- Dec 29, 2008
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waiting for "crack isn't bad if you do it at your crib"
NFL Discussion Thread: Pats win SB XLIX. Offseason begins
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by 651akathepaul,
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elpablo21
Supporter
- Feb 11, 2008
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...
- Apr 27, 2009
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- Apr 27, 2009
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- Jun 16, 2008
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- Jun 16, 2008
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I get it already, your modus operandi is going to be consistently
"when in doubt, make as egregious a reach as one could possibly make in this discussion".
feel free not to post, I'll just fill in default "stillinisms" as needed. thanks.
- Jun 16, 2008
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- Dec 29, 2008
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I was mocking the "adderall" comment but clearly you are hell bent on driving this topic into the ground
I think you should just make a thread in General and call it a day because you are getting annoying in here
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- Dec 5, 2008
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"Aderall"
whatever, it's not a word in the dictionary, it's a product I don't care if I spell it right.
- Apr 27, 2009
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- Apr 27, 2009
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"Aderall"
I put it in quotations for the fact that Aderall is the go to reason for a failed drug test, at least in Seattle it is
- Dec 5, 2008
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Ah, missed that. My bad.I put it in quotations for the fact that Aderall is the go to reason for a failed drug test, at least in Seattle it is
- Jun 16, 2008
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how annoying? so annoying you want to go get a beer and post a pic of it? or so annoying you want to drive a rusty nail through your eye?
c'mon bro, I was hoping for a stillinism.
I'm disappointed bro.
DeadsetAce
Supporter
- May 31, 2004
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elpablo21
Supporter
- Feb 11, 2008
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#NTExtremes
- Mar 2, 2011
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No worries once Jimmy Graham joins the Browns 
- Dec 1, 2012
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Jimmy Graham would probably start smoking crack if he got traded to Cleveland
- Mar 2, 2011
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Probably.
- May 8, 2006
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No worries once Jimmy Graham joins the Browns
#pipedream
- Dec 25, 2005
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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/news/20130718/nfl-birth-of-the-yellow-line/
The story behind football's innovative yellow first down line
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By Bill Squadron
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Engineer Stan Honey helped the company Sportvision develop the yellow first down line that is now part of football telecasts.
Engineer Stan Honey helped the company Sportvision develop the yellow first down line that is now a staple of football telecasts.
John Storey/Time and Life Images
The large conference room full of ESPN executives was silent as Jerry Gepner and I finished presenting a simulation of a yellow, electronic first down line for football telecasts in May 1998. Finally, the silence was broken.
"Can you really do it?" one said.
We nodded.
"Can you have it ready for this NFL season?" another asked.
I paused slightly, and silently gulped. "Yes, but only if we start right away," I said.
Jed Drake, the pioneering, innovative head of remote production for ESPN, replied, "If you can really do it by September, and we can do it with you exclusively, we're in." They never even asked how much it would cost.
Our company, Sportvision, had opened its doors four months earlier. Backed by several venture capital investors, with New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon as the lead, our concept was to apply advanced technology to sports media. Three of us from News Corporation and Fox Sports -- Gepner, a TV production expert, engineering guru Stan Honey and I (the business person) -- had been inspired by Stan's invention of the glowing hockey puck technology the previous year for Fox, technology which we licensed upon leaving the company in exchange for an equity interest for News Corp.
We had a long list of ideas that we felt could enhance the television experience for fans in a variety of sports. Near the top of the list was an electronic first down line, an idea that had been contemplated for many years (a patent had been filed around the concept in 197. Fox Sports chief David Hill, one of the most creative and groundbreaking executives in the history of sports television, had mentioned it once to Stan, and John Madden had raised the idea with Jerry.
The reason why it had never been done was that no one had yet figured out how to insert, in live television, a virtual line that appeared to be under the players' feet as if it were painted on the grass -- and have that line stay in perspective as the action swirled around it and the cameras panned, tilted and zoomed. As soon as we opened for business, Stan and his small team of engineers immediately set out to determine whether they could create such a virtual line.
By early March, they felt confident it could be done. We then created a simulation tape to show the NFL broadcasters what we were proposing to do. We experimented with various colors and settled on yellow. The four NFL TV rightsholders at the time were Fox, CBS, ABC and ESPN. We presented the tape to all of them -- starting with Fox since they were a shareholder.
Hill liked the concept, of course, but Fox thought that the price, $25,000 per game, was too steep. We had set that price for a number of reasons. The hardware and operational costs would be substantial. We would have to send six people to each game along with a 48-foot semi to haul our computer and video equipment. Moreover, we felt that it was not a large figure compared to the millions of dollars per game in rights fees that each network was paying.
