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Saturday, March 03, 2007
Despite what happened at Lehigh Wednesday night, there is no Internet video replay monitor courtside at the women's tournament in Annapolis and there will not be at either of Sunday's men's semifinals either.
For those who missed it, Army beat Lehigh 47-46 Wednesday on a shot that replays showed left the hand of Army's Josh Miller after the clock had expired. Lehigh coach Billy Taylor tried in vain to get the refs to check the feed from the league's All-Access Internet feed.
Lehigh also tried to appeal the outcome, a move that was denied because the Internet video feed had not been designated as an official courtside replay source prior to the game, as required by NCAA rules. (Even if it had been, the appeal would have been unsuccessful since NCAA rules say once the officials leave the floor, the outcome is official, though had there been a designated monitor, it is likely they would not have left before checking a replay.)
That is not because Patriot League officials would not like to have such a monitor available. The system used to produce the league's Webcasts simply is not capable of being used in that manner.
That could change next season, said league executive director Carolyn Schlie Femovich in an exclusive Hoop Time interview Saturday.
In the offseason, the league is going to look into what steps it might be able to take to make the Internet video meet the standards needed to be used for officials to check replays.
"We don't believe our current system can do it. We cannot stop it, replay and startit again because of the live streaming," Femovich said. "We are going to look into whether there is some technology we can apply to this system that would allow us to do it when we are streaming live."
The problem with the current system is that it lacks a replay capablity. Short of stopping the Webcast and rewinding video tape to take another look, there is no way to review the video.
While that was a workable solution in an end of the game situation like the Army-Lehigh game, it would not work for other plays during a game. In order to be designated as an official replay source, the video has to have the capability to be used for other situations.
"If they can't replay it, you can't use it," Femovich said.
NCAA rules governing replay do not just call for its use in game clock situations such as the one at Lehigh Wednesday night. Replays can also be used to check things like if a shooter was inside or outside the three-point arc, to check to see which player should be shooting a foul shot or settling shot clock questions.
"You've got to be able to use it from the beginning of the game to the end," Femovich explained.
Even then, there are other shortcomings to the system, which was never intended to be used as more than a way for league fans around the country to see games.
Although the Webcasts utilize a three-camera setup, with one high up top at midcourt and hand-held cameras under each basket, the simple "tricaster" used to produce the feed does not include any recording from the cameras that are not live at any given moment. That means the only replay angle that would be available, if there even were a way to access it in the current system, would be the angle being sent to viewers. That would greatly limit the effectiveness of the feed for official replays.
The current system also does not include any inset game or shot clocks, meaning in a situation like the one at Lehigh Wednesday, the only thing an official might be able to go by would be the light on the backboard. That light actually goes on a few tenths of a second after the clock hits 00:00.
Officials could use that, but there still would be the possibility of a ball leaving a shooter's hands after the clock expired but before the light went off, which the replay would not show.
Expect all these issues to be resolved, if feasible, before next season. The league's athletic directors, in a conference call Thursday, agreed there would be no attempt to use the current Internet feed as an official replay source for the remaining games this season.
In the meantime, the only assistance officials will have available in such situations will be the fourth, or table, official, a backup official who charts the game at the scorers table and is available to step in should one of the three game officials be injured.
There was no table official at the quarterfinal games.
"Will we (have a table official for quarterfinal games) in the future? Absolutely," Femovich said.
They are being used for all the games at the women's tournament and will be used for all three remaining men's games.
In a related note, the three officials who worked the Army-Lehigh game were privately reprimanded, but will not face additional sanctions or suspensions for missing the call. None of the three were slated to work any other tounament games anyhow, though one will serve as the table official at one of the remaining games, Femovich said.
In reality, only one of the three officials who worked the game could be blamed for the mistake. The official closest to the play was watching the play and could not see the red light when it came on. (Keep in mind, light travels faster than sound -- there is an even longer delay between the clock expiring and hearing the buzzer). The lead official was under the backet, thus also not in position to see the light.
Only the trail official would have been in position to make the call.
