Both the NFL and MLB have flaws in their instant replay guidelines that need to be immediately corrected.

Both the NFL and MLB have failed to acknowledge that a play that has more time elapse, will then need more time to be reviewed. In the NFL, if a running back with the football runs around the corner and goes out bounds five yards down field, the time needed to decide whether to question where the ball was placed is adequate. If however, the runner runs around the corner and downfield 40 yards, the defense will need more time to review if the runner may have stepped out of bounds at some point during their run. This situation actually happened in 2020 and it may have influenced who would make the playoffs because the defense just did not have enough time to review the entire play. The player actually stepped out of bounds relatively early in their long run, but there was just not enough time to review the entire play before the next play started.

The same mistake is occurring in Major League Baseball. A batter who hits a double and then tries for a triple but pops off the base for a moment as the tag is being applied is mistakenly called safe. Unlike a play at first base that takes 4 seconds and can be more easily reviewed, a play that spans three can take 12 seconds to complete, yet the review time is the same as a play that only took 4 seconds to complete. This is insanity, and just plain wrong. Not only does the play at third take an extra 8 seconds, but reviewing different camera angles adds additional time. Technology does exist that allows all the camera angles to be "locked" together so in theory the review process is faster. But besides seeing if the runner's foot came off the third base base while the tag was being applied, a review to determine if a challenge will be called should also include making sure the runner touched first base and second base and make sure the hit was fair. All of that cannot be accomplished in the same amount of time as runner beating out a throw from the shortstop at first base.  

There is NO WAY a potential triple can be reviewed in the same amount of time as a play at first base. There is NO WAY a 35 yard running gain can be reviewed in the same amount of time as a 5 yard gain. Yet in both the NFL and MLB examples provided above, both plays for each sport gets the same amount of time to be reviewed. 

Please, NFL and MLB, correct this silly instant replay pre-review oversight. As more and more fans bet on games, these are the kind easily preventable mistakes that one day could lead to someone who bet on a game and lost because of this inconsistent instant replay  silliness, thus losing their bet and their mind and possibly harming others out of anger and frustration because they knew they were ripped off by a system that was too elitist to fix an obvious oversight.

Los Angeles Emmy winning Producer Alessandro Machi combines his editing, camera and observational skills to provide unique insights into the World of Sports.