If you are among the many basketball fans who think that the current replay review system in place in the NCAA is awkward don’t feel alone. When 13 year olds ask why they aren’t using up to date technology, you know something is wrong.
Why is it, when we see 1:30 remaining in the second half of a good college basketball game, we can count on the game lasting at least another 10 or 15 minutes? Is it supposed to be adding to the drama of the contest while everyone in the arena sits around holding their collective breath while the refs are down on their knees, really, on the side lines trying to figure out what in the hell just happened out on the court? Many would say no, it’s a drag and boring.
In the recent barn-burner between Kentucky and Louisville in the Elite Eight competition, with the clock running down, there was a questionable out-of-bounds which brought the game and the house to a standstill for the review. There were only seconds on the clock, but the review process stretched out over 270 seconds, four and a half minutes to check on a possession call. Ridiculous.
The sport of basketball, at both the pro and college levels, has always been one sport that can have finales which seem to take forever to finish off. They foul, they shot free throws, then a quick shot followed by more fouls, free throws and timeouts that tend to frustrate both fans and players alike.
The process has always been kind of slow, but, since the introduction of the new replay review guidelines, the process almost brings the game to a grinding halt just when the whole house is at the peak of basketball excitement. Watchability suffers.
There is a certain rhythm to the game of basketball. There is a cadence and a beat that everyone following the game can pick up on, until a replay review comes. What happens then is predictable. Fans at the game drift off to the hot dog stand or the bathroom and fans at home start channel surfing in an attempt to find a station where something is happening.
In the game of football the review process is often seen as part of a coach’s strategy, it often adds drama to the game. In basketball games the process starts with confusion out on the floor followed by moans from the fans when they realize that yet another drawn out process has begun to decide a rather obvious call.
