Rich, you have jumped the shark.

NHL does it all the time.

And?

Gee, and I always thought it was all part of the game of baseball. I guess LL has become so important that no call can be left to human interpretation. Tell me, how soon will cameras make it to your local LL field? Hell, if the call is that important in the LLWS, then it has to be important during the regular season!

After all, as all of you LL'ers always say - "it's all for the kids!!!!!!"

Reviewing the final play doesn't necessarily mean stopping the post game celebrations. They just do a quick check and if it's OK then things CONTINUE to proceed as normal. Only if there is an issue would the celebrations / crying need to be stopped.

This isn't about the cameras. It's about people disparaging LL and saying that an experienced umpire would not make a mistake.

Rich ... I think part of this lies in the fact that a real umpire would be offended if every single call was reviewed to this extent (even if they didn't say so out loud). I think most of your readers are offended on behalf of the umpires forced to work under these conditions and perhaps make the leap from there to inferring that any umpire with a grain of pride in his job would actually NOT work given these conditions.

LL is basically saying that the assumption is that the umpires suck, and they must act accordingly.

I watched most of the games, and the umpires were reversed several times. There were a few real doozies. I don't recall missing this many calls in a year, much less in such a short time frame as this series.

And it doesn't change the pace of the game unless it's a real close one. In fact, with some of the changes they're making to the nets this year, the reviews will be completed even quicker.

NFL, MLB, NHL & NBA have replay and I'm not under the assumption they suck. People have choices. Make the one that you can live with.

I wonder (seriously) if the knowledge that their calls were going to be scrutinized via instant replay didn't somehow facilitate the bigger misses.

Tim.

So...this relates to baseball how?

I wonder about this too. It's been a discussion point re: NFL officials here and there.

How would it affect your game if you knew you basically never had to 'sell' any calls? Interesting.

1) No, they are not. They are declaring finality to a system that involves players and umpires from around the globe. They have experienced problems prior and seek to have a means to address it. That is all it is.

2) Anyone who has been through pro school or worked in the Minors knows this type of scrutiny exists.

3) I find it funny that umpires would ridicule those who have achieved the highest accolade in small ball - the opportunity to work the LLWS. Those umpires work without pay for years, finance their way through tournaments and when called, pay for the Williamsport trip too. It is a proud moment for youth officials and hardly warrants suck attack from others. I don't work small ball but believe that the crews who worked this year did a great job. Making fun of them and their achievement is petty. Do you also ridicule the CWS crews that worked this year?

4) We dedicated a thread to congratulating Bob on winning an award in Illinois this year. Why is it so hard to simply do the same to those who worked the LLWS?

It's not true. I was fortunate to attend a conference a few years ago with several pro officials - NFL, NBA and MLB. At one discussion the topic of scrutiny arose. A man who has worked several Super Bowls addressed the dismissal of making tough calls firmly because IR would make you look bad. He said that any official who is even slightly hesitant will be shown the nearest exit. He stressed the need to be firm in making tough calls. Not all calls will be challenged and selling it is still vital to top officiating - even more so on amateur fields where camcorders and phones abound, but discretion doesn't. If the best of the best believe that IR helps them call the game properly, I will happily concur.