Lets Go to the Videotape: All the Plays and Replays from My Life in Sports

FIFA was against instant replays, but not anymore.

---

Polanski declined, but would go on to make his own film about the Holocaust, The Pianist , which earned him a Best Director Oscar in Spielberg then offered the movie to director Sydney Pollack, who also passed. The job was then offered to legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese , who accepted.

Make the lucrative summer movie first, they said, and then he could go and make his passion project. Kevin Costner and Mel Gibson auditioned for the role of Oskar Schindler, and actor Warren Beatty was far enough along in the process that he even made it as far as a script reading. For the role, Spielberg cast then relatively unknown Irish actor Liam Neeson, whom the director had seen in a Broadway play called Anna Christie.

COLLECTIONS

Besides having Neeson listen to recordings of Schindler, the director also told him to study the gestures of former Time Warner chairman Steven J. In order to gain a more personal perspective on the film, Spielberg traveled to Poland before principal photography began to interview Holocaust survivors and visit the real-life locations that he planned to portray in the movie.

The production was also allowed to shoot scenes outside the gates of Auschwitz.

A symbol of innocence in the movie, the little girl in the red coat who appears during the liquidation of the ghetto in the movie was based on a real person. In the film, the little girl is played by actress Oliwia Dabrowska, who—at the age of three—promised Spielberg that she would not watch the film until she was 18 years old.

She allegedly watched the movie when she was 11, breaking her promise, and spent years rejecting the experience. I had to grow up to watch the film. The actual girl in the red coat was named Roma Ligocka; a survivor of the Krakow ghetto, she was known amongst the Jews living there by her red winter coat. Ligocka, now a painter who lives in Germany, later wrote a biography about surviving the Holocaust called The Girl in the Red Coat.

For a better sense of reality, Spielberg originally wanted to shoot the movie completely in Polish and German using subtitles, but he eventually decided against it because he felt that it would take away from the urgency and importance of the images onscreen. It would have been an excuse to take their eyes off the screen and watch something else. Everyone else lobbied against the idea, saying that it would stylize the Holocaust.

Spielberg and Kaminski chose to shoot the film in a grimy, unstylish fashion and format inspired by German Expressionist and Italian Neorealist films. Neeson and Ralph Fiennes were both nominated for their performances, and the film also received nods for Costume Design, Makeup, and Sound. The director re-enrolled in secret, and gained his remaining credits by writing essays and submitting projects under a pseudonym. In honor of the film's 25th anniversary, it's currently back in theaters. But Spielberg believes that the film may be even more important for today's audiences to see.

Citing the spike in hate crimes targeting religious minorities since , he said, "Hate's less parenthetical today, it's more a headline. But the truth is, if you ever see a minor out wassailing, you may want to call his or her parents. The word wassail has many meanings. Before the Battle of Hastings in , English soldiers reportedly sang:. But, in England, wassail also denoted the alcoholic beverage you imbibed during that toast—an elixir of steamy mulled mead or cider. Sometimes, wassail was a whipped dark beer flavored with roasted crab apples.

Wassail was usually slurped from a communal bowl before, during, and after big events and holidays. It was supposedly on the menu during Lammas Day, a pagan autumnal harvest holiday that involves transforming cornhusks into dolls. It was also imbibed on Twelfth Night , a January holiday that involves lighting a fire in an orchard, dancing, and singing incantations to apple trees in hopes of encouraging a bountiful harvest.

By the Middle Ages, the practice of sharing a giant bowl of wassail—that is, the practice of wassailing —evolved from a holiday celebration to a form of boozy begging. Not all rich folk were happy to see wassailers at their doorstep. Misers like Selden may have had a point: Since alcohol was involved, wassailers often got too rowdy.

In fact, boisterous wassailers are one reason why Oliver Cromwell and Long Parliament passed an ordinance in that essentially banned Christmas. By the 19th century, wassailing would mellow. Beginning in the s, music publishers started releasing the first commercial Christmas carols, uncorking classics such as God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and The First Noel. Among them were dozens of wassailing songs, including the circa Here We Come a-Wassailing and dozens of others that are now, sadly, forgotten.

As the custom of caroling became the dominant door-to-door pastime, alcohol-fueled begging dwindled. By the turn of the 20th century, carolers were more likely to sing about libations than actually drink them. For starters, ask for beer.

FA Cup: two sent off and VAR controversy as Chelsea win on penalties

Go for it all, go for the gold, go for Thirsty for your own wassail? Stock up on sherry and wine and try this traditional recipe from The Williamsburg Cookbook. Have you got a Big Question you'd like us to answer? If so, let us know by emailing us at bigquestions mentalfloss. Instant Replay Pioneer George Retzlaff, a Toronto-based producer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's wildly popular "Hockey Night in Canada," used a hot processor to produce a wet-film replay of a goal during the season.

Warner Wolf

Replay Rules and Systems in Other Sports Here is a sampling of how replay is currently used in other sports: Subscribe to our Newsletter! The story was relayed to author Thomas Keneally in a Beverly Hills leather goods shop. Keneally wasn't the first person Leopold Page told about Oskar Schindler. Schindler made more than one list. Nicholas Hunt, Getty Images. Before the Battle of Hastings in , English soldiers reportedly sang: Pass the bottle and drink health. Drink backwards and drink to me Drink half and drink empty. Our wassail cup is made Of the rosemary tree, And so is your beer Of the best barley.

Keep asking for that beer. I find myself seeing many unlucky or just plain wrong decisions made by refs that could be corrected with instant replay. The television companies will have the right to say [the referee] was right or wrong, but still the referee makes the decision — a man, not a machine. Blatter and others at FIFA have repeatedly argued against using instant replay.

But lately, FIFA has begun to come around on the idea.

