For most of the history of sports, there was no remedy when a referee made a wrong call. Fans may boo and players may complain, but the game continues. Instant replay changed that decades ago, allowing coaches to contest calls and ask referees for review. This made the game fairer, but it also slowed down the game.
Many professional sports are currently on the brink of new technological advancements. The automatic referee system makes appropriate decisions at all times and significantly reduces delays caused by examinations.
The league insists the system, which it is testing in the minors and preseason games, is not meant to eliminate officials. Umpires and umpires are still needed to make delicate decisions such as swing checks in baseball, charging in basketball, and pass interference in soccer. But the league believes automated systems could make games fairer and faster.
In today’s newsletter, we discuss what this technology can do and the concerns some league officials have about it.
Tool status
Technology is built into the rules of professional sports. The NFL requires instant replay review of every scoring play and turnover to ensure the call is correct.
That was on display in the final play of the season opener in Kansas City. Baltimore Ravens tight end Isaiah Littley caught a potentially game-deciding pass in the back of the end zone. However, after a 90-second video review, officials determined that Likely’s toe was out of bounds, invalidating the pass and giving Kansas City the victory.
This is an example of technology at its best in sports, helping referees make decisions on easily defined plays. But it also highlighted the pitfalls of the current system. For fans, that 90-second wait feels like a very long time.
By automating these decisions, you can move through the game more quickly. And in some sports, it’s already happening at the highest level. Sony’s Hawk-Eye Live system has for years allowed tennis players to challenge their calls and see exactly where their shots landed, but now it’s now available for all line calls at the U.S. Open and Australian Open. can now be processed.
on the horizon
The major American professional sports leagues have not yet moved to automatic officiating, but most are testing their own systems.
The baseball world appears to be on the verge of major change. The company has introduced a system that automatically determines whether pitches are balls or strikes in more than 8,000 minor league games. The system could be tested next year by the league during spring training, making it possible for it to be implemented for the first time in the majors.
The NFL also uses computers to test referees. This preseason, the league introduced cameras to help spot balls after plays. This technology could mean the end of chain gangs, where players run onto the field with two poles connected by a 10-yard chain to measure first downs.
And the NBA is testing technology that automatically detects goaltending calls. This includes determining whether the ball was moving upwards or downwards when it was blocked.
human element
When baseball began testing automated umpiring systems in the minor leagues, it introduced two variations. Determine balls and strikes on every pitch, notify the umpire, and the umpire will inform you of the result. The second variation, which uses the same technique, is judged only if the pitcher, catcher, or batter objects to the umpire’s call.
Referees have corrected about half of the calls challenged. However, players said they still preferred a challenge system over an automated one. Some say the challenge adds a strategic element.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said, “Initially, I thought everyone wholeheartedly supported” fully automatic decision-making. However, “players feel that serious use could have a negative impact on the game,” he said.
Atlanta Falcons CEO Rich McKay, who heads the NFL’s Game Rules Committee, had similar sentiments about the possibility of automatic calls in football. “When you try to take the referee out of the game and put him somewhere else, it just makes you nervous about what that’s going to do,” he said. โWe would have to rewrite all the rules.โ
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Sunday discussion
Should Pete Rose be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame?
yes. While Major League Baseball was right to punish Rose for his gambling during his lifetime and his subsequent lies, the ban should end with his death. “Rose is not being punished. It is the fans who are being punished,” Christopher Scalia wrote in the Wall Street Journal.
No. Now that sports betting is legal, it’s even more important for leagues to strictly enforce the rules. “A withdrawal would undermine the league’s zero-tolerance commitment,” Bloomberg’s Adam Minter wrote.
From opinions
As a young, idealistic medical student, Jonathan Riesman thought his job would always be safe from artificial intelligence. Then along came ChatGPT.
Below are columns by Ross Douthat on President Biden and Maureen Dowd on J.D. Vance.
morning reading
“Sequel” by Jean Hanff Korelitz: When it comes to writers, their quirks, insecurities, and unhappiness being selfish, no one is more self-aware and resourceful than Jean Hanff Korelitz. Her last bestseller, The Plot, delved into the depths of a mid-career novelist’s career and showed how far he would go in pursuit of a hit. Her new novel, “The Sequel,” picks up where that novel left off, but is written from the perspective of Anna Williams Bonner, the novelist’s widow, who is writing her own books. As she travels the country, bouncing from festivals to bookstores to hotel rooms, she discovers that her new career isn’t the clean slate she hoped… because someone learns her secret backstory. Because it is. Will Anna’s debut also serve as the finale? As sequels go, Korelitz’s work is surprisingly independent. You don’t need to cram The Plot to get the gist, but you can read it just for fun. Check out our review of โThe Sequelโ here.
Book details
As a literary agent, Betsy Lerner knows all about novelists’ weaknesses. Now, at 64, she’s joining the fray.
Looking for a low-key reading group where you can enjoy guilt-free, intelligent conversation? Join our Book Review Book Club. This month’s recommendation is “Intermezzo” by Sally Rooney.
interview
This week’s subject of “The Interview” is legendary actor Al Pacino. His memoir, Sonny Boy, will be published on October 15th.
In an interview a few years ago, you mentioned that you were asked to write a book. You say you don’t want to do it because the prospect seems painful. What has changed?
there is nothing. It’s a shame. Who needs to go out into this world holding themselves up as another target? I mean, I wake up in the middle of the night shaking and in a cold sweat thinking I shouldn’t have done this. But I was telling the truth. That’s all I know.
You have to think back to other performances you’ve had and bring in directors who have said something to the effect of, “Give me more Al Pacino.” What do you think they are looking for?
Please say it louder. [Laughs.] I couldn’t say it. No one has ever said that to me. They said something to me in the theater so I had to adjust. When I was young, a director came up to me and said, โYou know what? “The character did this, and he’s feeling this way here, and he’ll do this.” So I said to him: โYou seem to have a lot of empathy for this person.โ He said, โWhat?โ I said, โMaybe I should play against him.โ Dead silence. I don’t like such stories. Is the director who is directing you and helping you with your role telling you how to do it? I don’t know about that. So why did you cast me in the first place?
Whatโs a great note you got from a director?
One of the best notes I ever got was from Lee Strasberg when we were doing โโฆAnd Justice for All.โ As I was doing the scene, Lee leaned in. He says, “Darling, you’ve got to learn your lines.”
Click here for details of the interview.
new york times magazine
In this week’s Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter, Emily Weinstein recommends putting this one-pot chicken and rice with caramelized lemon at the top of your fall cooking list. She also suggests making crispy gnocchi with spinach and feta, coconut fish curry, and habanero pork chops with carrots.