SPORTS
STORM CENTER: To replay or not to replay?
The National Football League first used instant replay to determine a correct call on Sept. 7, 1986, as the Chicago Bears played the Cleveland Browns.
The following play was reviewed.
Cleveland safety Al Gross recovered possession in the Chicago end zone after a bad snap from Bears’ center Jay Hilgenberg.
The man in the replay booth made the ultimate decision to award the ball to Cleveland.
Instant replay has expanded since then, and the capability is there to use the technology even at the high school level these days.
There was a controversial finish to a high school game on Nov. 25 as Muenster played Munday in the Conference 2A Division II Region II semifinals.
The Moguls Day’veon Dockins was ruled to have scored on a 13-yard TD pass from Trevaul Mitchell on the game’s final play to give Munday a 40-34 victory over Muenster.
It appeared to plenty of different video angles that Dockins never crossed the plane, and despite that, it’s Munday who played Iraan in the regional finals this week.
It gave me the idea to ask around to various high school football coaches a simple question: “Should instant replay be used in the high school playoffs?”
“I think it’s all or none, but you don’t have the human element of the game if you have it,” Bowie head coach Dylan Stark said.
It was a hard way for Muenster’s season to end.
But, Stark wondered how much it would cost to rig equipment for instant replay to be used for high school games.
There is a dollar amount fixed to using a video board, and some stadiums are not currently equipped with those services.
Take a look at the site of Bowie’s first-round playoff game versus Merkel.
Panther Stadium in Seymour didn’t have a video board; rather the facility had just a basic scoreboard in operation.
In the second round, Bowie played at historic Mustang Bowl in Sweetwater. Although the stadium was built in the late 1930s, it has been equipped with modern technology. Read more from this column in the Dec. 3 Bowie News.
Editor’s Note: The Storm Center column is the expressed written views of sports editor Eric Viccaro and not The Bowie News.
Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls has full video capability, and instant replay could have been used in last Friday’s controversial game between Muenster and Munday. (News photo by Eric Viccaro)
The Nocona Lady Indians beat Saint Jo at home on Saturday morning.
The Lady Indians won 16-1 after four innings due to run-rule against the smaller school.
Nocona was coming off a competitive loss at Collinsville earlier in the week while the Lady Panthers were hoping to compete after a busy week of their athletes doing everything else besides just softball.
The Lady Indians easily won the first matchup between the teams in March, 19-2 and it was more of the same on Saturday.
Saint Jo struck first to start the game off well. Jordyn O’Neal hit a one out single. Krista Reeves followed with a walk after O’Neal had stolen second base and had advanced to third thanks to an error trying to throw her out. A wild pitch then allowed her to score to put the Lady Panthers up 1-0.
The lead did not last long. Nocona’s first two batters drew walks which set up Abby Hill to drive them both in with a single to right field.
Despite giving up a single and a walk later in the inning, Saint Jo’s defense did not allow another run. A line out and groundout to the shortstop while picking off a runner attempting to steal got the Lady Panthers out of the inning unscarred.
The Lady Indians led 2-1.
That was about as competitive as it got. In the second inning, Nocona’s bats got going. Two singles and a hit batter loaded the bases up with no outs.
Reagan Phipps drew a walk that drove in a run. Hill hit another two RBI single. Skye Kirby followed with a two RBI double.
After the first out, Allie Sutton drove in one run with a single. There was a fly out for out two, before a runner came in to score after a passed ball. Finally, an error allowed two more runs to score on the base paths.
Nocona had scored nine runs and led 11-1 to break the game open heading into the third inning.
Taylor Patrick hit a double, with O’Neal and Reeves following with singles. Unfortunately for Saint Jo, Patrick was thrown out before the hits attempting to steal a base so the Lady Panthers scored no runs from this.
The Lady Indians kept pouring on the runs. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases up with no outs. Tinley Cable then hit an RBI single. Shelby Swell was hit by a pitch that drove in another run.
After two strikeouts, Evelyn Marquez drove in two more runs on a double to put Nocona up 15-1, coming up one run short of ending the game early.
The Lady Indians scored that one run in the fourth inning. After Phipps drew a leadoff walk, Hill hit a triple that drove her in to end the game.
Nocona won 16-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
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