"Heard Over the Bar"

Frequent followers of theBlog@TerryLyons.com might enjoy this regular column on Digital Sports Desk.  It's called "Heard over the bar" and here's a sampling:

This week's Pirates-Braves game was to replay as the bell is at Heard over the Bar's last call.  There's been another flurry of knee-jerk responses that has instant replay looking a whole lot more attractive at the end of the night, sort of like that divorcee at the end of the bar.
As an aside, I'm not so sure umpire Jerry Meals blew the call.   Put it this way, from his positioning and the flow of action -- including the sweeping tag motion by the Pittsburgh catcher -- you can see how Meals thought the catcher missed the tag.  But that's not the story.
The story is a newfound clamor for replay "to correct obvious mistakes."  No so fast.  I agree that in a perfect world, all the calls would be right.  And we've got technology that allows you to look at it again, blahblahblah, assuming that replay would correct all errors.  And that's fine, except, replay doesn't always get it right!  How many times have you watched an NFL game, seen a bad call and immediately say "they've GOT to reverse that."  Heck you don't have to say it...the network television analysts say it all the time.  Except, they DON'T always reverse it, no matter how you see it on the replay.  Replay (nothing "instant" about it) does not always get the call right, plain and simple.
The other claim among replay advocates is that it removes the "human element."  On the contrary, it ADDS another layer of human element and complicates the one you already have.

Read on at:  http://www.digitalsportsdesk.com/opinion/heard-over-the-bar.html