The five words that are sure to elicit groans, hope, and bathroom breaks among sports fans everywhere:
“The play is under review.”
Over the course of the past two decades, instant replay has come to be adopted by all of the major sports. The idea behind it is simple: with TV technology, viewers often get a better view of the action than the people calling the game, which is clearly absurd. Why not give the refs the tools that they need to get the calls right? Well, as logical as that point may seem and for as many calls as instant replay has fixed or confirmed over the years, it’s still a long, boring, and often frustratingly vague process.
Major League Baseball
After years of fighting it, there’s a whole host of plays that can be called under review in MLB, though not nearly all. That alone causes confusion. Balls and strikes aren’t reviewable because bad though those calls may be, were they to become reviewable, an already-long game could take ages. As it is, replay has added to MLB’s already-long length of game, demonstrating the tricky tightrope that leagues have to walk between getting calls right and keeping games interesting.
In addition, players taking their hands off the bag for a split second and the elimination of the so-called “neighborhood play” at second base have been accused of altering the spirit of the game.
National Football League
The NFL just can’t seem to win when it comes to instant replay. After the Non-Pass Interference Heard Around the World put the wrong team in the Super Bowl last season, the NFL changed the rule to make pass interference reviewable. That hasn’t stopped review controversy and endless questions over what is and isn’t a catch.
Pro Tennis
“That ball was on the line!”
John McEnroe’s famous temper tantrum is one of the big calls people point to when instant replay comes up. While it may not mollify McEnroe (what does?), tennis may have it the best of the sports impacted by instant replay. The Hawk Eye in the Sky mostly gets it right and there are fewer theatrics than the angry coaches and players in MLB and the NFL treat us to. That said, that also deprives us of moments like McEnroe’s, which is easily one of the sport’s most memorable.
It’s a tricky line between correct calls and entertainment value. MLB, the NFL, pro tennis, and other leagues such as the NHL and NBA try to get it right. And when they don’t?
Well, they’ll take it “under review.”