[Rich Kressly]

With all due respect to the previous thoughts...

No to instant replay. Do any of us have any idea of how long it would take to use instant replay and deal with all of the ensuing discussions/arguments? How many of you have gone through Head Ref training and/or listened in on one of these conference calls? How many have had to recruit volunteers to do this job? How many of you realize this is much more difficult to do than it is to referee a sport that has almost no rule changes/differences from year to year?? Now, back to the question...

I'm all for a sense of fair play, more refs, and clear rules, BUT FIRST is primarily a training ground for competing in an UNFAIR world. How we react to adversity, persevere, and STILL treat others with kindness and generosity is the core of this program which is designed to change the culture for the better, work toward a global society, and prepare students for exciting and challenging futures.

I was a head ref at an offseason event in the fall. A fuming, I mean red-faced, team coach approached me with a video camera demanding that I review the tape because my call was wrong and I needed to change it. I calmly told him there was no replay in the rules, that I had a tough call to make, I made it, and the decision was final. He went away still mad and trying to convince others that his team was wronged. Here's the funny/sad part. Two seasons earlier, in 2003, this gentleman was a rookie team coach I met at a regional. He was excited, wide-eyed, and juiced-up about what this did for his students. I observed him cheering, win or lose, during that regional and having a blast. He wanted to win, but he understood the balance. I still wonder what, in just 18 months, happened to this person that changed him so drastically. He obviously didn't remember me, he was so mad he only saw a ref that screwed up in his estimation. More importantly, in a key moment, he didn't remember what FIRST really is.

Do we really need to overly regulate these competitions so much that they become like every other sporting event in the country? Do we really want to provide another forum that fosters arrogant participants, red-faced coaches, and rude spectators? I thought FIRST was about changing the culture, not about becoming one more good intention gone wrong.

Unless you are an NFL Coach, not one of us has the luxury or time to involve instant replay in our lives/jobs. We all have learned (or maybe we haven't) to adapt to these unfair situations in our lives and move on. We need a much more flexible, durable, adaptive, compassionate, and skilled professional to move us forward in the 21st Century. Even if we didn't grow up this way we need to foster and model this "new" behavior for the betterment of mankind. Our future depends on it.