I’m not terribly concerned about chains; OTOH, what do fans in the stands have to entertain them while the TV-watchers watch millionaires yakking at halftime?
At the Seahawk games I’ve been to, it’s either a really bad band or some kind of dog race.
Is there a channel that will show that instead of the millionaires?
Yup; there’s nearly always some sort of on-field halftime entertainment at the stadium. At Packer games, they often have a marching band (the University of Wisconsin’s band appears regularly, and they’re really good), and they frequently have contests, with fans attempting to throw a football into a target, field a punt, etc.
Halftime is also the time when everyone goes to the restroom, goes to the concession stands, and so on. The seats largely empty out for a few minutes.
I don’t watch halftime on TV (I fast forward through it) but what do you have against millionaires?
I’m really more opposed to the yakking. The millionaires just happen to be there.
Not as far as I know.
Once upon a time, the televised coverage of a game might have carried more than a few moments of the halftime show, but now, the networks are too invested in the talking-head analysis, highlights of other games, and lots of commercial time.
The last NFL game I went to, I was shocked that there was zero “downtime” like there is when watching on TV. There is always something on the field to watch. Sometimes it’s planned entertainment, as stated earlier, but sometimes it’s just watching the players get set up or goof around. Sometimes the players are interacting with the crowd! You never see that at home, but at the stadium they will direct the crowd to make noise, be quiet, and so on. I really enjoyed that game so much and I see why people will go through the time, expense, and inconvenience to watch a game in-person. It really is a totally different experience.
IIRC, there was a game this year (I think it was college) where the chain snapped and had to be repaired and remeasured. I’ve lived long enough to have watched a lot of football at all levels and I can’t remember that ever happening. It doesn’t instill a lot of confidence as to the accuracy.
I know there is talk of automating the strike zone in baseball but I’m not sure where that stands.
Personally, I like the human element but with the way gambling has infiltrated sports I’m inclined to embrace automation as much as possible.
It’s worth noting that halftime in the NFL, which was traditionally 15 minutes, is now only 12 minutes (it’s still 15 for playoff games, and around 25-30 minutes for the Super Bowl). And, as you note, the last few minutes of that time typically has the players back on the field, and warming up (especially the kickers and punters), so actual halftime entertainment has to be pretty quick.
There’s an automated strike/ball challenge system in place in the minors and used in spring training last season. It will be rolled out in regular season games this year. So, it’s coming, in part.
Of course, the difference is that the position of home plate is rather static for each pitch, and there aren’t a bunch of 300 pound guys blocking camera lines each time.
Ok, I get it, you’re questioning when they first move/set the chains, the chain likely starts a couple of inches off from the ball’s actual position. Absolutely true, but probably still a smaller error than a ref eyeballing where the ball is placed after each play anyway.
I like the way they do it in flag football. There are markings on the field every 20 yards. Each of these markings is a first down line. There is no need to measure. If you cross a 20-yard marker line, you get a new first down.
This does mean that you don’t have the same distance to advance for a new first down every time. If your last first down started from the 19 yard line, you only have to go 1 more yard for another 1st down. If your last first down started from the 22 yard line, you have a whopping 18 yards to go for your next 1st down.
Unless Tommy Lasorda was involved. <rimshot>
The brilliance of that system from an NFL perspective is that you can strategically set up cameras ahead of time to maximize your perspective at each marker, similar to what they do now at the end zone.
The actual accuracy of the spotting/measuring system isn’t as important as it providing a definite yes/no answer via a procedure that everyone agrees on. Sure, accuracy is nice to have, and more accuracy makes the game more fair, but what really matters is that the game can proceed in a way everyone will accept.
I kinda like the drama of bringing out the chains, even knowing full well that the position of the ball on the field bears a somewhat tenuous relation with the precise position of the ball when the carrier was first downed by contact. But as slow as football on TV is, instant electronic measurement is an obvious way to go.
I kinda do too. The mini-drama of waiting to see if there was a first-down adds a little something to the whole thing.
It also means that if you break free and get past one first down line, it might be to your advantage to deliberately go down just before the next one, if there’s a chance that you might get tackled. Not sure I like that.
It sounds like it’s mainly a way to make the game go faster and not have to have a crew running the the chains, TBH. Just get past the mark, get a first down.