lack of measurement.....the fix is in!

[yukon cornelius]

haha


http://deadspin.com/the-ongoing-nfl-conspiracy-you-don-t-know-about-1786951013

 

[Spiral]

I think the issues with the side judges are serious. It seems like it's now the weapon of choice for the NFL when they want to put their thumb on the scale at some of these games. Hard to overturn these calls, given the pace of the game, and there are no statistical traces in the box score or game logs. Before the game got out of hand, some of the placements were ridiculous.

 

[Galeb]

Some pretty funny stuff on that page.

"Texans at Patriots: Secretly I think Bill Belichick wants all his QBs to get hurt so that he can play Julian Edelman at QB and spend an entire game calling weird ****."

"Come on, man. You know he’s DYING to put Edelman out there in a Wing T package. Belichick is like one of those chefs that starts a gimmick restaurant with recipes based off a cookbook from 1587. Every offseason, he pores through the rule book and finds some obscure statute that allows a wideout to throw TWO forward passes per play or whatever, and then he figures out a way to pull it off during a game. He’s gonna run 15 quick kicks tonight and you’ll be able to see the cum stain in his khakis from the stands."​

 

[Koma]

I saw that yesterday. You have to wonder if there was a directive from the league to reduce the number of measurements. There were a couple of plays last night where it was questionable if the ball carrier made the first down, but the officials never measured. In fact, I can't remember a measurement being taken in any of the Patriots first 3 games.

I understand that where the officials place the football is imprecise anyway and bringing the chains out slows thing down, but it's been part of the game for a long time. Plus, both teams waiting to see if they just made or stopped a 3rd/4th down conversation was always entertaining.

 

[GoBlue]

I think it might have been the Texans first possession they didn't appear to get a first down and the two side judges weren't signaling anything. The head ref comes running in from nowhere and signals first down without seeing where the ball was.
The same clown called the Texans fumble down and initally awarded them the ball. It took a challenge to prove him wrong. He settled down after that.

 

[Dagg]

I have noticed this accross quite a few games lately but certianly 2x for sure last night that I recall.

 

[Mack Herron]

Did anyone think that was a first down? Why did BB not challenge?

 

[neuronet]

Did anyone think that was a first down? Why did BB not challenge?

No clear evidence is my guess. Pretty sure he talked to guys upstairs...

 

[QuantumMechanic]

The Business Insider article the Deadspin article links to was interesting.

Once the refs see that the end-of-the-play spot is a first down, they cheat on the make-ready-for-play spot and place the ball to be exactly on a yard line so they can tell when there's a first down without having to use chains.

Why the NFL still uses an outdated technology to measure distance during games

 

[patchick]

Ahh...so maybe BB's combo of furious yelling and non-challenging at the phantom 1st down was because the refs refused to measure?

 

[BTTA]

The overturned non-fumble call was weird. At least two of the officials were blowing their whistles and waving their hands over their heads to signal the play was over while the ball was still moving. In "the old days" they'd simply come out and say that the play was blown dead so no fumble (admitting they blew the call). That's what I was expecting to happen. When they gave it to the Pats I was stunned.

To make it even harder, the TV announcers got it completely wrong with an assertion that the review was about who recovered the fumble, not if it was a fumble.

 

[deters]

No clear evidence is my guess. Pretty sure he talked to guys upstairs...

That one at the beginning of the game was clearly half a yard short at least and would've been 4th down. They gave them the first and next play was a big pass completion. I was SO pissed off.

 

[BlueThunder]

Would love to take this arbitrary placement of balls near first down marker out of Ref's hands...same with TD calls......

Sensor inside footballs with another in the first down marker and goal line pylons on sidelines shouldn't be hard to design.....

Get the NFL front office out of the equation..perceived or not.

 

[DarrylS]

In the NFL world of Microsoft Surface Pro, digital replay, advanced communications one might think they could ante up and buy a very small chip and put it at both ends of the ball..

Easy fix, but nothing in the NFL is easy.. except their system of justice.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

The overturned non-fumble call was weird. At least two of the officials were blowing their whistles and waving their hands over their heads to signal the play was over while the ball was still moving. In "the old days" they'd simply come out and say that the play was blown dead so no fumble (admitting they blew the call). That's what I was expecting to happen. When they gave it to the Pats I was stunned.

They changed the rule after Hochuli brain-farted and screwed over the Chargers a few years ago.

It used to be just what you said.

After the post-Hochuli change the rule is that it can be challenged and that if the video review shows (a) that the ball was out and (b) that the ball was "clearly recovered" by the defense then the call will be reversed. Even if replay shows the ball came out, if the defense can't be seen clearly recovering the ball then they won't reverse the call.

That's why you heard Coleman say the phrase "clearly recovered" when he announced the result of the challenge.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I just think the league is short on funds to procure the technology needed.

I think they need to have a bake sale.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Bunch of shysters.

I got this for X-Mas last year. It's great.

Bosch 100 ft. Laser Measure-GLM 30 - The Home Depot

 

[Big Bucks]

In the NFL world of Microsoft Surface Pro, digital replay, advanced communications one might think they could ante up and buy a very small chip and put it at both ends of the ball..

Easy fix, but nothing in the NFL is easy.. except their system of justice.

Never going to happen as someone will ask them to put PSI readings in the chip.

 

[scout]

Ahh...so maybe BB's combo of furious yelling and non-challenging at the phantom 1st down was because the refs refused to measure?

I was wondering about that (I was watching in a bar, thus, no sound). I did not think the back made the first down. How is that not measured?

 

[jeffro]

I hadn't heard about this before, but I actually like the idea of putting the ball exactly on a yard marker after a 1st down, at least when the ball is between the 20s. Keeps the game moving if chains don't need to come onto the field. This has nothing to do with bad spots, and I agree that the spot everyone is talking about was awful.