from Amazon
Friday, June 13, 2008
MLB not moving a snail’s pace? Apparently
Replays for boundary calls can arrive as soon as 7 weeks from now. There are two thought processes for making major rule changes in the middle of a season:
1) wait, take your time, test it out, analyze it, talk it over with everyone, and in 6-18 months, implement, and 2) figure out the problem, figure out the solution, make sure you’ve handled all the holes, and implement.
Method 1 is the preferred route of corporate America. The idea is that if you throw as much middle management as possible to a problem, a solution with no holes will emerge. Basically, the idea is that if you have a whole bunch of people that know alot about a little, and very little about alot, then this committee approach will catch any errors.
Method 2 is the preferred route of entrepreneurs who have a wide breadth of skillset, knowledge, and intelligence. They can turn a piece of paper into a million-dollar business in two months.
When MLB has decided to take the entrepreneurial spirit, I don’t know. But, it is refreshing. Now, we don’t have to hear about the ludicrous(*) debates against the replay for the next six to 18 months.... we just have to hear about it for the next seven weeks.
(*) I’m sure some of you out there think they are not ludicrous. Don’t let my position stop you from making your point. Or, I can make it for you:
a) baseball is played by people and so only people can decide for people…
b) I don’t want technology to decide results for me, but rather it be done by guts or luck…
c) I don’t want the game to slow down by going to replays, I’d rather have the game slow down by watching the coaches yell at umps.
Instead of writing the reason you are against replays, just write the letter.
It doesn’t have to be like the NFL, which is probably why you are against it. Did you know the NHL reviews every single goal from their operations department in Toronto, and when they make a decision, it is final, they give it to the ref, and the coaches just sit back and accept it without causing delays? Maybe one day, we can get diapers out of the pants of the managers, and replace them with replays. That day is upon us.