New Technology and an Old Game: Football and the Digital Age
Although digital technology has altered the way we observe and experience sporting events, the games are fundamentally the same as they were decades and decades ago. While it is a pretty crazy assertion that changes in sports like baseball or football have been simply cosmetic over the years, it's a little difficult to dispute that the goal of baseball is still to score runs, and the goal of football is still to score touchdowns. ("Having fun" is also an important goal to have, but from a technical standpoint it's kind of irrelevant.) It is true that the media have changed: there have been innovations like HDTV, internet streaming video, and cell phones; it's fairly easy to keep constantly informed of scores, news, results, and to observe video anywhere and at anytime.
But the Digital Age has also affected the way athletes and coaches themselves experience the game. In football, for example, some college coaches are experimenting using a modified iTunes interface where videos of a particular team's different plays – running plays, pass plays, etc. – can be downloaded onto an iPod for the players to review and study.
Digital media have almost universally and dramatically altered the way football coaches prepare for game days. Tapes are obsolete. In fact, in the National Football League (NFL), coaches have used a combination of digital media and Excel spreadsheets to easily access clips of game footage based on a list of desired variables.
The New England Patriots were among the first teams to employ their own sophisticated video review system using software called Team Sports Football, from Pinnacle. The crucial, added benefit of this system is that it allows for metadata within the digital game footage – comments, voice-overs, statistics, and other details – for easier study by the players. Perhaps even more revolutionary is the software ZEUS, which is designed to actually decide which play should be implemented in a given situation on the field during a game.
While numerous techie tools are used in preparation for the game, the NFL forbids use of such technology on game days to keep the integrity of the game itself sacrosanct, or as close to it as possible (Even ZEUS is used as a game preparation tool at this point). But technology has already crept into the game in several ways. Wireless headsets are used to decide game plays between coaches on the sidelines and offensive or defensive coordinators who are sometimes located at other vantage points in the stadium. The NFL instituted an Instant Replay rule in 1999 (revised in 2004), where the validity of a particular referee decision can be challenged and reviewed instantly via digital video on the sidelines. As technology gets physically smaller and smaller and it proliferates more and more, it will be more and more difficult for the NFL to regulate its usage.
Professional sports organizations, particularly the NFL, tend to pride themselves on strict standards and rules, facilitating a "respect for the game." But it becomes infeasible, even impossible, to maintain such standards over a span of time simply because of evolution and progression, not all of it technology-related. Sports equipment, padding, helmets, balls, bats, uniforms – none of these are the same as when they were first introduced. Light fixtures in ballparks and stadiums in the 1940s and 50s allowed games to be played through the evening. Radio and television completely and literally changed the way we see and hear games. Dietary and health regimens for athletes have progressed. Social milestones, like the breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier, also affected the dynamic of the game.
Little by little over time, the games change even though they are still the same. (That's why it's too difficult to compare a player from Bronko Nagurski's era and from LaDanian Tomlinson's.) The advent of digital technology is yet another of these changes which has not been fully realized, even though it has already affected the game. I believe digital technology will continue to affect the game, mainly because the mentality of all involved – players, coaches, personnel – are already affected by the Digital Age outside of game days. Whether it's a player showboating so he'll get on an ESPN digital highlight reel or a coach who fails because he is just too far behind the technological curve in preparing, it will eventually be pretty noticeable to see which people and which teams evolve the quickest. And when those evolutions create new needs, technology will eventually meet those needs, and the NFL will have to redefine its parameters to embrace technology just a little more. Continue along this cycle, and we may see an even see a more technologically integrated NFL, with the game's integrity as we know it likely redefined.
Paul Hanna