The ref sometimes goes to the TV to look at instant replay (that has been pre-selected by officials in the booth).
But it's not that bad. The time spent is used by the (knowledgeable) commentators to muse over the play in contentions, the actions leading up to it, and the potential ramifications of a decision either way. I've never felt a replay was taking too long. But I'm American, so there's that.
There’s also the fact that American football is a game spent in almost perpetual stoppage. The play’s only in motion for something like 11 minutes, so what’s another beer break amongst the numerous time outs, tactical huddles and gregarious pop concerts?
Football football is more like Hockey or Basketball, but a lot more intense, because it’s less guaranteed of action, which means when it comes it’s followed by this huge, passionate, cathartic release of tension, even in meaningless games. You know all this, obviously, but my point is that if you start softening these moments of release, with a kind of technological bureaucracy that requires you to wait, I can see why some fans might feel like it’s a stab at the soul of the sport, and the very thing that makes it so special.
Personally, I’ve always been a huge advocate of VAR, because it just seems so silly that the most popular pass-time on the planet was so comically resistant to a progress that almost everyone else had embraced. And while I’m still in favour of the idea, I can definitely see why the first half of this game seemed like a walking (or kicking) example of its faults to some.
And I’ll admit it gave me a little pause. Particularly by West Brom’s 3rd, where it felt like the initial use of it, had virtually required it be used in every big decision, for the appearance of fairness if nothing else, which was both a headfeck and a killjoy for fans in the stadium.
I still reckon these are teething problems that can be worked out eventually. But I’m maybe 15-20% less convinced by it than I was before this game. Which seems an odd thing to say after a match where all the right decisions were made because of it.