I don’t know if it’s true, but there’s a story about the rocket scientists at NASA tasked with making a pen that could write upside-down or sideways in zero-gravity space.
After much time and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on the project, the solution was reached when a young staffer meekly suggested that astronauts, instead of a pen, use a pencil.
With that in mind, the advancements of TV technology and those who apply it have exceeded the practicality of both.
Last NFL season, for example, CBS briefly but proudly introduced something loaded with technical achievement, yet worthless as a matter of practical application — unless one had three sets of eyes, all operating independently.
CBS squeezed the screen to show three simultaneous replays of the previous play from three different angles. Not only were viewers forced to immediately guess which of the three they’d choose to watch — no chance or ability to choose which might be best — they then had to watch their quick-pick replay within a frame roughly 1/12th the size of a replay had it been shown, singly, in full screen.
Without gauging its practicality by previewing its in-game usefulness, CBS had applied light in triplicate to create high-tech darkness.
Saturday, CBS gave it another shot. During Texans-Patriots, it covered the left one-third of the screen with a graphic that vertically listed “Tom Brady’s Last 10 Pass Attempts.”
Beneath that heading, 10 throws were listed in two columns, the left carrying whether it was caught and/or caught for a touchdown — a check mark within a green background for catch, “TD” appeared over a silver background for a TD catch — while incomplete or intercepted were indicated by X marks or “INT” atop a red background. The right column indicated how many yards were gained via completions.
The bottom of this graphic, in a blue background, read, “5/10, TD, INT, 132 YDS.”
Those inclined to read, digest, then consider its contents for enlightenment — obviously CBS figured that was all of us or it wouldn’t have bothered, right? — were allowed six seconds before it disappeared, as Brady took the next snap. Six seconds, when it practically would have taken, oh, 25 seconds to read, consider, then reject the info as not worth two seconds of our time.
Brady then completed a pass to Chris Hogan, meaning CBS could not return to its previous graphic as it was now obsolete. Yep, all that work for nothing.
And so, strictly as a practical matter, we wonder if those in TV who want to do what’s best for both its network and its viewers actually take the time to examine how their ideas and labor will appear and what they’ll be worth come show time.
Saturday, FOX’s sense of practicality was thrown in our faces and ears when a graphic and analyst John Lynch, during Seattle’s first-possession TD drive, noted that Atlanta’s defense is the “WORST” in “Red Zone TD percentage.”
For starters, I guarantee that no one responsible for this graphic can fully explain the significance of Red Zone stats, starting with when Red Zone possessions begin. In other words, if a team reaches the 19 on third down, then attempts a field goal, does that count differently from a Red Zone possession that begins first-and-goal from the 1?
Beyond that, how bad could Atlanta be at preventing TDs when it’s 11-5, now 12-5 with a 36-20 win? The practical know that no 11-5 team suffers from the regular inability to prevent opponents from scoring TDs.
By the way, guess which team, behind the 9-7 Titans, had the NFL’s highest Red Zone TD scoring percentage? The 2-14 Niners!
Not long after FOX and Lynch made a big deal out of the Falcon D’s Red Zone “failures,” Atlanta forced Seattle to kick a Red Zone field goal. That Red Zone possession began first-and-10 from the 19, then, following a sack, became second-and-17. But as a practical matter, in service to paid experts and enlightening TV audiences, they’re all the same!
Disgust always a must on TV
As sports continue to be defaced by vandals, TV remains committed to providing the spray paint.
Saturday, during Duke-Louisville, ESPN made sure to pose Louisville star Donovan Mitchell scowling while immodestly flexing his muscles. Why?
CBS, naturally, wouldn’t pass on the opportunity to show, for a second time, those who showboated during Texans-Pats. Why?
And FOX’s extended Seahawks-Falcons studio pregame prominently featured one of the NFL’s lowest, most vulgar, incendiary, antisocial acts, Josh Norman, all dressed up and acting like a human — although he was selected by FOX because he doesn’t.
Not that we’d expect FOX’s Gus Johnson to know much beyond hollering into a microphone, but analyst Jim Jackson, Saturday, either missed or ignored a significant game-end issue.
Georgetown led UConn by three, 8.8 seconds left and a timeout before UConn inbounded. Would Georgetown foul before allowing a shot to potentially tie the game? It never even came up.
John Thompson III not only allowed UConn to pass and dribble, he allowed it a “good-look,” open 3. The shot missed, but as a strategic matter, on FOX it was a non-matter.
Rutgers’ drug policy is good ‘four’ what?
How many times can a Rutgers student be caught cheating on a test before he or she’s thrown out? Once? Maybe twice? But certainly not four.
With RU’s football program accused of a pile of violations, including the subjugation of failed drug tests, the Asbury Park Press on Friday reported AD Pat Hobbs’s drug policy would not result in a player’s dismissal until he or she failed a fourth test for “hard” drugs and/or illegal PEDs. Four.
Shucks, a 75 percent tolerance policy! And not until after their fourth chance can a student-athlete get what schools, coaches and media call “a second chance.”
Goodness, Jay Bilas, who worked ESPN’s Duke-Louisville, takes himself seriously. And, man, does he speak matters of maybe as matters of fact.
Remarkable: Duke Blue Devils and Louisville Cards played in their traditional, nickname-coordinated school colors, neither wore their black uniforms.
Saturday on the Investigation and Discovery Channel’s “See No Evil,” the 1999 abduction and murder of a young woman in Moose Lake, Minnesota, was recounted. Donald Blom, convicted of the crime, was identified in a grainy store surveillance video by the Yankees No. 23 Don Mattingly shirt he wore.
Falcons having done a good job dealing with/shutting up Seattle DB Richard Sherman, reader Rich Finley, of Oaklyn, NJ, suggests the headline: “Atlanta Burns Sherman.”