Last week I had a spirited conversation with a few coaches at Friends University about replay review in college sports. At the NAIA level, we continue to incorporate more replay review each year. In theory, that is not a bad thing. Getting the call right in big moments matters, and officials are human. They are going to miss things. What drives me crazy, though, is how long it takes. Between extended replay reviews and media timeouts, our games have gotten significantly longer, and I think the overall flow of the game has suffered.
During the conversation, I made the comment that we could also speed games up if people were just honest. In a basketball game, if a player or coach knows for sure that the ball went out on them and the official does not have a clear view, why not just say so and move on? If that happens, we won’t need review as much. I understand how idealistic that sounds. The cultural norm is to point the other way and act indignant, even when the player knows the truth. I think that is dumb.
We constantly talk about teaching character and integrity through sport. Telling the truth when it costs you something seems like a pretty good lesson. Instead of trying to manipulate the official, if you know the right call in the moment, just say it. Many will argue that bad calls are part of the game, and they are not wrong. The best teams handle adversity, including officiating mistakes, and it would be impractical to stop the game every time someone thinks a call is wrong. But I am talking about the moments when you actually know. In those moments, why are we teaching players to pretend instead of helping?
This idea probably goes a step further.. If we truly value integrity, should not coaches be teaching schemes and techniques that are within the rules of the game, not just what they believe officials cannot see? I can think of an example where a coach is very vocal about faith and integrity, yet appears to teach techniques that are clearly against the rules because they rarely get called. What exactly is being modeled there? Are we teaching athletes to do the right thing only when people are watching?
Maybe this is just a game, and maybe I am overthinking it. But I do not think so. Sports are one of the most powerful classrooms we have. What we reward, tolerate, and normalize matters. If we say character matters, but only when it is convenient, we should not be surprised when athletes carry that lesson with them long after the final buzzer. It is a small thing on the surface, but it feels like a worthy thing to think about.
One practical takeaway—-have being honest on calls become the norm and celebrate it in practice. 3D Coaching calls this “honor calls”. Very easy teaching point for real life application.
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Things That Are Making Us Think
We should never let ambition cause us to sacrifice our integrity or diminish our efforts in other areas. However, we need to remember that we never reach a serious goal unless we have the intention of doing so. (John Wooden)
