With technology, why haven't we come up with lasers beaming from some apparatus to register if field goals are good or not? Maybe even a cutting edge techno field for spotting the ball and first downs as well but that's a bit down the road. The FG lazer would seem a lot easier to rig up.
Better to put a sensor in the football itself and a grid of wires under the turf. Then we would know accurately if a first down was made, where forward progress was, or if the plane of the goal is broken . . . as well as if field goals were good.
Why didn't I think of THAT!?! Seriously, that is probably a lot cheaper and more feasible. Some sort of GPS balls. Will have to be made to withstand the shock of Wing's foot though. I have to admit I have some reservations about the technology aspect. It takes the human element out of the game but college football is SUCH big bucks now it's sad to lose on a blown call. I felt the same way about replay, initially, but have come to embrace it- though sometimes nervously since it's not always fail-proof. I guess the next thing would be a baseball/strike zone.
Cool idea. Say goodbye to real grass forever, though. That actually would be fine with me because LSU usually runs 40 mph faster on artificial turf stadiums in Domes.
I should have patented it before speaking . . . All it would do would be to replace the chain gang with a sideline official with an iPad showing him exactly where the ball went.
They experimented with this back in the 70s. An "electronic umpire" that could detect if the ball came over the plate within the strike zone. But it also got set off if the batter tapped the plate with his bat, or if the catcher accidentally stuck his glove over the plate, and the occasional half-swing. They solved it by inserting a metal chip in the ball, which was the only thing that would influence the machine. Two problems with it, though. The ball cost about 25 dollars (normal balls were about 4 dollars at the time), and the ball would "break" if it took any kind of shock, like say, being hit with a bat.
