Second helping

I try to keep my opinions out of the actual paper, but on the blog it's o.k. to rant a little, so I'm going to.
First off, let me say that I'd have the same opinion had CCSU men's soccer team been given a victory it didn't deserve instead of had a deserved win taken away.
What the NCAA and NEC has done here is wrong, in my humble opinion. I'm all for using modern technology to fix mistakes. I have no problem with replays to decide if a ball went in the net, a shot came after the buzzer or what player threw a punch.
Those calls in those situations (hockey goal, basketball buzzer-beater or any sport with a big fight), however, are made by the referees. They aren't made days later in an office.
Appeals should be used for rules interpretations, not judgement calls. If the wrong player was red-carded and you want to overturn a suspension, fine. If it can be proven that the game's score was wrong due to a mathematical error, that should be fixed. But to say a referee can't determine when he blew his whistle is a scary proposition. Next he won't be able to decide for himself if a ball was inbounds.
To be fair, let me say that while the NEC was wrong for using the process it did, its judgement was correct. According to the letter of the law, Central's goal shouldn't have counted, the whistle had blown before the ball was in the net. But can't common sense be used? If the ref was blowing the whistle to signify a goal, then should the fact that he made his ruling less than a second too early out of anticipation be held against the team that scored?
More importantly, if we're going to start appealing judgement calls, when does it end? Will every close call be sent for computer analysis? Does that mean we wait three days from now on to find out who REALLY won a game?
At the very least, there MUST be a clear list of things that can be appealed, and they should be heard during the game. Almost every team has video cameras at a game. Let's have a laptop at the scorer's table, load the video and settle it before the game goes on. You want to have instant replay in all sports? Fine. Do it on the field. That way, even if an appeal is granted, the team being denied doesn't have to wait three days to find out it didn't win.
Games are meant to be watched and remembered on videotape. They're meant to be decided on the field.