College Football Changes: More 2-Point Tries and a Crackdown on Stadium Gamesmanship

By BY ALAN BLINDER from NYT Sports Officials made some tweaks to the rule book for 2021. Next year, though, could bring much more rewriting.https://nyti.ms/3DxPb04

Will This Be the Last French Open With Only Human Eyes Minding the Lines?

By BY CHRISTOPHER CLAREY from NYT Sports Clay-court events have been the last holdouts against electronic line calling, in large part because of how well the surface absorbs marks wherever a ball lands.https://nyti.ms/34IOAYJ

Bad Call Sends Kristina Mladenovic Spiraling Again

By BY BEN ROTHENBERG from NYT Sports The chair umpire made a bad call that cost Mladenovic a set point at the French Open. Then Mladenovic blew six more set points and ultimately lost.https://nyti.ms/2G3aa29

Secrets of the Most Thankless N.B.A. Job: Referee

By BY SOPAN DEB from NYT Sports A 17-year veteran N.B.A. referee discusses blown calls, player beefs and the timeless question: Do superstars get special treatment?https://nyti.ms/3hUSbI0

Automated Judging Has Changed the U.S. Open. Except in a Crucial Moment

By BY CHRISTOPHER CLAREY from NYT Sports A new system meant no line judges on all but two courts, including the one where Novak Djokovic was playing when he hit a judge with a ball.https://nyti.ms/3m6NxtJ

The Bubble’s Best TV Innovation Deserves a Longer Look

By BY ANDREW KEH from NYT Sports When Major League Soccer began airing video review discussions in real time, it gave fans a rare glimpse inside its games’ biggest calls. More sports should try it.https://nyti.ms/31IJ2vP

Automated Line Calls Will Replace Human Judges at U.S. Open

By BY CHRISTOPHER CLAREY from NYT Sports On all but the two biggest show courts, line calls will be made by Hawk-Eye Live to reduce the number of people on site during the pandemic.https://nyti.ms/2D4vNxx

Stung by Discord Over Officiating, the N.F.L. Puts a Coach in Charge

By BY KEN BELSON from NYT Sports Perry Fewell, a former defensive coordinator who won a Super Bowl ring with the Giants, was chosen to manage officiating as the league shelved reviews of pass interference plays.https://nyti.ms/2AlZ44I

In the Premier League, V.A.R. Has Exposed the Limits of the Laws

By BY RORY SMITH from NYT Sports A weekend filled with exasperating video reviews showed how the sport’s rule book is simply incompatible with the scrutiny of the replay system.https://nyti.ms/37lToDf

Pass Interference or Not? No One in the N.F.L. Seems to Know

By BY BEN SHPIGEL from NYT Sports The league responded to an egregious non-call in the playoffs by making the penalty, or absence of it, reviewable. But the rarity of successful challenges has been confounding.https://nyti.ms/34nXpGe

V.A.R. Check: In Premier League, Almost No One Is Happy

By BY TARIQ PANJA from NYT Sports The Premier League introduced video assistant refereeing this season, but a string of controversies, and at least four significant mistakes, have players, coaches and fans running out of patience.https://nyti.ms/2XE3aNm

The Great World Series Interference Debate

By BY MICHAEL POWELL from NYT Sports The game simply halted, lost in one of those Talmudic debates that enthrall hardball devotees and mystify everyone else.https://nyti.ms/2PCfqfv

The Dying Art of the Manager Meltdown

By BY BOB KLAPISCH from NYT Sports While umpires still get an earful from M.L.B. managers, technology has tempered the days of genuine contempt.https://nyti.ms/2ZMN43u

What to Watch as the N.F.L. Begins a New Season

By BY VICTOR MATHER from NYT Sports Who will break out? Will rules changes help settle officiating arguments? Don’t bet on that — but note that more Americans can legally gamble as this season starts.https://nyti.ms/30UqE1w

Rules Changes in College Football: Targeting, Overtime and Blindside Blocks

By ALAN BLINDER from NYT Sports The N.C.A.A. adjusted some of its football rules for this season. We read the rule book so you don’t have to.https://nyti.ms/2MJk2Q5

N.F.L. Will Experiment With Replay Reviews of Pass Interference

By KEN BELSON from NYT Sports A one-year change will allow coaches to request a review of possible pass interference, whether it was called on the field or not.https://nyti.ms/2OsWjlt

Interference or Not? One Fan Changes the Course of a Game

By VICTOR MATHER from NYT Sports Fan interference on Jose Altuve’s potential home run for the Astros in the first inning of Game 4 kept the score, 2-0, in the Red Sox’ favor.https://nyti.ms/2yokPx3

Video Review Will Make the World Cup Better, but Not Quieter

By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY from NYT Sports There will still be inevitable griping about rulings on the field, but there will also be fewer blunders that unfairly decide games so important to so many people.https://nyti.ms/2thlI7c

N.F.L. Will Likely Use Replay to Confirm Illegal Hits

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS from NYT Sports A new rule barring players from lowering their head and initiating contact with their helmet may lead to replay being used on a safety issue for the first time.https://nyti.ms/2pOk4Iw