Aug. 26, 2008, Major League Baseball announces a system of instant replay for boundary calls.One year later video replay is accepted in the MLB.  The NFL was one of the first sports to adopt such a system that most fans think goes against the tradition and integrity of the game.  I can recall plenty of times when there has been a call made that was clearly wrong and cost a team a game or maybe a championship.  Some calls were clearly wrong when you saw them first live and then the instant replay shows that the official is not doing his job and looks like he is a complete idiot.  I honestly can’t imagine being an official realizing I made a horrible call as it replays on the Jumbo-tron in front of thousands of loyal screaming fans.  Then feeling in your gut after they realize you just may have ruined some team’s chances at a championship or some gamblers chances for keeping his legs.  Do the names Rich Garcia or Phil Luckett ring a bell???  I guarantee some fans are familiar with theses names (kind of like every Cubs fan is familiar with the name Steve Bartman) these are the names of officials that made wrong calls that have determined the outcome of the games. Heads or tails? The coin flip easiest call in sports…right?  Thanksgiving day 1999 national television game Steelers vs. Lions (sidebar; I hope they win a game this year) referee Phil Luckett lived an official’s worst nightmare. The game went into overtime, Steelers captain Jerome Bettis called “tails,” but Luckett heard “heads.” The Lions win the toss then go on to win the game.   1996 ALCS bottom of the eighth Yankees trail Orioles 4-3 Derek Jeter’s fly ball to right field was caught by 12 year old Jeffery Maier before O’s right fielder Tony Tarasco could make a play.  Rich Garcia was the umpire who failed to call fan interference and ruled it a home run, which was the game tying home run. The Yankees then win the game 5-4 on Bernie Williams’ homer in the 11^th inning. The most controversial call in Olympic basketball history, the 1972 Olympic basketball match between USA and the Soviet Union.  The officials put time back onto the clock twice in the final three seconds after time expired, allowing the Soviet Union to score the winning basket at the end of regulation and give the US Men’s basketball team its first loss in history for the gold medal with a 50-49 victory. My favorite play of all time, Michael Jordan pushes Bryon Russell aside on the final shot in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals, which put the Bulls ahead of the Jazz in route to their sixth NBA championship.  I still have the freeze frame in my room. 

NFL uses instant replay for: Scoring plays, pass complete/incomplete/intercepted, runner/receiver out of bounds, other plays involving placement of the football, whether a legal number of players is on the field at the time of the snap, quarterback pass or fumble, illegal forward pass, forward or backward pass, runner ruled not down by contact, forward progress in regard to a first down, recovery of a loose ball in or out of bounds, touching of a forward pass, either by an ineligible receiver or a defensive player, touching of a kick.

MLB uses instant replay only for: home runs foul or fair, to decide if the ball actually left the playing field, fan/ Spectator interference.

NBA uses instant replay for: Buzzer beaters, to determine wheather players should be ejected from contests involving brawlsan or flagrant fouls, to determine whether a scored field goal is worth two or three points, to determine the amount of free throws awarded for a missed field goal.