CBS and ABC found the simulation tape intriguing but wanted to give it some thought. Our last stop was ESPN and the reception was decidedly different. Drake and his team immediately felt that a virtual first down line would transform the football viewing experience. They saw the potential power of it and wanted to be the first network to bring it to life.
Within several days of that first meeting we had worked out the terms of a deal with ESPN. We agreed to an exclusive arrangement for the 1998 season, believing that no one else could develop a competing system before the end of the year. One sticky point was that ESPN wanted the exclusivity to run through the playoffs, even though they had no postseason games. We objected but ultimately conceded. That proved to be a mistake later.
The other key step was the approval of the NFL. While ESPN technically had the right to introduce such a broadcast enhancement, everyone felt that approval by the league would be essential. We went to see the top NFL broadcast executive, Dennis Lewin. Stan, Jerry and I were very nervous given the importance of this deal to our young company and the NFL's reputation for being very conservative when it came to anything new or different.
Luckily, Lewin had that rare combination of being both cautious and visionary at the same time. He observed right away how the yellow line would create a better viewing experience for NFL fans, and could even help young or casual fans learn the game more quickly. He imposed only three requirements. First, the line had to be thick enough that it would clearly be a viewer's guide, not the precise, definitive location for a first down. Secondly, we would have to fade it out when the referee placed the ball down, to avoid causing controversy if the line was off from the official chain markers. Finally, we could not show it in replays. Lewin's parting comment was, "I knew someone was going to do something like this eventually -- just glad they're friends," thus indicating his trust in us.
Stan confirmed that these conditions were technically easy, and ESPN agreed from the production side. We were on our way. Now it fell to Stan's engineering team to build something in four months that had previously been considered impossible.
*****
While the line looks simple on TV, the technology behind it is very complex. Sensors were placed on the three main game cameras (at midfield and the two 20 yard lines), capturing the pan, tilt and zoom movements of those cameras 30 times a second. A three-dimensional, virtual model of each field had to be constructed, with the exact measurements of the crown of the field (the center of the field is always higher, for drainage, than the sides and ends, but the precise levels vary in each venue). An exhaustive color palette had to be produced on the fly as the game progressed, so that the green pixels of grass the yellow line replaced would be exactly the "right greens" even as shadows crossed the field and changed the grass hues -- an essential feature to assure replacing only the green blades of grass and not the green threads of a Packers or Eagles jersey.
The operation of the system was also extremely complex and had to integrate in a sophisticated and complete way with the TV broadcast. We were fortunate to have, in Jerry Gepner, the best person in the industry at pulling off this detailed integration and coordination, but it was an all or nothing proposition. Either the line would appear to stick like paint to the grass, and remain in the right spot throughout the play, or it would not go to air. Being a yard off, or having it appear on a player's jersey, or shudder slightly -- these were not options.
Our Sportvision road crew would have to arrive at the field three days before each game. Using a laser plane, they took measurements of the field and loaded them into the computers. They would run hundreds of yards of cables from the up cameras to the equipment in our truck, allowing our system to detect each camera movement so that, once inserted, we could keep the line in proper perspective as the play proceeded and the cameras panned and zoomed. They took swatches of grass at different times of day -- both before and during the games -- to enhance the color palette in each city (our crew came to love games in domed stadiums).
Our engineering team, based in Mountain View, Calif., worked around the clock through the summer to put all of the software and hardware pieces of the system together. We outfitted a full-size television truck to house the road operation. There was constant tension since there was virtually no cushion if we were to make the start of the season.
We provided regular updates to ESPN. Jed Drake could not have been more supportive and provided access to everything our team needed since a big part of the system would be a seamless integration with the ESPN production. ESPN would have to delay the broadcast by two-thirds of a second to allow us to insert the line into their feed. If the coordination was not absolutely precise in syncing with the video and audio, the line would flutter -- or worse.
Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/news/20130718/nfl-birth-of-the-yellow-line/#ixzz33GwvREFr
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jumpmanfromdabay
Banned
- Jan 25, 2008
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Looks terrible.
- Apr 28, 2009
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Josh Freeman got beat out by Curtis Painter and Ryan Nassib. He couldn't even make it out of OTA's. Sheesh.
"Painter is just another guy and Freeman appeared to be little more than the camp arm the Giants were trying to sell him as after they signed him this offseason. During one drill, Freeman lined up the offense incorrectly and the play was never run. He was immediately subbed out, with Painter taking his place."
"Painter is just another guy and Freeman appeared to be little more than the camp arm the Giants were trying to sell him as after they signed him this offseason. During one drill, Freeman lined up the offense incorrectly and the play was never run. He was immediately subbed out, with Painter taking his place."
- Dec 14, 2004
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Freeman, Painter and Nassib are all trash
- Feb 12, 2005
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Agreed.
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