“Everyone’s watching it. Young ‘uns, old ones, not-so-old ones. Are you?”
It’s a shameless rip-off on Glee’s TVC spot. But it’s true, ain’t it?
Everyone’s watching the World Cup 2010 now; even though it’s shown during ungodly hours (2.30am, and bleary eyes anyone?).
We understand why...
After all, football (or “soccer” as the Yanks call it) grips us: a sigh of relief as defenders tackle the ball away from their goalmouth; midfielders lob balls into the opposing half where attackers latch onto it, run and volley into GOOOOAALLLLL!!!!
Now that’s football action for you.
And like other sports, technology has changed the beautiful game.
The balls fly faster, straighter (or in some cases, curve more), boots that supposedly grip the pitch better, lasers to determine if there’s a goal, and, for those who can’t make it to South Africa, watching the entire action in 3D.
Faster Balls
adidas introduced the Jabalani for this World Cup.
It’s the most highly engineered football the world had ever seen. In fact, adidas has tested the ball in the Bundesliga to highlight any potential problems. However, players (especially goalkeepers) are complaining about it (just ask Rob Green of England).
Engineeringsport.co.uk offers a reason:
The aim of the engineers is to improve on what has been done before, whilst the players have to adapt to these new ’improvements’ in time for the tournament.
Just look at how they’ve engineered the ball!
More on the Jabulani at: Engineering Sport | UCreateChange
GOALLLL!!! (Or not?)
In most cases, if it’s a goal. It’s very obviously a goal.
But there are instances when it’s not so – a defender might have just barely cleared the football from goal line.
To clear any ambiguity, football leagues are starting to adopt several technologies such as the Hawkeye which uses “three cameras focused on each goal-line and each takes footage at 600 frames a second. Hawkeye is able to give a definitive decision on whether the ball has fully crossed the line, and relay this information in the form of an audible beep to the central referee within half a second.”
Or the more precise "smartball" that’s loaded with a computer chip, “This technology uses a network of receivers around the field designed to track the ball's precise position in real time - including exactly when it has fully passed the goal line.”
More on Goal line Technology at: Top End Sports
Can’t be there? Watch it in 3D
Singapore’s a bit behind times, having only rolled out 3D-TV trials in 15 Jun 2010. For a lucky few (elsewhere in the world), they’ll be watching football in 3D and high definition courtesy of Sony which will be filming 25 games on live 3D. They’ll be screening live in seven cities around the world and quite possibly packaging it into a film.
What can we do about it?
Wait. And see.
More on live action 3D at: Digital Journal
The Magic’s in the Shoes
In the past, soccer boots were made of leather with wood cleats and shoe leather.
Nowadays, they’re likely to be crafted from “leather or plastic, plastic or rubber cleats and may be plastic, rubber, aluminium and even rubber or plastic and with the end fabricated aluminum.”
Whew! That’s a lot of materials in a simple soccer boot.
But the jury’s still out on whether these new soccer boots give more protection or just make their feet look good.
More on soccer boots at: jjvblog.com
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