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By Jim Caltagirone
For the Mirror
The U.S. women's national soccer team was defeated in the Round of 16 of the World Cup by Sweden, but it was knocked out of the tournament by technology.
A video review of the decisive penalty kick by Sweden's Lina Hurtig confirmed that the ball had crossed the goal line before American goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher reached behind to swat away the deflection of her initial block.
"Someone said there was a picture of it, and it was off by a millimeter," Naeher said. "It's tough to have your World Cup end by a millimeter."
The Video Assistant Referee process was used again during the final and confirmed a handball violation by an English player. At first glance, the television replay left the impression that the call could go either way.
The fact that a call was not made during live action demonstrated the challenges associated with visual perception.
In nearly every sport today, technology is playing as prominent a role in the outcome as the players, coaches and officials.
Life is not perfect. In fact, it's messy and chaotic.
If we all had do-overs, we would slow down instead of speeding up when the traffic light turns yellow, measure twice before cutting and read the instructions before starting assembly.
Mistakes are inevitable in life. So why is sport striving for perfection?
It used to be that missed calls and errors in judgment by officials were considered part of the game. Now, seemingly every aspect of a contest is subject to review and reversal.
Four of the most historic moments in professional sports likely would have been reversed if replay had been in use at the time and applicable to the situation.
In 1955, Yankees manager Casey Stengel surely would have used replay to challenge Jackie Robinson's steal of home in game one of the World Series. Catcher Yogi Berra never wavered in his belief that he had tagged Robinson out. The Dodgers lost that game but won the series.
Had replay been in use in 1972 and the visual evidence contradicted the call on the field, Franco Harris' Immaculate Reception would have gone down in history as just another ordinary incompletion.
In the final seconds of a 1975 divisional playoff game, Minnesota defensive backs argued that Roger Staubach's "Hail Mary" touchdown pass to Drew Pearson was a blatant case of offensive pass interference and not the answer to a prayer.
If the officials had concurred and nullified the game-winning catch, desperation heaves might be referred to by another name today.
Finally, replays indicate that Green Bay guard Jerry Kramer jumped the snap before providing a critical block which cleared the path for Bart Starr's victorious plunge in the Ice Bowl in 1967.
An offsides call may have sent Dallas to Super Bowl II instead of the Packers.
In professional sports, the financial stakes are now too high to leave the outcome to the sole discretion of game officials.
As an article in Forbes stated, technology in sport "can keep things accurate, fast and, above all, neutral. More than anything else, it can help ease the psychological pressure that referees go through in the process of giving the best decision they humanly can."
When millimeters separate winners and losers at the highest level of a sport, technology is less an innovation than a lifeline for those who carry a whistle.
Jim Caltagirone resides in Altoona. He is a regular contributor to Voice of the Fan.