OFFICIATING AND INSTANT REPLAY by Walter Sommerfelt
T he human element has always been a part of our sports culture. Officials are human; they make instant split-second decisions based on what they see and how they interpret the rules. Don’t take this the wrong way but I do see the value in the replay system in some sports and I think it does work especially in the major sports. But there are a lot of sports where implementing it would forever change those sports. Gymnas- tics, figure skating, competitive cheer and dance are just examples of events where the judge’s interpretation of the event is significant, and they score accordingly. The scoring by judges has long been an area of controversy in the international sports world and was especially talked about during the cold war years. But the great thing about sports is that with all its warts and imperfections it still thrives all over the world. Here in the sport of pure-bred dogs of- ficiating also has always been and will always be an area of controversy. It is not only in the conformation world but also in every type of competitive events from obedience, agility, flyball, dock diving, and any other competi- tion where there is a person or per- son’s doing the judging or evaluating. Some obedience judges are known to
it help? How many cameras would we need? How many angles would we see? Could the camera pick up things like dentition, eye shape and color, muscle tone, coat color and texture, and so many other things that are in- cluded in the standard for the breed? Often, judges will ask someone to move their dog again sometimes be- cause they can see that the handler does not have the best control and they are not seeing what their hands have told them to expect. At the same time what judges see in the stack is not being presented properly. There are so many variables in the judging process and all judges have their own views, preferences, and various levels of how much importance is placed on the different areas of the standard. Like the officials in the sports world, dog judges are also subjected to train- ing and evaluation by the American Kennel Club. Some judges are out- standing in some breeds and lacking in others, while some are above aver- age and some below average in all the breeds, they officiate in. But one thing all judges and any type of official have in common is that they are all human, and no human is perfect. When exhibiting please remember that judges are human beings mak- ing “at that moment” decisions. Those
be more lenient than others, Similarly for agility and other venues. Every as- pect has rules and guidelines, but the judges all can apply themas they see fit within the established rules. In the conformation world, the judges alsoareofficiatingwithinasetof guide- lines. They are interpreting the writ- ten standard for the breed and how, at that moment and under those condi- tions, they see the exhibits in front of them. There is a lot that goes into that judge processingwhat they see and feel in the ring and between the competi- tors in each class. The judge does not have the ability to see the exhibit in an environment like a back yard where the dog without a lead looks fantastic andmoves like a dream. Or standing in a perfect natural posewithout any out- side help. He or shemakes the decision based on a limited time frame inwhich the human counterpart the handler presents the exhibit to him hopefully to its best advantage. Having stood in the middle for the past 34 years I can tell you that is not always a simple task. I believe all judg- es try to do the very best job they can. We unfortunately do not have the use of an instant replay or even the time it would take to go back and reviewwhat we have seen presented to us. Even if we did have instant replay how would
“JUST LIKE WITH ALMOST ALL SPORTS COMPETITION WE HAD UMPIRES, SOME GOOD, SOME BAD, AND MOST WERE JUST VOLUNTEERS TRYING THEIR BEST.” 44 • T op N otch T oys , J anuary 2020
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