Mike Florio ,
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When it comes to the making of the replay-review sausage, it’s always better to let viewers see and hear what’s happening. Absent concerns that the folks charged with the function of reversing or confirming calls are incompetent, transparency minimizes tinfoil-hat concerns of conspiracy.
The ACC Network embraced that concept on Saturday night. In at least one game.
Via Michael Dixon of AwfulAnnouncing.com, the East Texas A&M-SMU matchup included a look inside the ACC Gameday Operations Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
As noted by ESPN, it’s unprecedented for college football.
While it’s not unprecedented for pro football, it was an enhancement introduced by the XFL. And there’s no question about the competence of the likes of former NFL officiating czars Dean Blandino and Mike Pereira when it comes to processing the video, applying the review standard, and explaining the decision extemporaneously in a clear and understandable way.
The NFL has resisted sharing those same conversations with the world, even if the NFL would avoid plenty of the conspiracy-theory nonsense if it would become committed to letting everyone see and hear how the replay process unfolds.
Unless the NFL is concerned about the competence of the folks doing the work. Especially since, as Blandino said after he left the league office, the NFL doesn’t properly value the position of V.P. of officiating.
Which means the NFL gets what it pays. And that the NFL possibly gets what it doesn’t pay for.
Big Shield combines gambling, pro football, and the mob into a cautionary tale regarding inside information, and the dangers that come from selling it.
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