Although it's not quite "instant replay," in FIFA approved two different goal-line technologies to improve referee accuracy: The Guardian provides a pretty helpful FAQ on the technology. FIFA may choose to implement further changes to approved goal-line technology and referee rules when it meets again after the World Cup.

Navigation menu

Perhaps not for FIFA, but personally. Soccer is a game of motion, timing, and momentum. It is not a game of plays like American football. Scoring and penalties especially are relatively uncommon, while throws and even free kicks and crosses are mostly taken pretty quickly while players jostle for position. Interrupting this flow ruins the game.

Ever played on top of a hill with people who kick too hard? You spend too much time standing around while the ball's being fetched. I'd certainly be fine with goal-line technology as it's come of age and is reliable and quick, though regardless I still think the real solution is better training for officials. Most errors could be easily corrected by properly trained linesmen. Refs as well, but mostly linesmen.

There's no excuse for not being level enough with the play to call offsides and goals properly. There is another problem with applying instant replays beyond just interrupting the flow of the game. It all stems from the nature of football in sometimes lacking breaks in play for quite some time. So how will this cause a problem? Well, let us say that the referee is allowed to use a radio link to the video referee. A long ball is played up to player X, a striker who breaks away into a one to one against the keeper, but who may possibly have been offside.

At present the referee aided by his assistant makes an instant decision. And if we see he gets it wrong once we have watched the replay from five angles , we all moan at him. But, even if video replay was allowed, the referee would not stop play to use it, since if player X was onside then the ref has just stopped a possible goal scoring move anyway. He needs to wait for a break in play.

Relive FA Cup first-round replays as Slough & Halifax cause upsets - Live - BBC Sport

So the referee lets the move continue: If X scores then the video can be checked and a goal awarded or disallowed. Even if it results in a goal kick or corner then we have a natural break to check the replay. But what if when play is allowed to continue, X shoots; the goalie pushes the ball out; it is played around by the players of X's team for half a minute or so still too close to goal to just stop play ; and then X's team mate Y dashes into the penalty area with the ball at his feet and is viciously fouled by defender Z The ball however runs on into the goal.

At which point the replay referee sends down a message that the original ball to X was offside! Disallow the goal for an offence that happened a while ago. Believe me, players moan if the ref is seconds late with a whistle. If he does disallow it as he should what about the sending off offence? The defence will argue forcibly that player Z should never have been in the position of having to foul Y since the game ought to have stopped a while ago. And imagine the nastiness from Y's team if Z is let off.

Whichever decision is made will not seem right to one team. This is just a simple example using offside. The same problems or worse can occur with just about any decision that needs to be verified by another ref using a video screen. This is why IFAB the law making body of world football are insisting that any way of checking if the ball has crossed the line for a goal, needs to be instant. Goal line technology will probably arrive: At least now, right or wrong, an instant decision is made and the game stopped or allowed to continue. Mistakes will often be made, but we all just have to accept that, and get on with the game.

So why shouldn't players just accept my imagined scenario too? Because once video technology is accepted for some decisions, then players will expect correct calls at all times Football's lawmakers have taken the historic step of unanimously approving goal-line technology systems for use in the sport.

You can see demonstration of this technology at the following video.

Unlike in cricket, its really hard to stop the game in between a football game. But the FIFA is working really hard to stop this injustice to certain teams ex: Actually FIFA has changed some of the rules. Not really an instant replay, but still huge progress. There will be 14 cameras — seven for each goal mouth — mounted at or near the roof of the stadium, capturing images at frames per second, installed at all 12 World Cup venues. Seven cameras will monitor each goal and computers will relay a message to the referee as soon as the ball crosses the goal line.

They will ensure that no controversial goals are allowed or legitimate ones disallowed. Nearly tests were carried out to assure that the system was accurate even when cameras were blocked by players, and has minimal margin of error, a plus-minus margin of just 1. These measures taken by FIFA have given fans and players hope that the tournament will be the most competitive one yet along with being fair and just. There is NO good reason for the failure to implement video plays in professional soccer. Far from "breaking the flow of the game" it would actually prevent all those ridiculous delays where the players protest the referees decision.

When a video replay will reveal the truth there will be no point in arguing, just as there will be no-point pretending that the merest touch from an opponent carried the force of a sledgehammer, or that a ball hitting the shin somehow caused a facial injury. We would also get offside decisions correct.

It is almost impossible for a linesman to see the position of the advanced forward at the moment the ball is kicked. IN most situations it is just physically impossible. It is a miracle that they get borderline cases right as often as they do. I have watched football all my life and I am sick and fed up of seeing games spoiled by incorrect decisions. It is not as if bad decisions are rare.

They happen in just about every professional game in the English Premier League. I am also sick and fed up of seeing rich and fortunate grown men behaving like spoiled brats - but that is a different matter. FIFA likes to present itself as a caring organisation with things like promoting the game in the 3rd world and its RESPECT program, yet youngsters all over the world are being given a terrible example by some of their footballing heroes The only people that can benefit by ensuring that football games continue to be riddled with awful decisions are the cheating players that try to get unwarranted penalties, or to get their opponents unfairly yellow and red carded, or organisations that want to keep the ability to make sure that we get the "right" result in important matches.

Most fans, and I suspect most players, want to see results decided by good play, within the rules. Why don't the national organisations simply leave FIFA? The organisation is evidently corrupt, its senior officials are hugely overpaid, and some of them are criminals who have somehow evaded the prosecution that most of us would have faced had we fiddled our financial affairs that badly.

• In Living Color: The Beatitudes
• Blinky the Christmas Star
• Drip
• Aristoteles Ausführungen zur Glückseligkeit (German Edition)
• Bloody Meadows: Investigating Landscapes of Battle