TAKE A PASS
Idon’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 upsidedown 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 in 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 firstpossession 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!