Fight Dependency

To a follower of any sport, there will inevitably be things about the game that will cause disagreement. Clearly the biggest thing is the dodgy decision called by those who are appointed to ensure fair play. In the the sporting world there will always be good goals disallowed, penalties given when they should not have been, batsmen given out when they were not, balls which land over the line but are called in and so on.

This is one of the reasons why sport has more frequently started calling upon technology to give back up confirmation of what the human eye is convinced it has seen taking place. Typically, and for reasons which it is unnecessary to go into here, football has stayed resistant to such a suggestion, but other sports have enthusiastically embraced the technology. Fans who enjoy cricket will be used to the third umpire who is watching the match away from the pitch and with a wealth of technology available to confirm or deny shouts for LBW, or split second decisions when it is impossible to identify when a player has been run out or not.

Tennis followers are very happy with Hawk-Eye (the same type of technology employed in cricket) confirming when a ball has bounced the ground inside or outside of the white lines or not, and the sport has gone further still in actually letting players challenge an agreed number of decisions per match, which are then resolved using the technology.

Hawk-Eye uses a number of high-speed video cameras in conjunction with computer software to accurately calculate and predict the outcome of the ball’s movement. It’s all very clever stuff but even so the football governing bodies are reluctant to decide if it should be used to back up the three humans who take the flack from half the crowd every time they stop play. The refrain of ‘Where’s your glasses, referee?’ (or something somewhat less civilised but inferring the same thing) is still common in football grounds throughout the country every weekend. Although, as this is the 21st century, maybe these days the cry should be ‘have you had your Laser eye surgery yet, referee?’!

Particular sports utilise technology to prevent unfair advantage, as in the sensors on athletes and swimmers starting blocks which can record a false start much more efficiently than the human eye. And American Football, of course, has made use of video evidence for many years to review the on-pitch officials’ judgements, though this does create numerous interruptions to the play.

In a variety of ways, these various technological advances are now becoming part of the spectator’s experience also. Television footage of snooker now incorporates the Hawk-Eye system to demonstrate to the viewer exactly what the player can see, and can demonstrate likely shots before the cue ball is struck to indicate to the viewer what options are available to the player.

As well as professional sports, technology provides some leisure pursuits with a reasonable process of playing what would otherwise be ridiculously dangerous games. Laser combat games do just that by permitting the antagonists to take aim at each other with their gun’s Laser eye, causing no injury to the participants but enabling boys to be boys as far as real life war gaming is concerned. (I had a go at this game once on a ‘team building’ trip with my fellow employees and considered it a totally tedious way to spend an afternoon!) Obviously, there are some minor risks involved as incorrect pointing of the gun at the face can cause Laser eye damage, but any decent company laying on such events will review usage and ensure the safety of all those joining in.

The laser gun is slowly finding its way into mainstream sport as it has been confirmed that such weapons will be used instead of air pistols in the Modern Pentathlon at the 2012 London Olympics. And in other areas of sport, lasers are also used very effectively to treat injuries without the necessity for invasive surgery, and Laser eye surgery is used by sports participants such as golfers to enhance their vision and therefore be able to see far more clearly what shot they are playing.

It appears that we’ve progressed hugely since the times when the 100 yard dash was timed by a man holding a stopwatch and John McEnroe raised his voice and declared ‘you cannot be serious’. So come on, football! Isn’t it about time you embraced technology too?

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Tags: health, improved vision, laser eye, laser eye surgery, lifefstyle