we’ll forget, but now
absence feels like a loss – game, set
match to the gizmos
It’s the perfect Wimbledon. The sun is out, the Brits are firing and as for the scoring, that too will be somewhat perfect, this being the first Wimbledon since the tournament told the line judges, long the arbiters of accuracy, that after 148 years, their services will no longer be required.
Arguments, unpredictability and, as the cameras zoom in to the line judge whose eyesight judgment prompts a participant explosion, buttock-clenching awkwardness in close-up: goodbye to all that. Hello, AI and sharp-eyed robots, analysing in real time 18 lots of footage.
It’s perfect now, but is it progress? After the first day, players complained that while the calls were perfect in their accuracy, they were imperfect in that the gizmo’s volume was set too low and they could not hear the verdicts.
To some extent, Wimbledon is falling into line – both the Australian and US Opens, and very many of the lesser professional tournaments, have waved goodbye to the humans and embraced electronic line calling. The players wanted it. They strive truly, madly and deeply for perfection; their short, explosive careers cannot hinge on the human fallibility of others.
But look at Centre Court without the sentries posted around the border, and without the quiet ceremony that has always marked the departure of one set of line judges and the arrival of another. One day their absence will feel natural and maybe we’ll forget they were ever there, barking their assessments. But for now, their absence feels like a loss. Game, set and match to the gizmos.
From the article, Look at Wimbledon without human line judges and tell me this: do you really want life to be perfect? by Hugh Muir.
Major League umpire, Bill Klem famously said about making the call in baseball games that, I never missed one … in my heart.
Past University of Michigan Football Coach, Bo Schembechler once said something along the lines that his game plan always took into account 7 points that could go either way because of the calls by the referees … it’s part of the game, he said.
I like to follow Cricket when I can.
I follow Team England.
In Cricket the difference between an being called OUT can depend on whether of not the ball hit the player or his uniform or if the ball hit the bat.
To make sure the correct call is made, Cricket uses HOT SPOT and THE WHISTLER.
The HOTSPOT is an infrared camera on the play because the HEAT SIGNITURE of a ball hitting wood (the wicket) is different than that of the ball hitting the cloth of the uniform of the batter.
If that doesn’t work, there is the WHISTLER that is a microphone under the plate because the SOUND SIGNITURE of the ball hitting wood is different from the sound of the ball hitting cloth.
Oh give me a break.
But sports are a billon dollar industry.
Betting on sports is a billion dollar industry.
To quote General Jack Ripper in the movie, Dr. Stangelove, Clemenceau once said that war is too important to be left to the generals.
Well, today, in or out, in bounds or out of bounds, before the horn or after the buzzer or what have you is too important to be left to humans.
I guess.
I understand that athletes strive truly, madly and deeply for perfection; their short, explosive careers cannot hinge on the human fallibility of others.
I don’t know.
It used to be part of the game.
It used to be … a game.
One day the absence of humans will feel natural and maybe we’ll forget they were ever there, barking their assessments.
But for now, their absence feels like a loss.
No Haiku For You 