Discussions

First it was the end of “Pin Boys” these hardworking young lads used to earn 25 cents a game, dodging bowling balls and setting pins, but the bowling lane owners thought they could do it cheaper with a mechanical setting machine.  
Next automation came to tennis, the Net Judges used to sit throughout the game with one finger touching the top of the net so they could feel if the ball had hit the net during a service. Now they have an electronic sensor that sets off a buzzer.  
The other night the NHL experimented in removing the Goal Judges from behind the Hockey goal and placing them above and behind the goal. In recent years these Judges have been relegated to a ceremonial position which helps inform the crowd as to when a goal is scored. This opinion by the Judges can be contested by either team, and regardless of the location of the game, video is monitored and reviewed by NHL hockey executives in Toronto. This tradition started 131 years ago when a man stood behind the Hockey Goal with a flag, and when a puck entered the net he waved it furiously to indicate to the crowd that a goal was scored.  
Are these game modifications beneficial to the game? The ball boys had to find other employment, and maybe the pins are replaced in a quicker manner. Certainly the Tennis Net Judge is not missed, but the game of Tennis is changing when the Line Judges can be overruled and the ball is now tracked on a screen to show where it actually landed.  
In Hockey, the game is regularly tinkered with to try to get more goals on the scoreboard to please the fans, at the detriment to the record of the poor old Goalie.  
 
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/morrison/2006/12/goal_judges_are_on_the_move.html