IS SOCCER NEXT..

++ WILL SOCCER SUCCUMB to the same kind of crap that has engulfed the NFL, NBA and the NHL?
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the NFL has resorted to using television in its quest to capture the most audience and effort to steal the 'national pastime' away from baseball. instant replays and challenges and referee reviews are now the norm for professional football. its a rare sight to see a game pass without these new fandangled red flags being thrown one after another (usually by joe gibbs at his most inopportune time and undeniably in err every time.) everyone (including the players and coaches) sit down and take a '2 minute' free time-out to rest their weary bones. in fact new rules have been instituted and whole sections have been added to the rulebook about when and where you can and cannot throw the red flag (and at who and how high and so on and so on.) fine.
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the NBA has utilized the referee instant replay for quite some time now. the claim is that the human brain is not fast enough to make 'important' decisions and cannot process information fast enough. the eye must visually see what happenned, send a signal to the brain where it must be processed before a decision and subsequent action can be made. for this reason, instant replay must be used to help aid the referee in his decision. fine.
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the NHL has similar rules and laws of the game to help aid the referee in his decision making. fine.
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will soccer also make this transition? lets hope not. soccer (as well as football, basketball and hockey) is a game played by people, who are inherently flawed and inherently make mistakes. the game should be governed and decided by the same, humans ... you know what, i don't even feel like trying to make an argument against this whole thing. i guess i'm just irritated that 'in the fairness of the game' that something which is considered a game (regardless of the skill level or level of play) might be brought to such a level where microchips and televisions must be brought in to 'make the game better'. call me a purist. yeah, i know there are arguments such as, "the game should be fair. lets do our best to ensure fair play. lets utilize the current technology to bring this to fruition" or, "humans are inherently flawed and as such cannot be counted on to make game-deciding decisions." or, "how would a human be able to decide the winner for most 100 meter sprints or 'photo' finishes at a horse race." fine. i concede to those two arguments. yes, it would be mighty hard (if not a guess) to decide winners in those arenas of play, but seriously, a soccer game? a football game, a basketball game? there's only one ball people. its not like you are looking at 10 people running at you or 12 horses galloping at breakneck speed. no, its a ball. hell, its a game. let games be decided by the participant's peers. if robots are playing, then let robots decide the outcome of events. if humans play, let humans referee.

oh yeah, this is what prompted the rant.

let's just play soccer and leave the microchips to the internet and mobile phones.
we don't need them in a soccer ball.
what's next?
microchips in humans to control their movements from the sideline?
better yet, we'll all just sit in a room and look through 3-d glasses and not actually move at all, but play the World Cup 2006 in Germany all through computers.
it'll save everyone money. ++