Although “Make it be there” is still a valid pregame admonition, it might be more correct to urge crewmates to “Make it so big it shows up on film.”
After the game, when Kramer saw his block on Pugh for the winning touchdown on television several times, his thought was, “Thank God for instant replay.” It propelled his already stellar reputation into the stratosphere and undoubtedly boosted his book sales the next year.
By the same token, officials often feel a great sense of relief when one of their rulings is as obvious in the game film as it was on the court or field. I know I did.
One of the concerns pro supervisors and major college coordinators have regarding the use of instant replay as an officiating tool is that officials sometimes adopt the attitude, “It doesn’t matter what I call because replay will straighten it out either way.” Another drawback to the explosion of technology is what is known as “officiating to the video.” Contact or violations that would or should be called are not being called because officials fear the video won’t support them.
Whether or not that is a valid concern is debatable. It may vary from official to official, coordinator to coordinator and level to level. What is not in dispute is the glut of video available to us. When, once upon a time, we had to beg a coach to send a copy of a game tape including providing the tape or disc and a self‑addressed stamped envelope, we are now able to view many of our games free online. In some cases, the video is posted before we return home. Talk about instant gratification.
