Crossing the plane Buccaneers 36, Redskins 35, Nov. 13, 2005
The Buccaneers won 36-35 on a 2-point conversion run by Mike Alstott. The on-field officials say the ball crossed the plane of the goal line; and upon review, replay officials say they can't find any indisputable evidence to suggest the call should be reversed. But it's close. Some -- including Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs -- contend it was clear that Alstott's elbow hit the ground before he extended the ball across the goal line.
AP Football's "invisible fence" technology would've determined whether Mike Alstott crossed the plane here.The 2015 scenario: Sensors will be embedded in each game football, and an "invisible fence" -- much like the ones in common use to keep dogs from wandering out of yards (albeit without the attendant shock treatment) -- will mark both the goal lines and the sidelines. Streaming signals from the ball will be synchronized in real time on high definition images from skycams, roofcams, and other strategically placed cameras, making it indisputable when the ball crosses the goal line. This will free up referees to pay much closer attention to whether a player is down, and to make a quick arm signal while pressing a precise timer when the play has ended. If necessary, video time and player down time will be synchronized to determine, quickly and precisely, which came first.
I have been saying that this should be used for a long time. It was actually after the 'Bucs game I suggested EXACTLY the same solution in a thread on this board. They must have stolen it from me!
"We're not going to be the pushovers of the NFL, we're gonna push over some people!" - Clinton Portis
Here's a mad idea. All teams that have received "bad" calls should be awarded a "wildcard" to compensate. They will be able to use this wildcard to reverse any call against that same opponent in any future game.
Like I said, it's a mad idea. And no, I'm not serious.
I'm in two minds about the use of technology at all. The thing is that human error is part of the game, and that includes error by the officials. There is continual talk over here about using technology is soccer games, but it won't alter the fact that mistakes will be made. I wonder what the stats are about calls being reversed by instant replay? The fact is that most of the calls that we get mad about (like the Alstott call) just will not be reversed by replay, because of the criteria written into the rules for reversing calls.
