One Step Closer to the Worst Thing Ever

We are in one interesting time in sports. Today, more so than ever before "getting it right" is more prevalent. Regardless if it takes time to get a call right in a football game, or if it was a player, coach or team committing an act that some would call "cheating," the asterisk era has begun in sports.

This year we saw an amazing year in baseball. We saw more personal milestones this year than in any other year before. Starting next year, what does the most coveted record in sports mean?

Barry Bonds is already the asterisk king. We don't have to go into this. And pending natural disaster, A-Rod is going to break his record. Yesterday, the GM's of Major League Baseball took the next step in using instant replay to review home runs with the thought process of "get it right."

Before I get into the historic details of why I think this is a big problem, I'm just going to tell you how this is going to really screw up baseball.

College football officials are lazy. They are flat out lazy. How many times have you seen officials huddle together to discuss a tough call and then just say the easy answer knowing that it will get reviewed and they can get it right seeing it a second time? You know the...we will call it down on the field for now, but we can go review it to see if it really was a fumble or not?

Now, home runs being foul or not are going to come under review. And I guess the myth of the yellow line on the fence is going to be determined by instant replay. How do you think Hank Aaron should feel about this?

How many balls do you think Aaron, or Ruth, or anyone for that matter hit down the line that could have been either fair or foul? We don't know, but there could have been a number of home runs that could have gone either way and we'll never know. Now, we are taking the human element out of sports. I can't disagree more with instant replay in any sport. When these games were first created there was no replay. Respect the past. Technology has come a long way but especially in football, technology is more so about safety than performance enhancement. When you are dealing with sports where the the past plays such a role in the present and future, how can you go about changing an aspect of the game that could have changed results from every single player and game before it?

You may think I'm overreacting. But this is the reality. One or two home runs, even ten could be the difference between someone getting the numbers to get into the Hall of Fame. 500 home runs doesn't mean what it used to. Maybe there are guys in the Hall that would be closer to 498 because of not having replay. But where does this end? What happens if in the eyes of the league replay is effective for "getting it right?" Then what? Do they expand the scope to use replay on calls at the plate? I've got news for you...if replay would have been used on calls to the plate this year, Matt Holliday would have been called out in the play-in game and who knows...the Padres could have won the Series. And if that play was reviewable, imagine how long it would take to iron it out. People complain about baseball being a slow game already, and now you're going to put replay in?

I'm nitpicking. I know that. But I love baseball and I respect the game. By adding instant replay, everything changes. Will it be successful for what the GM's are looking for? Yes, it will. I'm not doubting the fact that calls will be corrected. But they were never before, and that's part of the game. Mistakes are made by the officials in any sport. That is part of the game. If replay was in effect in 2003, the Cubs may have gotten the out in the Bartman incident. But who is going to say that they wouldn't have messed up anyway? It's the Cubs. So think about all of these memories that you have and the records that have been set. Now think about how there's a strong chance that similar moments to those in the future will be looked at differently than they were in the past. That's not what baseball is about. And I've got new for you, it will not end with home runs.