CollegeFootballPoll.com Message Board

Like most change, the curmudgeon in me is opposed. Baseball, my favorite sport, has now instituted instant replay. I don't like it. Do I think it will get the calls right more often, yes I do. But I don't think that is what is important. Baseball rules are different than most sports. Umpires are part of the game, by rules. They are not just defined as observers that make sure they players obey the rules, they are part of the way the game is played. Example. It is against the rules of baseball to question the umpire on balls and strikes. The penalty is clear cut, ejection. Arguing will never change the call. So to questions a ball/strike call, the player or manager know the consequence, but they still do it. Why...they want to be ejected. Part of the game. Now I know replay is not covering balls and strikes but just an example.

In baseball certain happenings immediately stop the play, when a foul ball is hit, the umpire raises his hand, stops all play and then calls foul. So runners all get placed back to where they are suppose to be prior to the call. This is pretty simple and replay will address this fairly easily.

But an example of where the umpire is part of the game is when a violation is committed and the umpire merely raises his hand, indicating he has something and the play continues and whether the call is made depends on what the players do. Interference or obstruction...not the same thing...is an example. So in replay they are going to say it was not obstruction or interference and then replace all the players? I know it is new and many things that are reviewable have not been decided and changes will be made. But I don't like it.

The challenge system is nuts. There is a reason Joe Torre did not want it, he was part of the deciding group.

Anyway...we will see, but it will not make baseball a better game, it will make it like many of the rest, umpires will not be part of the game, the game will be like football, about the officiating.

I am too old for changing anything but my depends...and for that, i know you do not want instant replay.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9570618/mlb-expands-instant-replay-2014-include-manager-video-challenges

I have mixed feelings about it. Maybe we're just desensitized to bad calls since we haven't had replay ever in baseball (i.e. running out a ball to first, missing the tag, trapping the ball, etc.), but I've always felt that the missed calls are part of the game and that over a 162 game season, you figure those bad calls would be a wash. I'm more worried about the delay. A pitcher can fall out of his groove if you delay the game too long. And baseball games already run over 3 hours for the most part, a few challenges will easily push that up to 3:20 or so.

I've always been a fan of the replay system in college football because, before it was instituted, I felt that the dumb calls always seemed to go against teams I like and in favor of teams I hate (Notre Dame ). I guess after that Stanford game, Notre Dame still gets the calls . Still, football is such a bang-bang sport on every play and an official can't be everywhere at once, so it's a lot easier to miss calls. In baseball, there is definitely less physical action going on even on balls in play. The players themselves are more isolated and it's not one giant mess like a football field after the snap.

I think replay in baseball is worse that replay in any other sport. The umpire is absolutely part of the game of baseball. Bad calls are part of the game. Most of all though, most baseball umps are good. Not like in football. The baseball umps are great at their jobs.