Reader T.R. hates the instant replay challenges that have become (only in the last 10 yrs or so) an increasingly dominant feature of collegiate volleyball, and wants to get rid of them. T.R., himself an experience and highly skilled V-Baller, though currently in his 70s, makes the following points:
- Instant replay challenges destroy the “rhythm” of the game, for players and spectators alike.
- Worse yet, instant replay challenges deemphasize the role of the athletes by increasing the influence of coaches, officials and technology.
- V-Ball was no less fun to watch or play before instant replay challenges were introduced.
- Occasional mistakes by officials went uncorrected – but many still do, as the challenges are, thank God, limited in number and scope (e.g., key “forward-progress call in the recent Vikings v Rams game).
- T.R. believes that the adoption of instant replay challenges in V-Ball are a mistaken attempt to follow the lead of popular televised sports like the NFL, etc.
More than just a complainer, T.R. recommends a solution: Trust the Line Judges to call the lines, trust the up-ref to call over-the-net and the down-ref to call under-the-net, and trust the blocker to call their own net violations and “touches.” An “HONOR SYSTEM.”
T.R. thinks it is a mistake, for many reasons, to follow the lead of the NFL, which has become harder and harder to watch. Instead, T.R. would like to see volleyball follow the lead of golf, where the competitors are expected to, and do, report their own violations, even with Million$ up for grabs. T.R. believes that if leading coaches, like the Gophers’ McCutcheon, emphasized the value of integrity over the value of winning, that everyone playing or watching volleyball would follow said honor system. And everyone, players, coaches, officials and spectators, would enjoy volleyball more than they already do.
[John: First, let me say how much I appreciate T.R. sharing his thoughts about a bigger issue than who missed a serve. Second, I find it hard to disagree with any of his reasoning. (Okay, maybe that a 4 ½ hr round of golf isn’t that much fun to watch either.)
Maureen and I have friends who are natives and residents of London. A few years ago, when they were here for a visit, I took Robert with me to a Viking Game vs the Bears. (Robert expressed concern about “hooligans;” I explained only at Packer Games.) After a Viking victory, I asked Robert if he enjoyed the game. Robert’s answer was, “Yes, except for the constant “litigation.” This was several years ago; the constant “litigation” has only gotten worse.
My other beef is that when they show the instant replay on BTN or on the jumbotron at the PAV, most of the time I still can’t tell if the ball spiked out-of-bounds grazed the blocker’s fingernail or not. And I think the down-ref is studying the same video I’m looking at. I think that there was better technology available in the recent Olympics, more pixels or more frames-per-second or something, such that the instant replays were extremely clear; you could see the blocker’s pinkie move. If this technology was widely available, I might be more supportive of instant replay. Though clearly, T.R. is making a point about the culture of volleyball, not the technology.
What say you, readers of GopherVBallRocks?