As the final minutes of Saturday ticked away and I was preparing for another work week (yes, the work week starts on Sunday for me), I decided to review my weekend. Not with moral reflection but with a new trend that has swept the nation-instant replay.

Somehow the review that was supposed to make sure that every call I made this weekend was the right one, ended up just stretching the last five minutes of Saturday night into a half hour and adding three commercial breaks.

This season, nine NCAA football conferences joined the Big Ten, which started using reviews last season, in the instant replay revolution.

When the Big Ten started reviewing last year it seemed like a good plan and got favorable reviews from coaches and fans alike.

But in its first two weeks of wide spread use in college football, instant replay needs a review of itself.

The last five minutes of the Notre Dame/Michigan game was dragged out like the last few seasons of “Friends.”

The Michigan fumble at the goal line was the most interesting use of instant replay that I’ve seen. They used two clips, one of Wolverine quarterback Chad Henne fumbling and one of Irish linebacker Chinedum Ndukwe, to make the call. Really, all they knew was that Henne fumbled and Ndukwe pulled the ball out of the pile. There’s no way of knowing if someone had the ball before Nduwke. That’s hardly irrefutable evidence.

Officials decided to review what they ruled a Brady Quinn fumble on the drive after the Henne fumble. It was obvious that Quinn didn’t fumble and it seemed like they only called it a fumble so they could review it and overturn it.

The concept of instant replay is a good idea, but it has yet to be done right. The way it’s being used right now is just another distraction from the game and is only going to lead to more controversy.

Dan Renick is a senior journalism major. If you would like to see an instant replay of the drink he spilled on his roommate this weekend you can by e-mailing him at [email protected].