Welcome to 9th edition of Keep It Simple blogs. Today I am discussing a serious issue of Technology and Human Errors in Sport. Well, you might have already read a lot about use or misuse of technology on other blogs as well. But we have'nt really yet come to a conclusion. WHY??? What's stopppping us humans from making use of advanced technologies created by us humans for betterment of life???
Controversies are part and parcel of any sport and they add a bit of spice to the contest, no doubt. But we must ensure that it doesnt cost an individual or team's fortune for a bigger cause. Just mention to the Irish about 'Henry' OR ask Lampard 'Why could he not score against the Germans?' You will surely get your answers there. How far and fast have the admins moved to change all this? I think so far we have covered a distance of 2mm @ speed of 0.00004 mm per light year.
I will recount two incidents on the weekend from Stoke vs Tottenham game and India vs Sri Lanka game.
Stoke vs Tottenham Spurs:
Did the ball go in? Yes.
Was referee or linesman in right place to view the incident? Yes.
The Result? Stoke denied a point. May be or may be not, Spurs could have scored a 3rd which we'll never know.
Why was there not much of a fuss after this game? Probably lesser known teams. It is just a league match, it may balance off in course of 38 games.
India vs Sri Lanka:
4 umpiring decisions went against India. Umpires were from Sri Lanka and Pakistan none of who have got a great umpiring record broke the spine of Indian batting. The match was of utmost importance to Indians, win it and qualify for the finals. Yes, the rest of the batting was patchy but was largely due to pressure caused by erroneous umpiring.
The Result? Indian suffered another humiliating defeat and are on brink of exiting from the tri-series cup.
Indian fans Reaction: The reasons umpires Dharmasena & Rauf declared them as "Out" were probably due to excessive appealing from Lankans OR to take revenge of the Randiv incident.
What Next? Do the refs own up the responsibility? When will administrators do something to save the integrity of the sport? Or should we fans take everything in stride and carry on thinking it's not our job to change the system?
Said it before as well and saying now again to the FIFA and ICC Chiefs - Technology is there, bloody well USE IT just like you would use condoms when bedding your precious prostitutes; before your prestige will be at stake.
Go Technology!
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It's an interesting thought that cricket is seen as a fuddy duddy conservative game,yet is always re-inventing itself and making use of technology and other innovations to update the game.
ReplyDeleteFootball,however,is firmly rooted in the past.Having said that,it is a little more difficult to use technology in football.I'm not talking about the breaking up of the flow of the game,but more the technical aspects.If we take Hawkeye it has an error margin of 5mm.This is why some LBW referral decisions will have "on field decision" next to them when Hawkeye has the ball clipping the stump.Because of this,Hawkeye can't be used for goal line incidents.It would result in phantom goals etc.
The other issue is how long it would take to get the correct angle played by the TV ref to see if a ball has crossed the line.What happens if a player blocks the camera view?
I think the answer is to introduce more officials into the game,as FIFA are trying to do in the CL this season.Even then it won't be perfect.There will always be something that the umpteenth replay will show has been missed.What I would like to see(but will never happen in a million years) is managers and players to stop using the officials as an excuse for not winning.Referees,umpires,officials are all doing their best.They generally make less mistakes than any player they officiate and it's become an easy cop out to blame them.
In summary,technology isn't the single answer but should be used to complement the game.
On a technical note SS11,not a bad blog but you will need to explain exactly what the 4 decisions were that went against India.Other than that pretty good read(although I detect a little anger in there about losing a meaningless ODI)
OMG! four decisions against the Indians were wrong I never knew that....thats a shame on part of the administrators & myself also for not knowing that....I infact did not even know whether India lost or won...well anyways Suhas, a good point made by you mate... cheers!!
ReplyDeleteGoal line technology will probably be introduced sometime in the near future, but then others will want the same technology for ofside decisions etc. Where will it all end? Will we have a video panel for every decision (throw ins etc)? I personally hope not, it would be to the detrament of the game.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I couldn't give a monkey's about cricket. ;)
Thanks everyone.
ReplyDelete@Jacks, here's the link http://cricket.skyworldcup.com/video/India-vs-Sri-Lanka-Tri-series-5
Whilst I have always said that as a minimum goal line technology should be brought in to prevent such clear errors as Lamps and others, I would also tend to support refs as far as possible.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of Chris Foy, he was in a good position, not perfect, and IMHO, where he was stood, perhaps the post was his blind spot, which obscured his view of where exactly the ball struck Crouch, the linesman view was obscured by various other players on or about the line. If in doubt, there is only one decision he can give
Not sure if I agree with the extra officials, 99% of the time thay are stood there(could read a book really)
If cricket, RU, RL, NFL, NHL, tennis and I am sure there are others can embrace technology why cant Football
Good blog allround
and just to follow up Jacks point re
ReplyDelete"There will always be something that the umpteenth replay will show has been missed"
in NHL a coach can appeal against a decision, if he appeals and fails, then he loses one of 3 appeals, I guess it is similar to tennis per set.
In the case of SAF, he would lose all his appeals in the first 10 mins
In case of Chris Foy, he looked upto the assistant linesman for confirmaing his decision. That upset Tony Pulis more than anything... if Foy had a doubt he would have just walked and continued with play. And ofcourse, Harry claimed it was a foul on Gomes.
ReplyDeleteForget Harrys point 2 wrongs dont make a right
ReplyDeleteSo Foy had a doubt, poss because of what I said, and also the linesman had a doubt because he had a doubt,other players blocking his view