Since the inception of photography in all its forms, it has been used to document all sorts of history of the human race including nature, war, musical events, space exploration, and just everyday life of the people of the world. Being able to look back on an event is unique to the human race, especially as memory itself is not reliable as time goes by and people can have different accounts of an event that has happened.
Sports and photography
This is especially important in sports, where two people who saw the exact same thing can interpret what they saw very differently. Enter the instant replay. With today’s technology, all popular sports are filmed from multiple angles using all different sorts of technology from iPhones to drones, and GoPros which can accurately determine an outcome or simply replay something amazing that has happened. A lot of the time the human eye is not quick enough to comprehend what has happened right in front of us and we crave to see what happened again.
The sports that utilize slow motion replay
Slow-motion replay is especially satisfying to see in sports such as cricket and rugby when a player does something that is not expected leaving the viewer and the commentators wondering what happened until the replay shows up.
A fantastic example of this is cricket. Since the late 80s, it has been used after almost every ball bowled, regardless of whether it is out or not, and is a reliable way to determine if a player has been unfairly dismissed as out or if a ball has bounced and been caught as opposed to it being simply caught. Instant replays also show how great a play has been done. A player hitting an epic six gets replayed several times throughout the game, showcasing how skilled the players are.
This carries on to sports like basketball where the odds for the NBA playoffs could be entirely different if replays were not involved, giving umpires a second chance to review their decisions based on the clear information they have before them. And again, some of the athleticism displayed among the players is something to be witnessed again and again. Imagine watching Michael Jordan dunk from the free-throw line only once during the game?
The same goes for tennis, where some of the lobs are so quick that not even the best of umpires can see exactly what happened. This is why John McEnroe got so heated with the umpires in the 1980s when he disagreed with their decisions and ended up smashing his tennis racquet on the court in front of thousands of people in a fit of rage.
Horseracing is another world-class sport that involves animals that can run much faster than humans and therefore need cameras to tell who won if it is a dead heat. Depending on how close the finish is, the human eye cannot determine who won – but a replay can.
Motor racing has the same help from replays as well; the leaders could be neck to neck at the finish line and only replays can figure out the definitive winner. Instant replays can also determine who is actually at fault if there is an accident.
The sporting world owes a lot to this sort of technology by making the outcomes fair and accurate to all involved. Whether you like it or not, the camera doesn’t lie and has ultimately changed the way of sports for the good.
