I believe there is a place for pay reviews: turn overs, scoring plays, roughing the passer, fights… but I feel that there needs to be a time limit on them. If cmd ctr can’t make a decision in 30-45 seconds, then the call on the field stands. Reviewing every play takes away the flow of the game and strips the authority of the on the field official. The way things are going officials might as well throw a flag on every play and let cmd ctr figure it out … in a minute or two. Meanwhile fans and commentators loose focus and can’t figure out what to say during these pauses. It’s like watching your favourite show with commercials every couple of minutes
In summary the CFL WAS know for a quick fast paced game, now it’s a disjointed stop and go lumbering game that isn’t exciting to watch with so many pauses.
Nobody complains about the NFL play reviews and it makes celebrities out those zebras.
As long as the command centre gets it right I fine with it. I don’t want the CFL descend into Fail Mary, Tuck rule, Dez Catch/No Catch BS.
I think the command Center is taking away from the flow of the game. There must be a way to speed the process up to some degree. At least for the fans at the stadium maybe the cheerleaders could come on and entertain or something instead of all the standing around.
I’ve seen rugby telecasts where their single on-field official simply draws a box gesture in the air with his fingers to signal a review and the video official is able to render a result in under 30 seconds… then play on.
No idea how its done but its so clean a quick relative to what we are used to in North American football
The reviews for the fumble last night then the juggled ball was way too long .
Ford kind of hinted at that during the broadcast .
Not only that but because the on-field ref is involved in the decision the games get called more consistently as well.
The other part is that there are no restrictions on what the video guy can spot and bring to the ref’s attention.
Last but not least it a transparent decision as they broadcast the refs discussion and how they arrive at their decision.
It seems to me that the people in the Command Centre in the CFL and some executives should study with World Rugby and with the NHL in the off-season to learn how to make some overdue improvements.
I don’t know rugby at all but love the model you describe. Transparency is always best regarding any decision, whether it is in the court system, regarding professional discipline, reviewable sports calls or discipline on social media forums.
If the fans and the commentators can spot an infraction on the replay what takes the command centre so long?
Some calls do require a more detailed review. For fans watching, it’s 20-20 hindsight if they saw it correctly but then there are all those times when a very close and detailed review will reveal what we did not or could not see in real time.
And would you leave a close call up to the average fan?
Nope, I’m out on that one. I would not trust the average fan to get a case of beer from the car to my kitchen.
It’s not just that - it’s the consistency of having a game called the same way start to end. When this is a penalty and that isn’t - except when it goes to review - it’s hard for players to know whats a penalty and whats not.
Plays where the call is overturned tend to take a little longer to review because there is more to review.
- first the play is reviewed and a decision is made to overturn the call
- a further review is then required to ensure that the ball is placed in the correct spot (i.e. previous LOS) and that the sticks are in the correct spot
- sometimes the time on the clock also needs to be adjusted
Often the initial review is done quite quickly.
I think there is confusion as to the command centre role. sometimes they send down a call and sometimes when its obvious, juggled catch out of bounds, no call from command and a challenge must be used. Either they get involved one these specific instances or they stay out of it and make a quick decision like the refs on the field have to.
and the 10 minute missed field goal return review that ended being as called on the field. that is not a quick review and not over turned.
That’s where I like the unfettered off field video official. They catch the obvious mistakes, and review them in less time than it takes to throw a challenge flag.
All reviews should take no longer than one minute or be looked at no slower than half speed. If you can't decided with that, call on the field stands.
All communication and video duting the review should be on the broadcast.
If command centre is not correcting obviously missed calls, coaches should be able to keep challenging until they are wrong.