There will be replay availability for both the men's and women's finals, which are being broadcast by ESPN entitites (ESPN2 for the men, ESPNU for the women).
For those who missed it, Army beat Lehigh 47-46 Wednesday on a shot that replays showed left the hand of Army's Josh Miller after the clock had expired. Lehigh coach Billy Taylor tried in vain to get the refs to check the feed from the league's All-Access Internet feed.
Lehigh also tried to appeal the outcome, a move that was denied because the Internet video feed had not been designated as an official courtside replay source prior to the game, as required by NCAA rules. (Even if it had been, the appeal would have been unsuccessful since NCAA rules say once the officials leave the floor, the outcome is official, though had there been a designated monitor, it is likely they would not have left before checking a replay.)
That is not because Patriot League officials would not like to have such a monitor available. The system used to produce the league's Webcasts simply is not capable of being used in that manner.
That could change next season, said league executive director Carolyn Schlie Femovich in an exclusive Hoop Time interview Saturday.
In the offseason, the league is going to look into what steps it might be able to take to make the Internet video meet the standards needed to be used for officials to check replays.
"We don't believe our current system can do it. We cannot stop it, replay and startit again because of the live streaming," Femovich said. "We are going to look into whether there is some technology we can apply to this system that would allow us to do it when we are streaming live."
The problem with the current system is that it lacks a replay capablity. Short of stopping the Webcast and rewinding video tape to take another look, there is no way to review the video.
While that was a workable solution in an end of the game situation like the Army-Lehigh game, it would not work for other plays during a game. In order to be designated as an official replay source, the video has to have the capability to be used for other situations.
"If they can't replay it, you can't use it," Femovich said.
NCAA rules governing replay do not just call for its use in game clock situations such as the one at Lehigh Wednesday night. Replays can also be used to check things like if a shooter was inside or outside the three-point arc, to check to see which player should be shooting a foul shot or settling shot clock questions.
"You've got to be able to use it from the beginning of the game to the end," Femovich explained.
Even then, there are other shortcomings to the system, which was never intended to be used as more than a way for league fans around the country to see games.
Although the Webcasts utilize a three-camera setup, with one high up top at midcourt and hand-held cameras under each basket, the simple "tricaster" used to produce the feed does not include any recording from the cameras that are not live at any given moment. That means the only replay angle that would be available, if there even were a way to access it in the current system, would be the angle being sent to viewers. That would greatly limit the effectiveness of the feed for official replays.
The current system also does not include any inset game or shot clocks, meaning in a situation like the one at Lehigh Wednesday, the only thing an official might be able to go by would be the light on the backboard. That light actually goes on a few tenths of a second after the clock hits 00:00.
Officials could use that, but there still would be the possibility of a ball leaving a shooter's hands after the clock expired but before the light went off, which the replay would not show.
Expect all these issues to be resolved, if feasible, before next season. The league's athletic directors, in a conference call Thursday, agreed there would be no attempt to use the current Internet feed as an official replay source for the remaining games this season.
In the meantime, the only assistance officials will have available in such situations will be the fourth, or table, official, a backup official who charts the game at the scorers table and is available to step in should one of the three game officials be injured.
There was no table official at the quarterfinal games.
"Will we (have a table official for quarterfinal games) in the future? Absolutely," Femovich said.
They are being used for all the games at the women's tournament and will be used for all three remaining men's games.
In a related note, the three officials who worked the Army-Lehigh game were privately reprimanded, but will not face additional sanctions or suspensions for missing the call. None of the three were slated to work any other tounament games anyhow, though one will serve as the table official at one of the remaining games, Femovich said.
In reality, only one of the three officials who worked the game could be blamed for the mistake. The official closest to the play was watching the play and could not see the red light when it came on. (Keep in mind, light travels faster than sound -- there is an even longer delay between the clock expiring and hearing the buzzer). The lead official was under the backet, thus also not in position to see the light.
Only the trail official would have been in position to make the call.
There will be replay availability for both the men's and women's finals, which are being broadcast by ESPN entitites (ESPN2 for the men, ESPNU for the women).
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