Collaborative Replay: Boon or Bust?

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Collaborative Replay: Boon or Bust?

Referee's penalty flag

 
 
Get the (collaborative replay) picture: Undefeated Georgia vs. undefeated Auburn, Sanford Stadium – Georgia up by four with 10 seconds to play – 4th down – Auburn is stuffed at UGA’s goal line – NO FLAGS – the stadium goes nuts – suddenly the refs huddle – a flag is thrown on orders from Birmingham…I begin to edge toward the tunnel to protect my camera gear in case 90k frothy mouthed, infuriated Dawgs storm the field.
 
 
I exaggerate, but there could be situations where a penalty being called away from the field in an SEC rivalry game would lead to an unfortunate outcome. We are talking SEC football here. At the very least, a celebrating Auburn fan would be in some peril as he made his way to his vehicle after the game. Of course, there are two sides to every call and the situation could be reversed. Georgia could be the beneficiary of a cyber-call, but Kirby is going to have to change the psyche of the fanbase before many Dawgs are naturally disposed to expect a positive outcome in such a scenario.
 
 

Where will this centralized video room be located?

A: The collaborative replay system will be operated from the SEC Video Center at SEC Headquarters. Three individuals from the SEC officiating program will be in this Video Center focused solely on supporting the collaborative replay process.
 
 
Will the SEC Video Center replay officials have the ability to stop a game for a review?

A: The three officials in the SEC Video Center will be able to immediately alert the replay official at the venue if they believe the game should be stopped for further review of a play. It will still be the responsibility of the instant replay official at the venue to alert the officiating crew on the field to stop the game for a review.

 
 
The following interview with SEC head of officials Steve Shaw was recorded in February. The approvals mentioned by Shaw at the beginning have been obtained.
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

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Greg is closing in on 15 years writing about and photographing UGA sports. While often wrong and/or out of focus, it has been a long, strange trip full of fun and new friends.

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