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Lets Go To The Video Tape

No one is quite sure who first used the phrase lets go to the video tape but Warner Wolf, a sportscaster used it enough that it is usually connected to him and his sports casts.

At first, people thought just seeing live sports on television was one of lifes great inventions and no one thought about what more there was to come in television technology. Video tape certainly changed the way prime time and all other television was presented but the effect it had on sports was really huge. Up until the invention of video and playback, any sports decision was decided by an umpire or an on site official.
People accepted those decisions with arguments both on the field or at home. It was common for people to talk about decisions for days and keep the argument going until the next one came along to discuss. Video playback changed everything. Suddenly, right there on television, a football play could be rewound and played back for everyone watching. A tennis ball could easily be shown via slow motion to have been in or out of a line. Umpires and officials were suddenly called to question not by the coaches or the players but by the networks. International events which one could only read about in the newspapers or hear about on the news were available. Might be a day or so later but there would be Wimbledon or the Grand Prix race in Monaco to watch on television.
The change video tape brought to sports in undeniable. Today, with high definition, technology to measure the speed of a baseball in real time, and satellites which bring us events live from all over the world, the good old tape seems crude. Not so crude though because it was the beginning of a new age. video