# Football Q: Has the "sky cam" ever interfered with play? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2004, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292 "2004-12-06T01:38:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/1 "2004-12-06T01:38:55Z")
I dig this sky cam thing ESPN’s been using the last couple of years, but isn’t it possible that it could interfere with a pass or kick or something? Has it happened before? Is there a plan for what to do if it does? ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/2 "2004-12-06T01:49:57Z")
It happened during a college game a while back. I think it was on a kickoff. They just rekicked it. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/3 "2004-12-06T02:15:08Z")
I was wondering the same thing. It’s not just ESPN - I think Fox and/or CBS has the Sky Cam now as well. Anyway, while trying to Google up the answer, I was able to glean from the preview text of hits this little nugget: > [@](#): > > thus was born “The Gondola Rule.” If a live ball hits the Sky Cam or any other > non-football related thing, such as a bird in flight, the down will be replayed. That’s all I could get, as the site was [ChicagoSports.Com](http://ChicagoSports.Com), which requires a pay subscription to access the full article. [Second link down.](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22the+down+will+be+replayed&btnG=Search) I don’t know if it has happened in the NFL yet. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/4 "2004-12-06T02:17:02Z")
…plus it seems that the official NFL rule book is available for purchase only. The only rules I found online were brief summaries of key points. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/5 "2004-12-06T02:29:10Z")
I’ve seen it happen in baseball where a fly ball hit a camera mounted on the ceiling of the Metrodome. It was ruled a ground rule double. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/6 "2004-12-06T02:35:33Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > I’ve seen it happen in baseball where a fly ball hit a camera mounted on the ceiling of the Metrodome. It was ruled a ground rule double. And there was the, “unpleasantness”, of Randy Johnson v. the bird. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/7 "2004-12-06T02:42:30Z")
> [@Scruloose](#): > > And there was the, “unpleasantness”, of Randy Johnson v. the bird. :eek: One of the most incredible feats in sports history. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/8 "2004-12-06T02:52:21Z")
What was the call in the Randy Johnson case? ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/9 "2004-12-06T03:08:24Z")
Fowl ball. [sub]Sorry.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/10 "2004-12-06T04:04:54Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > I’ve seen it happen in baseball where a fly ball hit a camera mounted on the ceiling of the Metrodome. It was ruled a ground rule double. That’ll depend on the stadium. I know the announcers were making a big deal of the differences in the ground rules for Houston and some other stadium this last postseason. Something to do with whether the ball hits the ceiling in fair or foul territory and then the ball is either live or dead. And I have to say Johnson versus the bird was one of the coolest moments in sports. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/11 "2004-12-06T04:06:33Z")
> [@Scruloose](#): > > And there was the, “unpleasantness”, of Randy Johnson v. the bird. :eek: I don’t think it’s possible to ever get a sports moment better than that captured on tape. I wonder what Vegas books would set the odds at for it happening even in the next 25 years. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/12 "2004-12-06T04:08:54Z")
I wonder this every time I land. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/13 "2004-12-06T04:11:17Z")
> [@alterego](#): > > I wonder this every time I land. How the _heck_ did this happen? (🆒[link to the actual q…sorry](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=5574764#post5574764) ) ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/14 "2004-12-06T04:14:48Z")
I think the real question is, what if a punt hits a 747? ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/15 "2004-12-06T04:31:32Z")
Do they ever use the Skycam on network broadcast games? I’m not much of a sports fan but I dig technology and the first time I saw the Skycam I thought it was way cool. But that was like 15 years ago and I can’t remember **ever** seeing it used again on like Monday Night Football or a Superbowl game (though Letterman used it a lot…) ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/16 "2004-12-06T04:43:16Z")
They use it on Sunday (ESPN) and Monday (ABC) Night Football and I think any playoff game aired by ABC (which I guess is probably just the Saturday wildcard games.) I think it’s more of a network thing than a “special game” thing. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/17 "2004-12-06T12:01:05Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > I wonder what Vegas books would set the odds at for it happening even in the next 25 years. Not all that high, something like it happened in the 25 years preceding Johnson’s pitch. In 1983 in Toronto, after warming up playing catch between innings, Dave Winfield threw the ball to a batboy, hit and killed a pigeon. Billy Martin’s quote on the incident is one of the classics in all of baseball. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/18 "2004-12-06T13:38:00Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > Billy Martin’s quote on the incident is one of the classics in all of baseball. Well? Don’t leave us hanging like this. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/19 "2004-12-06T13:54:30Z")
After the game, Winfield was arrested, on the belief that he hit the pigeon deliberately. Martin said that wasn’t possible because “that’s the first time he hit the cutoff man” all year. ---
**Author:** ![Fox\_Paws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/85e7bf/32.png) [@Fox\_Paws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fox_Paws)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292/20 "2004-12-06T15:08:21Z")
> [@Qwertyasdfg](#): > > What was the call in the Randy Johnson case? It was a true rarity in Major League Baseball history: a do-over. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/football-q-has-the-sky-cam-ever-interfered-with-play/278292.md?page=2)