Did I Stutter?
It was only a matter of time, but college basketball has finally entered the 21st century. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing is still up for debate. While instant replay has been around in college basketball since the year 1986, and then 2000 for buzzer beaters, the coaches challenge was just introduced this season.
I'm still on the fence whether it is a good thing or not. While I totally accept the fact that humans are human and therefore fallible, I also think this could be another step in slowing down a game that doesn't need to be slowed down.
If you do a quick Google Search for "When was instant replay implemented in college basketball?", you will see a ton of articles talking about the fact that "instant reply is bogging down the college game". That's actually an almost direct quote from an article that was published in April of 2013.
I can't help but wonder if the same things will be said about the new coaches challenge. I was watching the Michigan State vs. Arkansas game the other night and while it was nice to see the coaches challenge used and fall in favor of my Spartans, I can't say that I was impressed with the speed at which it was used.
I really do think this is going to slow the game down even more depending on how much it is utilized. One of the things my dad hates about sports (there are many actually), is the fact that a game with 5 minutes left on the clock ends up taking closer to half an hour to complete due to all the stoppages and things like that.
I understand his frustration, it bugs @mrsbozz and myself as well, but now with this coaches challenge I just see it happening more and more. In fact, if it comes down to a "use it or lose it" scenario, we will likely see a lot of frivolous challenges. Who knows...
Here is a screenshot from the Google Gemini AI Overview:
Perhaps the fear of losing a timeout will keep coaches from arbitrarily challenging things, but I still think it is going to drag the game out even longer than it already is. Trust me, like I said before, I know that officials get it wrong a lot of times. I'm not sure there is a magic bullet answer that will make all games be called fair and unbiased.
The NFL is a perfect example of how certain players get calls in their favor just for being who they are. Whether it is an implicit bias or not. It happens, you can't deny it.
I don't know, maybe after this season they scrap the whole thing and go back to the old way of doing things, but I have a feeling the coaches challenge is likely here to stay. What do you think? Are you a fan of this new rule? Do you think it will slow down the game?
Let's talk about it in the comments!
My Sports Account - @bozz.sports
Come hang out in The Pub
