Latest rumor is that NFL will go with one-man officiating crew to spot ball

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Latest rumor is that NFL will go with one-man officiating crew to spot ball and do everything else from the booth http://wp.me/p14QSB-4DkL



Rumors fly that league may go with one-man officiating crews
Posted by Mike Florio on August 20, 2012, 2:22 PM EDT
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The good news is that the replacement officials could soon be getting fired. The bad news is that the locked-out officials may stay locked out.

The in-between news is that the NFL may use only one official on the field to spot the ball and walk off penalties, with the rest of the officiating being performed in the booth by league employees watching TV monitors.

That’s the current rumor making the rounds on the league’s grapevine.

It’s just a rumor. But don’t expect anyone from the league to admit that there may be any truth to it. After all, the league office has been telling owners and coaches what they can and can’t say about the situation. Surely, no one will say that the NFL is considering such drastic action until the NFL decides to do it.

Given the performance of the replacement officials, it makes plenty of sense to consider drastic action.

From our perspective, we’ve got no problem with it. Technology has advanced to the point where the game can be called from a place other than the field.

Heck, if it works I’d be in favor of firing all officials and using the eye-in-the-sky system permanently.

See, I really don’t care who “wins” or “loses” this labor battle between the NFL and highly-paid part-time employees. I care, however, about the game. And the current situation compromises the game.

If the solution to the current situation can help the league get every call right, then maybe it’s time to get rid of every official except the guy who’d be acting like a glorified ball boy.

[mikeyis4dcats.]

Originally Posted by AustinChief

Not sure if serious. You do realize they have cameras on the field right? They aren't looking out of a window...

but they don't have 5 cameras in the exact spots as an officials eyes that are running up and down the field with the action.

[Black Bob]

There is no way they will be able to see things like holding as well.

[Molitoth]

Originally Posted by BlackBob

There is no way they will be able to see things like holding as well.

I can easily see them on TV.... WTF are you talking about?

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by BlackBob

There is no way they will be able to see things like holding as well.

[007]

God I would love this.

[chefsos]

If this were to pass (or even if it doesn't), I'd hope the first thing to go the way of the Dodo would be the first down chain "technology". Gotta be about 38 better ways to determine the first down.

[mikeyis4dcats.]

Originally Posted by chefsos

If this were to pass (or even if it doesn't), I'd hope the first thing to go the way of the Dodo would be the first down chain "technology". Gotta be about 38 better ways to determine the first down.

ok, that may be the dumbest thing I read in a long time.

[DaFace]

This seems pretty out there, even for PFT. I don't deny that it's entirely possible that you could make such a setup work, but there's no way in hell they'd roll it out all haphazardly two weeks before the start of the season. Decisions like that take YEARS of planning to make it happen.

In other words, there's no way this happens. Like, at all.

[jd1020]

This has to be the dumbest idea ever. Gonna kill any fast pace element to the game. They are going to have to temporarily stop the game after every play to review it and relay information to the chicken with no head on the field.

[chefsos]

Originally Posted by mikeyis4dcats.

ok, that may be the dumbest thing I read in a long time.

Keep reading. It might get dumber.

You don't think there's a better way to do it, in this day and age? Laser lines, GPS, etc... Hell, MLB (backwards MLB!) is testing systems somewhat like what is used in tennis, to potentially make accurate fair/foul calls.

I just think the NFL should be a technology leader. And a guy setting down a spike with a chain attached to it, pretty close to where he thinks the ball is, from halfway across the field, ain't it.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by chefsos

Keep reading. It might get dumber.

You don't think there's a better way to do it, in this day and age? Laser lines, GPS, etc... Hell, MLB (backwards MLB!) is testing systems somewhat like what is used in tennis, to potentially make accurate fair/foul calls.

I just think the NFL should be a technology leader. And a guy setting down a spike with a chain attached to it, pretty close to where he thinks the ball is, from halfway across the field, ain't it.

I think the thing that would make it more difficult than it seems is that the ball is spotted at the point where the player is down, not the place where it ends up at the point everyone stops moving. Those two are one and the same in a lot of cases, but there are plenty of times where the player keeps moving forward well after he's down. You'd have to find some automatic way of telling when a player is down, and there are so many body parts that could cause that, it'd be tough to make work.

[chefsos]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I think the thing that would make it more difficult than it seems is that the ball is spotted at the point where the player is down, not the place where it ends up at the point everyone stops moving. Those two are one and the same in a lot of cases, but there are plenty of times where the player keeps moving forward well after he's down. You'd have to find some automatic way of telling when a player is down, and there are so many body parts that could cause that, it'd be tough to make work.

Well, that's true, but I'm not even thinking about the spotting of the ball. Determining when a guy is down and where the ball is at that time is still best performed by humans, with judgement.

It's at that point where I think moving the ball around and setting the chains can get a little inaccurate, and where some kind of tech can "see" exactly where the ball is before it's handled, and therefore can set that line ten yards away accurately, without people dragging those chains around. Eh, maybe it's irrelevant after all.

[O.city]

Dumbest shit ever.



NFL, a billion dollar corp, needs to break down and put the best officials on the field. If they are gonna preach all this safety, get the best out there.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by O.city

Dumbest shit ever.



NFL, a billion dollar corp, needs to break down and put the best officials on the field. If they are gonna preach all this safety, get the best out there.

The issue is that they're sacrificing short-term quality in hopes of improving things long-term. As I understand it, there are three main sticking points:

• The NFL wants refs (or at least some of them) to work full-time. Most of them have other jobs aside from the NFL currently. Presumably, having them work full time would improve the quality of their performance.
• The NFL wants to expand the number of crews so that they can have backup crews. This would allow them to 1) have a bigger pool of officials who can be groomed and promoted and 2) give some crews weeks off from time to time.
• The NFL wants to be able to essentially sit refs for performance, so (related to the one above), they could basically bench guys who suck.

I could have misunderstood some of that, but the way it sounds, I don't see how we, as fans, can argue against the NFL.

[Sully]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I think the thing that would make it more difficult than it seems is that the ball is spotted at the point where the player is down, not the place where it ends up at the point everyone stops moving. Those two are one and the same in a lot of cases, but there are plenty of times where the player keeps moving forward well after he's down. You'd have to find some automatic way of telling when a player is down, and there are so many body parts that could cause that, it'd be tough to make work.

Which leads me to a huge nitpick I have.
When they first put in the QB slide rule, part of the rule was, the ball was spotted at the point the QB BEGAN his slide. They seem to have gotten to the point, the past few years, where they spot the ball at the end of the slide, which more often than not, is the difference between a first down, or not.