Yet, we as citizens have been behaving like Big Brother. When an incident occurs, it is almost guaranteed that there will be a bystander capturing it with their cell phone and five minutes later…There it is on Facebook or Youtube.
In a sense, technology and instant replays of the variety have taken away the essence of a good story where listeners can imagine what happened. However, now we don’t have to wish that we were there because “moments will never leave”.
To me it really depends, it’s a curse and a blessing. It’s a blessing to see those amazing catches, shots, runs and scores yet they’re total curses when sports broadcasters who show a replay after every play, no matter what the outcome of the play is. John Madden though I believe took the replay to another level by drawing the route of a receiver before they hit the ‘play’ button for the instant replay to start. To be honest, I’d much rather have John Madden back than some of these other sports commentators, such as Joe Buck and Troy Aikman (not saying this because you’re a Cowboys fan. Just my opinion about Buck and Aikman as commentators).
I really can’t decide how I feel. I have noticed that people actually get mad when they DON’T show an instant replay of a play they thought worthy which is pretty sad. If you saw it once you should be happy you got to see it at all. When the article talked about abusing the use of being able to record all of life because we are so used to be able to instantly see everything again if we missed it and this I agree with. Whether or not you can record a moment, it should still be cherished because a moment is never completely the same even if you can watch it on your television after it has happened. Being at a game and seeing an amazing play that wins a game can never be replaced with instant replay or a tape of the game. As long as people don’t change their minds about that, then instant replay is fine with me.
I’m with Josh in that I see it as both a blessing and a curse. As a Winter Olympics fan I know I look forward to the instant replay because some of the tricks and movements happen so fast I wouldn’t be able to catch them unless they were on instant replay. I also don’t mind cameras on the streets and in banks if it’ll keep speeding down and help authorities catch the “bad guy.” In truth, I feel safer knowing that the security camera on the street corner is there.
However, I do see the author’s point when it comes to having lost the moment of “now.” I remember being so caught up in having pictures of my son growing up that I didn’t feel like I actually got to enjoy my time with him. I was all about capturing the moment for posterity that, today, when I look at some of the pictures I took I cannot recall if I felt anything in that moment.
I don’t really like sports however, when a football game or anything else is on and I hear people freaking out, I think to my self “crap I missed something good.” But thank god for instant replay, I dont actually have to sit down and watch a game but if something does happen I can watch it. So in that case it it very good. On the other hand, people the capturing of a moment with family is not a curse, it is something for generations to see. Me being able to see how I was as a baby or seeing what parent I look like from when they were children is no by any means a curse, unless you had something embarressing/bad captured.
I am a huge fan of the instant replay. I like watching every sport: both kinds of football, tennis, basketball, gymnastics, baseball, etc. etc. I don’t have the time to keep up with each sport individually, so I catch up on everything on Sportscenter almost every morning. Plus, I like being able to see a play again that I either missed or just though it was so good I want to see it again.
I can see the point of now experiencing the now by focusing on recording the moments. However, as a person who lost his father at a very young age, I wish my family had focused a little less on the time they had left and took more photos of me with my dad. I’m definitely pro-instant reply.
I think “instant play” can be viewed as a catch twenty-two because we definitely enjoy the perks of technology, at the same time the sense of spontaneity or privacy have become nonexistent. To have an entire network that only plays instant replays takes away the intensity of watching the game live. The excuse that men use, “I am watching the game”, no longer has the same relevance knowing it will be replayed several times from different angles.
Definitely digital cameras have made life easier because before you did not know if the picture came out to your satisfaction, such as eyes are opened, no heads cut off, and no blur. The disappointment before of getting your film developed from a special event and realizing none of the pictures came out can be devastating. At the same time, not everyone is always happy with the pictures and constantly wants a re-take, which is annoying. How things have changed from the rewind camera, my 3 year old daughter will immediately ask me to show her the picture! Not sure what she is checking, but she is only mimicking what she sees.
Instant replay has just been a blessing, in my eyes. After a spectactular catch or a huge run up the middle for a touchdown, I love to see how the play breaks down. I can see how people don’t enjoy the game being bogged down but honestly commercials are actually getting more in the way of the games then anything.
For the authors point of view of how the game is not in the “now” anymore, well everything in this world is always building upon the future and that we are advancing more into the future then living in the present.
Okay well I replied to this one a month ago but it is no longer showing up so I will reiterate what I already said. I personally think that there should be some type of instant replay in every sport, but to a certain degree. I can’t stand it when the NFL replays everything within the last two minutes of the game or the half, it has honestly gotten to the point of utter ridiculousness. It makes a three hour game last nearly three and a half hours. With baseball’s strike zone I think that there should be no replay, but I think that the MLB should have review on home runs and they now do. But, I also think that they should review fair and foul balls. This because I have seen teams have their season ended basically because an umpire missed a ridiculously easy call. Overall I think it is both a blessing and a curse because yes we can watch amazing plays over again and get calls correct but they overuse it as I previously stated in the NFL.