An 'ode to replay reviews

So, is it me, or are more and more games/events coming down to a video replay. No witty beginning, just straight to the meat. The replay review has become an epidemic in sports. It has slowed down basketball, football, baseball, soccer and has even reared its ugly head in horse racing.

For those unaware, the Kentucky Derby was held recently and the video review, lasting more than 20 minutes, saw something in the footage and changed the winner. Yes, the review system has actually came across in horse racing to change the finish of the Derby.

Granted, horse racing to me is about as exciting as watching water drop from a leaky faucet, it’s the first time that I know of that they took the time to look back and disqualify a horse for interfering with other horses around a turn.

The whole premise of using it in a horse race might be the worse offender out of any sport. Anytime there is a problem in a sport event, they stop the game and head over the monitor to take a look at it.

Every touchdown and turnover is looked at in the NFL. The last two minutes of each half in a NCAA basketball game. Coaches challenges in MLB. The VAR in some professional soccer leagues. Every major sport seems to have a way to take a look at what’s happened.

Quite often we see these breaks of the game happen in real time. Someone’s foot may have been on the out of bounds line while making a catch. Better go ahead and take 10 minutes of a three hour game to review it. A guy may have been fouled shooting a three pointer in the late stages of a basketball game and have it shift the entire game off that call?

Pretty sure we saw that happen in the NCAA tournament this past year.

While I don’t mind them taking the time to see who the ball went off of last in a late game situation, stopping play to see if someone was fouled on a shot seemed excessive.

In the Champions League (soccer) a video replay was used to disallow a goal scored by Manchester City as they played Liverpool. That disallowed goal changed the entire complexion of the league and sent City back home. All over a very small ricky-tack offside call on Man City on the replay.

Let’s go in a time machine and back to Michael Jordan’s last 30 seconds with the Bulls. Would they have gone to the replay to see if he pushed off before hitting the game winning shot? He very clearly does, and it gone to replay, they would have had no choice but to call it.

An iconic moment in sports would be ruined.

And there lies my issue with the replay reviews in sports. They can ruin these moments of celebration and turn the tide of a game without the player’s involvement. Sports aren’t played on a monitor, unless you’re into E-Sports and we don’t judge here.

The review takes away the whole concept of “blowing a call” but more than once call can change a game. Now it seems the NFL is going to bring a review to some pass inference calls. Another way to delay the game.

We can blame the salty New Orleans fans on that one. But the NFL has long been ruining big plays with the review system. Still don’t think they know exactly what a catch is despite the league being around for 100 years now.

So how could video review help the game when it kills momentum of a game and changes the complexion and takes it out the athlete’s hands? It baffles me that this is becoming more accepted because it allows them to get the calls “right.”

Sports existed and worked for decades without the video replay review. Time wouldn’t stop if they went back to the wayside, but I don’t see it happening that way. The review process is too ingrained in sports to take it away now, and it will only keep getting worse as time goes on.

If you like the review process, I won’t take your lunch money for it. It will always be a flawed system much like officiating is. I’ve seen overturned calls that had it right the first time. There should be a live and let die approach to sports. It is what it is.

The review just takes the fun out of watching games.