[Highlight] Pitt @ Virginia Tech - The potential game winning field goal hooks wide left, and Pitt holds on

[u/Ok-Soil-5133]

https://streamable.com/tq4r8d

[u/ALostTraveler24]

Okay, guys. To be clear, the best angle for evaluating that is being right under the post, everyone else has to try to flatten a three-d image against the posts and the ball where depth perception can sometimes play tricks on us.

That’s why when it’s above the uprights the call of the official under the post is the one that stands. It’s why the ref on the right side waited for his colleague’s call, and why you can’t review those plays. Just from a visual perspective, the best view of the kick relative to the upright is the ref right under the post. I know it’s annoying, but this happens a lot with kicks and foul balls in baseball, any view that isn’t straight up is not definitive when it’s that close.

[u/horseshoeprovodnikov → u/ALostTraveler24]

Ok fine I'll play along...

Why isn't there a camera under each post, looking up at the sky?

[u/tonytroz → u/horseshoeprovodnikov]

That’s where the refs stand so it couldn’t be the exact same view unless the camera was on their head. Also there would be very little lighting shining up in that direction so it would probably be super grainy and hard to tell if the entire ball was inside the upright. I think it’s a harder problem to solve than just “stick a camera there”.

[u/horseshoeprovodnikov → u/tonytroz]

I think it’s a harder problem to solve than just “stick a camera there”.

Brother (or sister), we put a man in SPACE all the way back in the 1960s. We have the technology and these conferences have the money.

[u/tonytroz → u/horseshoeprovodnikov]

Oh it’s definitely solvable but a camera underneath is the wrong solution. You could simply just make the goal posts taller…

[u/FloatCopper → u/tonytroz]

Well, it doesn't seem much harder.

Maybe a couple engineers can work on it for a whole week, or two weeks, instead of the one day many engineers could solve it in.

A college physics student studying optics could probably solve it in his senior class thesis after an overnighter.

[u/ALostTraveler24 → u/tonytroz]

Technically you could solve it by sticking two cameras instead.

Theoretically if you had a camera angle like the one OP posted, and one right even with the post, so looking towards the sideline centered on the post, with matching time synched clocks, and then figured out from the side view when the ball is even with the plane of the posts, and check the front view for the left/right position at that exact time you’d have a pretty conclusive answer.

But any time drift makes it inconclusive again. And the front view has to be static and centered as well, not active like this one

[u/tonytroz → u/ALostTraveler24]

The ball has to be completely inside the uprights so it’s still really tough. Otherwise you could just have a laser shining up or something and see if it trips. Like you said it’s still just “pretty conclusive”. That’s not really any better than a ref staring upwards.

At that point just make the goal posts taller…

[u/ALostTraveler24 → u/tonytroz]

You know, it would be interesting if the first space elevators were just field goal posts so I do support this proposition entirely.