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Phil Mushnick
A terribly under- publicized NHL replay rule scandal recently revealed itself, the kind that should give MLB, now that it's messing with replay rules, reason to think a lot harder, if not twice.
During the Flyers' 7-4 win in Pittsburgh on Jan. 7, the game was stopped to view replays that would determine whether Philadelphia's Simon Gagne scored, a goal that would have given the Flyers a 6-3 lead in the second period.
With no conclusive video evidence, the original call -- no goal -- stood and the game resumed, thus all subsequent tape of that play could not be applied to reverse that call.
And then, too late, there it was! On the home team's FSN Pittsburgh telecast appeared a tape of that same play, but one showing the visiting team actually had scored. Apparently, TV producer Lowell MacDonald, Jr., son of the former Penguins' winger, purposely withheld that tape because after an investigation, MacDonald was suspended.
FSN Pittsburgh then released a statement: "There is nothing more important than the integrity of the game," adding that the telling tape was not provided "in a timely fashion." The Penguins issued a similar statement.
Why FSN bothered to present on TV the evidence that would create the suspicion that would lead to an investigation, a suspension and a scandal is not clear. If the Penguins' TV crew subjugated replay rule evidence on behalf of Pittsburgh, why show it later, why show it at all?
Regardless, we should be pleased that such an episode was exposed. After all, there are more on the way.
How many times will it take for "bad news" replays to appear on, say, the Yankees-owned YES Network and/or the Mets-owned SNY -- replays that cost the Yankees or Mets a few home runs (or provide their opponents some), and cost them a game or two -- before a sotto-voce word is passed suggesting such replays don't always have to be so aggressively pursued and presented, "Do they?"
Can MLB answer for every person in a TV truck it has now unilaterally charged with determining whether a home run was just hit? Can MLB vouch for the integrity of every TV crew member who, beyond MLB's umpires, is now charged with helping determine the outcomes of games? Of course not.
And heaven help that TV crew if it's too late presenting the tape that can help the Yankees, Mets or whatever side that crew is supposed to be on.
It can't happen? Well, it happened the other day in Pittsburgh. And who knows for sure whether it happened before that -- I would guess that it did -- and how many times.
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Do you think this has happened in the NFL too??
A terribly under- publicized NHL replay rule scandal recently revealed itself, the kind that should give MLB, now that it's messing with replay rules, reason to think a lot harder, if not twice.
During the Flyers' 7-4 win in Pittsburgh on Jan. 7, the game was stopped to view replays that would determine whether Philadelphia's Simon Gagne scored, a goal that would have given the Flyers a 6-3 lead in the second period.
With no conclusive video evidence, the original call -- no goal -- stood and the game resumed, thus all subsequent tape of that play could not be applied to reverse that call.
And then, too late, there it was! On the home team's FSN Pittsburgh telecast appeared a tape of that same play, but one showing the visiting team actually had scored. Apparently, TV producer Lowell MacDonald, Jr., son of the former Penguins' winger, purposely withheld that tape because after an investigation, MacDonald was suspended.
FSN Pittsburgh then released a statement: "There is nothing more important than the integrity of the game," adding that the telling tape was not provided "in a timely fashion." The Penguins issued a similar statement.
Why FSN bothered to present on TV the evidence that would create the suspicion that would lead to an investigation, a suspension and a scandal is not clear. If the Penguins' TV crew subjugated replay rule evidence on behalf of Pittsburgh, why show it later, why show it at all?
Regardless, we should be pleased that such an episode was exposed. After all, there are more on the way.
How many times will it take for "bad news" replays to appear on, say, the Yankees-owned YES Network and/or the Mets-owned SNY -- replays that cost the Yankees or Mets a few home runs (or provide their opponents some), and cost them a game or two -- before a sotto-voce word is passed suggesting such replays don't always have to be so aggressively pursued and presented, "Do they?"
Can MLB answer for every person in a TV truck it has now unilaterally charged with determining whether a home run was just hit? Can MLB vouch for the integrity of every TV crew member who, beyond MLB's umpires, is now charged with helping determine the outcomes of games? Of course not.
And heaven help that TV crew if it's too late presenting the tape that can help the Yankees, Mets or whatever side that crew is supposed to be on.
It can't happen? Well, it happened the other day in Pittsburgh. And who knows for sure whether it happened before that -- I would guess that it did -- and how many times.
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Do you think this has happened in the NFL too??