Legalized sports betting may be the end of a human behind the plate.
The day Curt Schilling said he studied tape of the umps so he could figure out their individual strike zone should have been the end of humans behind the plate. Umps have been bringing this on themselves for a long time.
We have a winner!
The way to deal with this problem (in all sports) and to improve the sport for spectators and teams, would be to state “this is a fast and complicated game, and judgment calls are necessary. We always try to get them right, but the officials are human too (and part of the game). So grow up and understand that its not perfect, but things average out.”
But, in the face of incessant instant replays and with gambling, and potentially millions of dollars on the line with every call, along with the possibility of federal and state investigations (and possibly direct oversight, OMG) as well as lawsuits, the pressure to make every call perfect will win out.
The games will become hours longer as each play (imagine every football game lasting almost 6 hours?) is litigated and the “tech” results are examined, and they will die as bored and insulted fans switch off.