12/21/24
January 15, 2015
SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
I like the idea but I feel like it would last right up until the first time a ref threw the wrong one.
posted by yerfatma at 02:45 PM on January 15, 2015
Del Rio addressing the crowds in front of the Great Wall on W. Grand Ave.:
"Ich bin ein Oaklander"
posted by beaverboard at 02:45 PM on January 15, 2015
I like the idea, as initially I read that blurb from Etrigan as having many different colors for every type- but just the two colors should be manageable for any ref, and it's not like refs don't throw flags today that get shortly after declared basically a mistake (after a ref conference), no penalty.
But the flags seem like a solution in search of a problem, since now you've increased your bandwidth by a whole bit. The refs are already miked up all the time; why not have them simply say what the penalty is when they throw the flag ("Holding, offense, number 51") so someone in the broadcast booth can hear it in real time and put up a yellow or red "FLAG", or even more detail such as a yellow/red "Holding, #51" within a couple of seconds of the flag being thrown.
posted by hincandenza at 11:55 PM on January 16, 2015
Grantland presents a small but interesting idea on how to make football even more viewer-friendly -- have different-colored flags for offensive and defensive penalties, thereby reducing the "flag lag" on big plays that might get called back.