Full Yards

[SWC75]

I had an out-of-the-box thought about how they keep track of yardage in football. The whole thing with the referee's guesswork and the chain gang seems old-fashioned and fraught with error, (sometimes intentionally - see SU-Pitt '76). There was a play in the pro game tonight where James Connor of the Steelers tried to get a first down at about the Panthers 29 and was clearly tackled at the 30. But the refs put the ball on the 29 and signaled first down. The Steelers ran a play before Carolina could call for a review of the spot. It got me to thinking how this could be done better. There could still be controversies, (and reviews) but I think this would at least simplify things: credit teams, (and players) only with whole yards.

If a kickoff returner brings the ball back to, say the 21 yard line plus 6 inches, the ball is placed precisely at the 21, first and 10. They have to get to the 31 yard line, precisely, to get another down series. On first down, the running back gains 3 yards and 2 inches. the ball is placed precisely at the 24. A pass to the tight end gains 6 yards and 8 inches. The ball is placed precisely at the 30. A quarterback sneak gets the ball to the 31 plus an inch. the ball is placed precisely on the 31, first and ten. They have to get to the 41, or beyond to get another down series. There's no chain gang, just a guy with a marker at the 41 to remind everyone that that's where they need to go. There would be no guesstimating where to put the ball and no measurements. You could still have controversies over whether a player made it to or past the 31 for the first down but that can be resolved with replays. They might someday even be able to make the call electronically with some sort of beam at each yard line, much as they talk about having electronic strike zones in baseball.

 

[CA Monk]

It’s a worthy proposal, but coaches/players are loathe to surrender anything they’ve earned, be it 1 inch or 8 inches - even for the sake of clarity.
My out of the box proposal deals with impregnating baseballs with some kind of reactive substance that is read by the footprint of home plate to determine if ball is inside or outside. Haven’t worked out the high or low yet.
Maybe this system could be applied to footballs and the goal line in determining TDs.

 

[Ish88888]

I had an out-of-the-box thought about how they keep track of yardage in football. The whole thing with the referee's guesswork and the chain gang seems old-fashioned and fraught with error, (sometimes intentionally - see SU-Pitt '76). There was a play in the pro game tonight where James Connor of the Steelers tried to get a first down at about the Panthers 29 and was clearly tackled at the 30. But the refs put the ball on the 29 and signaled first down. The Steelers ran a play before Carolina could call for a review of the spot. It got me to thinking how this could be done better. There could still be controversies, (and reviews) but I think this would at least simplify things: credit teams, (and players) only with whole yards.

If a kickoff returner brings the ball back to, say the 21 yard line plus 6 inches, the ball is placed precisely at the 21, first and 10. They have to get to the 31 yard line, precisely, to get another down series. On first down, the running back gains 3 yards and 2 inches. the ball is placed precisely at the 24. A pass to the tight end gains 6 yards and 8 inches. The ball is placed precisely at the 30. A quarterback sneak gets the ball to the 31 plus an inch. the ball is placed precisely on the 31, first and ten. They have to get to the 41, or beyond to get another down series. There's no chain gang, just a guy with a marker at the 41 to remind everyone that that's where they need to go. There would be no guesstimating where to put the ball and no measurements. You could still have controversies over whether a player made it to or past the 31 for the first down but that can be resolved with replays. They might someday even be able to make the call electronically with some sort of beam at each yard line, much as they talk about having electronic strike zones in baseball.

The chain gang in college and pro fb is truly the most primitive aspect, technique to measure yards in all of sports. The technology has been there for years,

 

[Finwad32]

What nobody realizes about measurements and the chain gang, is it is primarily dependent on the 4th member of the crew who attaches the clip to the furthest five yard interval in the chain.

Completely subjective and wildly inconsistent. I’ve seen them attach the clip at the back, middle and front of yard lines. I’ve seen them attach them with significant slack in the chain, which obviously becomes a faulty measurement.

This is at the college level.

Refs have dumbed down the spot the past two years. They very commonly round up to a yard line (within reason) and signal first downs much more liberally. This aspect of the game has changed pretty significantly.

*** I’ll say this though, refs routinely surprise me with how good they are with fast spots on bang bang plays.

I always think about how nice it would be to use lasers or chip sensors. And the accuracy would be spot on.

 

[texascpa]

How do you measure or know it hit the exact yard marker when the hashes are only printed on two spots on the field? You still need something to determine if the ball in the middle of the field or between a hash and the sideline hash has indeed made it to the hash line. Eyeballing it won't be good enough. Or maybe just paint the hashes all across the field?

 

[All4SU]

So if a runner has to get to the 31, but he only gets to the 30-plus 1ft 5”, he only gets the 30? Rounded down 17 inches? That sounds like a penalty especially closer to the goal line.

 

[TheCusian]

Lasers

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

It’s a worthy proposal, but coaches/players are loathe to surrender anything they’ve earned, be it 1 inch or 8 inches - even for the sake of clarity.
My out of the box proposal deals with impregnating baseballs with some kind of reactive substance that is read by the footprint of home plate to determine if ball is inside or outside. Haven’t worked out the high or low yet.
Maybe this system could be applied to footballs and the goal line in determining TDs.

Laser grid at over home plate. Uniform inserts to establish knees and shoulders for each player

 

[upperdeck]

already have a laser first down marker thats been made just not implemented. talk of embedding chips in balls has been around for awhile to help with goal line plays.