For many sports fans, it’s the most wonderful time of the year: the beginning of the NFL football season. You’ll be seeing new things on the sidelines this season, and I’m not talking about a new Washington Redskins mascot.
Starting this season, NFL teams will use tablets and a digital video system to study opponents. If successful, this will replace printed photos. It’s called the Sideline Viewing System and it’s an alliance between Microsoft and the NFL. These tablets are the first time players and coaches are using computer technology devices for football purposes. The Sideline Viewing System will make it’s debut tonight, August 3, 2014, at the Hall of Fame game between the New York Giants and Buffalo Bills. Let’s look at how teams used to study fields and opponents:? There were printed photographs to learn how opponents set up defenses before the offense snapped the ball. Then coaches used Polaroid shots. And in recent years, they used faxes and fiber optics.
It’s going to be interesting to see teams study tablets. But one thing I’m worried about is security, equality, and integrity of the game. Apparently, they have that covered too. Each team will get equal amount of Microsoft Surface tablets. These tablets are owned by the NFL. They will be locked up between games to prevent any fraud, cheating or manipulation. Well, that’s a good start. But what about hacking? I can picture someone hiring a hacker to break into an opponent’s tablets, stealing all their information and using it against them. What’s going to stop that? I guess we’ll see. Are these tablets the perfect marriage between sports and technology? Or is this just a scandal waiting to happen?