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Stop in the Name of the Law

In NCAA, NAIA, JUCO and High School football, computer use during a game is a huge no-no
by: Jane Musgrave
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When two back-to-back bad calls wiped away Illinois' chances of beating Michigan last fall in the final minutes of a game, the cry went up.

"Instant replay," shouted coaches who have long believed that the NCAA should change it's rules to allow referees to review game film on the field if there is any question that they made the right call.

To Illinois coach Ron Turner, the issue is a simple one. "The technology is out there these days, so we might as well use it," says Turner, a former assistant with the Chicago Bears. "Why," he asks, should games continue to be decided by bad officiating when the technology exists to make sure that games are won and lost by the players on the field?

"They'll say that only a small percent of games are decided by questionable calls," Turner says. "But we only play 11 games a year. If it affects one game that is a big affect. One game is a huge affect."

The NCAA's steadfast refusal to consider allowing instant replays is yet one example of how it has kept tight reins on technology even as the use of computers, digital equipment and other high-tech devices has burgeoned in football programs across the country.

The rules, at the college, junior college and high school level, still prohibit the use of any type of computer equipment on the field or in the press box during the game.

The NCAA rules are abundantly clear: "Motion pictures, any type of film facsimile machines, videotapes, photographs, writing-transmission machines and computers are prohibited for coaching purposes anytime during the game or between periods."

The prohibition, which is mirrored in high school and junior college regulations, extends to printed materials as well, says Jerry Diehl, spokesman for the National High School Federation. While coaches can review stats compiled by hand, they can't look at any computer-generated information.

"If you can do it by pen and paper, that's OK," he says. "But a coach can't review any type of scouting report compiled by a computer."

During the last several years, as many coaches have begun using Palm Pilots and other micro computers to store their playbooks, tendency charts and scouting information, the federation occasionally gets phone calls from coaches asking whether they can use their hand-held computers on the sideline. The answer, Diehl says, is an unequivocal "no." Ditto the use of Palm Pilots in the press box as well.

"It's a matter of not forcing people to spend money," he says of the federation's attitude toward technology. "If one school can afford to buy the equipment and another can't, it will make the chasm between them even wider."

Recognizing technology can give coaches a leg up on their competition, the federation works to make sure the rich can't beat the poor purely because they have the money to buy fancier equipment.

"At some schools, the coach drives the school bus, sweeps the floor, draws the lines on the field. He's lucky he can even field a team, much less think about buying a Palm Pilot," Diehl says. "We want to make sure we don't let the balance get too far one way or another."

George Killian, executive director of the National Junior College Athletic Association, says those who are pushing to be allowed to use technology during games are nothing more than NFL-wannabes.

"All this technology comes about because people want to imitate the pros," he says. "We are not the pros. At our level, we have a difficult time funding our programs without worrying about whether we have radio communication with our quarterbacks."

As for instant replays, he says, "They see it every Sunday on the NFL and they think they should be able to do it."

Turner, and other coaches who have been burned by bad calls and see the value in instant replays, say they understand that all colleges, much less all high schools and junior colleges, can't afford the equipment that would be needed to institute instant replay.

But, he says, to deny all schools the ability to use it doesn't make sense.

"Most universities at the Division 1 level could do it - at least in games that are televised," he says. "I know they're going to say that wouldn't be fair because then some games would use it and others wouldn't. But at least if we used it just for televised games it would help make sure the team on the field wins. We could try to get it right."

He says he doesn't believe the costs would as astronomical as nay-sayers predict. When the NFL reinstituted the instant replay in 1999, they spent $7.7 million to get the system in and $2.2 million a year to keep it going.

Still Turner, whose brother, Norv, was the head coach of the Washington Redskins and is now OC of the Chargers, says he is convinced that instant replay could be implemented at the Division I level for a fraction of the cost if people would seriously explore the options. The affluent NCAA, for instance, could help bankroll the program.

Further, he says, the use of instant replays isn't unprecedented. NCAA rules now allow refs in college basketball to use instant replays to review 3-point shots and buzzer beaters.

In the fall, he says, he was hopeful the Big 10 would finally push the issue. Jim Delany, commissioner of the Big 10, supported it and brought it to the membership for a vote. Unfortunately, after listening to opponents, the governing board resoundingly defeated the proposal.

"We were trying to take a stand and become the first conference in the country to do it," Turner says. "But at least it was presented and talked about. At least it's reached that level and so it will be on the table again in the future."

While he is most interested in having the ability to challenge bad calls by asking refs to look at an instant replay, he says he would like to see other technological advancements on college football fields as well. Radio communication with quarterbacks, for instance, would be great, he says. But, he says, it would probably be far too expensive for even well-heeled Division 1 schools.

Still, he says, he suspects that eventually instant replays will be part of college football.

Rules afterall, are subject to change.

Diehl readily concedes the point. "It wasn't too many years ago that we didn't allow any communication between the players and the press box," he says.



"If one school can afford to buy the equipment and another can't, it will make the chasm between them even wider."






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