Be the Referee: Video Replay, Part 2

November 29, 2018

This week, MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl explains some of the main obstacles standing in the way of increased use of replay at the high school level.

Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.

Below is this week's segment – Video Review, Part 2 - Listen

In last week’s segment, we talked about the expanded use of instant replay for officials at both the collegiate and professional levels. The question is often asked of the MHSAA, “When are you going to use more instant replay at the high school level?”

Currently, there are a number of obstacles that prevent this, the first dealing with volume. With over 700 member schools in the MHSAA, hundreds of games and contests are played on virtually every night of the week. The second deals with cost and camera angles. At the high school level, most games are typically filmed or videoed using only a single camera from a set location, which precludes the use of various angles that would assist in getting the call correct.

Past editions

November 22: Video Review, Part 1 - Listen
November 15:
You Make the Call - Sleeper Play - Listen
November 8: 
7-Person Football Crews - Listen
November 1: Overtime Differences - Listen
October 25: Trickery & Communication - Listen
October 18: Punts & Missed Field Goals - Listen
October 11: What Officials Don't Do - Listen
October 4: Always 1st-and-Goal - Listen
September 27: Unique Kickoff Option - Listen
September 20: Uncatchable Pass - Listen
September 13: Soccer Rules Change - Listen
September 6: You Make the Call: Face Guarding - Listen
August 30: 40-Second Play Clock - Listen
August 23: Football Rules Changes - Listen

Former Official in League of Her Own

September 26, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Retired MHSAA official Dolly Konwinski – previously a player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League who consulted on the 1992 film “A League of Their Own” – died Saturday at the age of 87.

Konwinski umpired both baseball and softball as an MHSAA registered official for more than a dozen years into the 1990s. She brought to the diamond playing experience from the AAGPBL; she played for four teams between 1948-52, including most of three seasons with the Grand Rapids Chicks.

The AAGPBL has been honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., and Konwinski consulted on and made a brief appearance in “A League of Their Own,” which was nominated for Grammy and Golden Globe awards.

She most recently lived in Caledonia and is survived by her husband of 63 years Robert and four children, plus many grandchildren and extended family.

Click for recent Grand Rapids Press coverage of her death. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Kentwood. Click for her obituary.

The feature below, reported by Rick Berkey, aired as part of the coverage of the 1990 MHSAA Girls Basketball Finals on PASS Sports.