The NFL can vote to keep instant replay out of the game every year, but the owners will never get rid of it. That's because like it or not, the NFL has instant replay. It comes courtesy of television and Jumbotron. And it's leaving the leagues officials vulnerable to widespread and immediate second-guessing from fans, coaches and players a net inside every stadium. The officials, in a matter speaking, are left working without.Seemingly on the verge of returning instant replay to the game earlier in the week, the owners at their annual meetings rejected the plan on Wednesday by three votes. The problem: Each time a coach challenged a call and requested a replay, it costs the team a timeout- no matter if the call is reversed. "We have on of the best games in the world," said Raiders owner Al Davis, "We have 3 timeouts in the first half, 3 in the second, and that's the way it has been forever. I don't want instant replay to compromise that".Instant replay failed the first time for four main reasons: The decision was not made by the officials on the field. It took too long for the plays to be reviewed and created too much dead air time that lengthened the game. Because of the dead airtime it lead to the announcers having to much free time and running the whole procedure into the ground. Many times I heard the announcers berating the replay official in the booth and how he was trying to see a 9" inch monitor. They even used telestraitors to point things out. They even started playing Jeopardy music and basically made a farce out of the whole process. Too many plays were reviewedObviously, they are not going to prohibit the showing of replays inside the stadium on those huge screens that hang over the crowd and the officials that cause so much controversy. Even if the did, enough serious fans carry portable TVs with them in the stands. They can see the network replays and listen to some coach-turned-analyst gripe that the coach on the fie...
