Computer chips in NFL footballs could lead to narrowed uprights

[big dog cowboy]

Computer chips in NFL footballs could lead to narrowed uprights

Frank Schwab
Shutdown Corner editor
Jul 18, 2016


The NFL will experiment with footballs that have computer chips inside this preseason (AP)


There are many great uses for computer chips in NFL footballs. The NFL’s first use will be … seeing if the goal posts should be narrowed?

NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino told the Toronto Sun that the NFL will experiment with footballs that have computer chips inside, using them in the preseason. According to Blandino, the information gathered will help the competition committee determine if the league needs to narrow the goal posts for field goals and extra points.

The experiment could continue through the regular season, the Toronto Sun said, using the kicking balls with chips during Thursday night games. A change in the rules could happen as soon as 2017.

The NFL has a sudden infatuation with making kickers’ lives tougher. The league moved extra points back to the 15-yard line last season. Now they’re using new technology to perhaps narrow the uprights.

What about using the new footballs to help spot the ball after downs or to determine if a player crossed the goal line? Think about how important first-down measurements are in a game. Officials measure it exactly; if the nose of the ball is a chain link short then a team doesn’t get the first down. But the act of spotting the ball is basically an educated guess. Officials eyeball the spot and try to come close, then measure first downs to the inch. That makes little sense. With a computer chip in the ball, technology could presumably be developed to make the entire act of spotting the ball easier and more accurate.

Maybe the NFL will eventually move on to that with its new computer chip footballs, or use the balls to determine if a player crossed the plane of the end zone, after figuring out how to make field goals harder.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/comput...ould-lead-to-narrowed-uprights-150331819.html

 

[zrinkill]

I hope the chips are pierce resistant if they play in New England.

 

[jazzcat22]

Why can't they leave the game alone. They feel they must always change something.
Idiot NFL office.

 

[cowboyblue22]

maybe with the chips they can control the flight of the balls and help control who wins and loses

 

[percyhoward]

I'm guessing it isn't yet economically feasible to cover every centimeter of the field to measure for first downs. But if you're only going to plant four devices, it seems like you'd install something on each side of the goal line for touchdowns before worrying about field goals. If you can put it in an upright, you can put it in a pylon, right?

 

[percyhoward]

maybe with the chips they can control the flight of the balls and help control who wins and loses

Maybe that answers my question.

 

[DallasEast]

I've been talking about the league adopting this type of technology for years. It's a good move in my book and I hope it's done logically and successfully. Then I had to read about that idiot Blandino wanting to manipulate goal posts. Smdh.

 

[Jarv]

maybe with the chips they can control the flight of the balls and help control who wins and loses

Vegas volunteered to pay for and install the chips.

 

[DallasEast]

If you can put it in an upright, you can put it in a pylon, right?

Good observation and question. It's like no one comprehends how advantageous the technology could be towards improving the game.

 

[Rack]

maybe with the chips they can control the flight of the balls and help control who wins and loses

A chip can't do that unless it were part of a "device" designed to do just that. It's just a chip.

 

[erod]

...still trying to figure out why narrowing the goalposts requires a computer chip.

 

[Maxmadden]

Toughest game in sports, where the most superior athletes on earth bloody themselves in a battle of the trenches.

In the end, we ask a 170 pound kicker to come out and decide who should get to win the game.

 

[Kevinicus]

...still trying to figure out why narrowing the goalposts requires a computer chip.

Adjustable Powered Goal Posts. The chip handles the adjustments. If the Cowboys are kicking, bring the posts in real narrow. The Giants, or some team playing Dallas? Then widen those suckers out!

 

[SkinsFan28]

I'm guessing it isn't yet economically feasible to cover every centimeter of the field to measure for first downs. But if you're only going to plant four devices, it seems like you'd install something on each side of the goal line for touchdowns before worrying about field goals. If you can put it in an upright, you can put it in a pylon, right?

If it's a technology like RFID it may have an inherent useful distance that wouldn't cover the length of the goal line? I don't know, just offering a thought.

 

[SkinsFan28]

...still trying to figure out why narrowing the goalposts requires a computer chip.

Pretty sure it's gathering data points, so lets say at 20 yards 90% of the balls go through the middle 10% of the goal, but at 50 yards it's just 20%. Maybe they have a formula that they are working with towards trying to make field goals of certain distances match a certain percentage of success. Same thought as before, no real knowledge of the decision, just a thought that seems logical to me.

 

[Denim Chicken]

How about a giant windshield wiper-like moving obstrcution in front of the goal post to make things more interesting?

 

[erod]

Pretty sure it's gathering data points, so lets say at 20 yards 90% of the balls go through the middle 10% of the goal, but at 50 yards it's just 20%. Maybe they have a formula that they are working with towards trying to make field goals of certain distances match a certain percentage of success. Same thought as before, no real knowledge of the decision, just a thought that seems logical to me.

That makes sense if they're trying to figure out how much to narrow it by.

 

[jrumann59]

How about a giant windshield wiper-like moving obstrcution in front of the goal post to make things more interesting?

make them narrower by 5 feet and put them on tracks at the back of the endzone where they randomly slide left to right

 

[CWR]

Vegas volunteered to pay for and install the chips.

Lol I can see alot of Bailey kicks heading straight down the middle and then suddenly shanking off to the side.

 

[UDcowboysfan]

They need to get micro cameras on the helmets for Player perspective replays.

That would be something new, not for every play because people would get sick but it would be a nice addition.