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[Teach]

As previously cited, when I was a teen-ager growing up in the Dorchester-Mattapan section (Boston), there were “bookies” everywhere. It would have had an easy time making a bet, but I didn’t. In fact, the only times I’ve made sports wagers is where it was legal, e.g., Las Vegas, Reno, Aruba, etc. It wasn’t so much the “illegality” of it that kept me away from betting with “bookies,” it was more, in my case, a family matter. One of my father’s cousins was heavily into wagering on sports. On Saturdays, he’d bet the college football games. On Sundays, the professionals. To make a long story short, all this got the best of him. He lost his wife (divorce) and most of his money. That was always held up to me as an example. Of course, it didn’t stop me from betting “the ponies”.

As I think about it, I’m sure there are lots of people, like me, who feel a bit uneasy about betting with “bookies”. But now that states, throughout the country, are rapidly legalizing sports betting, that may serve as an encouragement – call it a lure – for people who wouldn’t have ordinarily made sports bet, to make them. I have to tell you that I was tempted to go to Twin Rivers in nearby Rhode Island to bet both the AFC and NFC championship games. I didn’t. If the casino were closer and the weather had been better… Yet I know, if I had gone, that I would have bet the Saints. The way the game ended… I would have been “fit to be tied”. And that’s the crux of this post. I believe the NFL must, for their sake, take advantage of the available technology. Look, if we now have driver-less cars, why not official-less (maybe one official on the field) games. Sound outrageous. Let me state my case:

At the outset, let me state that I have nothing against referees. I’m sure they’re best to do their job to the best of their ability. However, I believe, in this day and age, there must be a better way. Times, they are a-changing.

To start, the NFL must take advantage of the advanced available technology (any changes could be first tried in pre-season games, and then, if necessary, fine-tuned). I believe, first of all, dozens and dozens of cameras can be strategically placed throughout the stadium (some may be situated, if possible, on top). Or, the can be covered by drones. Each camera has a distinct role; yet other cameras can assist and/or corroborate. It’s as if the players on the gridiron are been observed as if they were playing football in a “goldfish bowl” (if they aren’t, already). There are, possibly, even ultrasound-type cameras who can “see” into the “pig-pile” when a ball is fumbled.

Further, these individual cameras can “programmed”. Tangentially, for example, I always felt in Olympic sports like diving and figure skating, that cameras can be provided with every possible move, every nuance that a figure skater can make. The cameras know the “perfect moves”. After the performance, the cameras relay their evaluation to a judge or judges. That’s the score (this takes the human element out of it).

The same thing can be done in professional football. The camera(s) are programmed to determine what is, and what isn’t, say pass interference. The cameras can be used to determine encroachment, false start, etc. Even ball placement. I believe the intent of ball placement after a tackle is place the ball, even if it is as an angle, where the ball-carrier’s forward progress had been stopped. That might not be a horizontal, right-angle placement that lines up with the sidelines. That can make a big difference when it comes to a close first-down.

Speaking of the ball-carrier, the League must stop the rugby-like scrums on running plays. It’s where the player’s own momentum is stopped. Not the “tug o’ war” that sometimes pushes the ball-carrier ahead an extra two or three yards.

Further, the cameras can also signal a delay-of-game penalty. In the NFC championship, Drew Brees came awfully close, on two or three occasions, to a delay-of-game penalties. That call, or non-call, can change the complexion of the game. It would not be unlike the 24-second clock in basketball where a buzzer sounds.

In addition, the camera could look at a variety of plays, i.e., “pick plays”. One of which, not called, resulted in a Chiefs touchdown against the Patriots. Every camera has a job to do. The cameras are inanimate. It would be hard to question their calls.

Speaking of calls, there can be all kinds of audio effects that indicate camera calls. A whistle, a bell, a green light, a red light, graphics, etc. They would be instantaneously shown throughout the stadium. This may all sound like science fiction, yet I believe our world is so advanced, technologically, that some of the things that might have been viewed as science fiction, years ago, are now possible.

I know one thing: It would speed up the game. No more refs going under the hood for an interminable amount of time to get New York’s take on the play. That ruins continuity. It can change the complexion of the game.

Finally, even the footballs can be implanted with electrodes to tell, as in the case of Julian Edelman in the AFC championship, whether he had touched the ball, or not. The field of play can be covered electronically. Did the player touch the sideline stripe, or not. There would be no question. The slightest impression of a cleat can be detected.

In conclusion: I say let’s take more and more of the human element out of officiating. The technology is available. It’s waiting to be used.

In this day and age of a crescendo of legalized sports betting, the stake, by the day, grow higher. The NFL must do everything possible to take the guesswork out of sports officiating. I suppose sports betting can be like going to a restaurant for the first time and getting “a bad meal”. You’re more than likely not to come back. Yet, if you had a good experience, say in wagering on NFL football games, you’re likely to continue.

One last point. That Saints v. Rams game with the blatant PI that wasn’t called; that was the “tip of the iceberg,” i.e., possible lawsuits. It would be one thing for a person who bet with a “bookie” to try to initiate a lawsuit over poor officiating, yet it’s a whole ‘nother ballgame when the sports betting is sanctioned by individual states. I believe the mythical “Sword of Damocles” hangs over the head of the NFL Commissioner and the individual owners.