One of the most startling aberrations about getting older is you start to realize your parents were right about a lot more things than you once thought. It turns out life experience is valuable. Who knew?
Longtime CFL sportswriter Darrell Davis — who isn’t my father, though I appear to have inherited his hairline — has railed against the use of replay in professional sports for years. He spoke out against the CFL’s expansion of video review in 2016 and recently advocated for the elimination of the league’s command centre.
After years of dismissing the Regina-based scribe’s opinion on this matter, it’s come time to acknowledge the old man might have been right this whole time.
Last week’s game between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Ottawa Redblacks was a debacle. Both teams momentarily believed they’d won in overtime, yet the matchup ended in a tie after the command centre overturned two apparent game-winning plays. The CFL is well-known for its weird and whacky anomalies and its roots trace back well over a century, yet this was probably the first time in league history this had ever happened.
The apparent purpose of video review is to make officiating perfect, which is a fool’s errand. Nobody likes bad calls, of course, but the constant delays and negation of big plays have left fans feeling frustrated. There’s nothing more deflating than leaping out of your seat to celebrate an amazing play only to have it taken away 90 seconds later.
The CFL implemented video review in 2006, giving coaches two challenges per game. On-field officials initially conducted the reviews on the sideline, though this practice was discontinued in 2009 following the introduction of a central command centre headquartered at the league office in Toronto. Coaches were also given a third challenge at this time, provided their first two challenges were successful.
The extra challenge became a problem once pass interference and illegal contact became reviewable in 2016. By the following year, games became so bogged down with incessant flag-throwing that the rule was changed barely a month into the season, limiting teams to one challenge per game. The rule was tweaked again before the 2019 season, giving coaches a second challenge if their first was successful.
The league has since continued to tweak its video review rules, gradually granting more power to the command centre. The replay section of the rulebook now takes up 12 pages, outlining the detailed minutiae of what can be challenged, what can’t be challenged, when it can be challenged, when it can’t be challenged, what is automatically reviewed, what is not automatically reviewed, when it will be automatically reviewed, when it won’t be automatically reviewed, when a review can pause the game, when a review can’t pause the game, what qualifies as the standard reviewable aspects as of a play, what doesn’t qualify as the standard reviewable aspects of a play, and much more. It’s enough to make your head spin.
The rules have grown so complicated that the average fan has no hope of understanding when the command centre can step in and what decisions they can make, creating the perception that it’s completely random. The CFL could have officials better explain calls and the review process on the field, though this would only lead to further delays in the game. Nobody wants that.
A few years ago, I wrote a retrospective on the 89th Grey Cup between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Calgary Stampeders, which took place at Olympic Stadium in Montreal in 2001. When watching the game back for the first time in two decades, I was struck by how the Blue Bombers got two huge breaks in the first quarter.
Running back Troy Mills was ruled down by contact on one of Winnipeg’s first offensive possessions, even though it was clear upon replay that he fumbled. As video review didn’t exist at the time, the call stood. A few possessions later, Calgary running back Kelvin Anderson lost control of the ball after his knee was down but the play was ruled a fumble, giving the Blue Bombers possession at midfield.
These were two bad calls in the most important game of the season, both of which benefitted Winnipeg. The first negated a giveaway, while the second created a takeaway that had never actually occurred. Despite getting early help from the officials, the Blue Bombers lost as the Stampeders came away with a 27-19 upset win.
U Sports football is grossly underappreciated, particularly in Canada West where the games are often high-scoring and evenly matched. I’ve been attending games at the University of Manitoba for years and find myself enthralled with the product, which doesn’t suffer in the slightest despite the absence of video review.
The calls are immediate, they stand no matter what, and when they’re bad — which is pretty rare — they’re usually balanced out by another one later in the game. It’s extremely refreshing.
Perfect is the enemy of good. Our collective obsession with combing through multiple aspects of every play has thwarted the pace of the game for little to no benefit. Social media skews negative, of course, but a cursory glance at posts from fans across the country indicate they’re generally unhappy with CFL officiating despite the league pouring more resources into it than ever before.
The pendulum has swung too far in favour of video review. It’s time for it to swing back in the other direction.
My proposal to the CFL would be for the command centre to automatically review plays on which a score, a potential score, or a turnover takes place. In the interest of player safety, it should also assist on-field officials when a major altercation occurs to ensure offending parties are ejected or penalized as needed. That’s it.
No more challenges, no more long delays, and no more adding new penalties.
I would also instruct the command centre to execute reviews quickly and overturn calls only when they’re obvious. If you have to watch a play in ultra-slow motion 17 times to make a ruling, then it’s far too close to overturn. Instead, the replay official should find the best camera angle and watch it at regular speed two or three times. If there’s nothing obvious to overturn, the call should stand.
The goal shouldn’t be perfection, which is impossible anyway. It should be to correct glaring mistakes while maintaining a fast-paced environment.
The league should also go back to having the same person in the command centre for each game instead of rotating through a group of individuals. Just don’t ask Darrell Davis, who might smash the equipment with his squash racket in protest.
