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Field Goal Precision Scoring

More than possible with today's technology...
 
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I always found it unfair that a field goal kick that rebounds off the goal post gets the same amount of points as one that flies straight and true through the center.

What I propose is a new scoring system that uses modern precision measuring technology (lasers, cameras, etc...) to measure how close to center a goal kick is, and score accordingly, more points awarded for kicks closer to center, less for kicks closer to the posts.

21 Quest, Oct 20 2007

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       I disagree. Funny, I was thinking about this very thing not ten minutes ago. I must remember to have my shields calibrated at my next service interval.
  

       I think it should be a higher score if you bounce it off the uprights in any manner and it still goes in.
normzone, Oct 20 2007
  

       what about 20 yard FG's opposed to 50 yard FG's?
rascalraidex, Oct 20 2007
  

       Perhaps an additional set of uprights nearer the middle, which you must pass through or hit to be a 'real good shot' and get more points.
vincevincevince, Oct 20 2007
  

       Could have different standards for different distances.
21 Quest, Oct 21 2007
  

       Have you ever tried to kick a field goal? If you had, perhaps your point of view would change.
  

       "How hard could it be?" you ask.
  

       Consider trying to tee off your golf game while surrounded by people who want to knock you over. You have to put your golf ball on the ground and smack it down the fairway, straight and true for a considerable distance before your opponent can block it or hit you.
  

       Or if you don't golf, how about serving in tennis with a bunch of people shouting and waving, running after you with mayhem on their minds? You have less than 1.5 seconds to actually get the ball on its way to the target.
  

       That's why the centre's snap and the holder's placement of the ball are so important. As a kicker, I am starting my approach before the ball has even left the hands of the centre. The holder must now catch the ball, stand it on its end on the kicking tee, and rotate the ball so the laces are not facing my foot as I stride into and through the ball, launching it on its trajectory towards the goalposts.
  

       It is a testament to practice and teamwork that field goal kicking has become seemingly so routine in football, but don't kid yourself, there's not much routine about it. I think the current rules and scoring system adequately rewards success.
Canuck, Oct 21 2007
  

       //Perhaps an additional set of uprights nearer the middle, which you must pass through or hit to be a 'real good shot' and get more points.//
  

       That's what's done in Australian Rules.
pertinax, Oct 21 2007
  

       Canuck, I'm fully aware of the difficulty involved. I'm also aware of how much NFL players are paid. Cry me a river, it's time we make it a little more difficult for them to get their millions.
21 Quest, Oct 21 2007
  

       I'll see your mini-rant and raise you one rant.
  

       Why do Americans harbour such a desire to alter the rules of a game whenever the athletes' skills make it appear that the game has become easy to play? In football, you are looking to make field goals more difficult. The American braintrust in charge of ruining the NHL are seriously considering larger goal nets. MLB altered their ball a few years back to make it carry farther. The NBA? Well, they stopped calling "travelling" decades ago. Fortunately, Soccer has such world-wide appeal that the US has little chance of altering any of those rules.
  

       As for athletes being overpaid? Certainly. No argument there. I'd rather see teachers, medical personnel, police and firefighters as the top-paid people in society, but that isn't about to happen.
Canuck, Oct 21 2007
  

       //Why do Americans harbour such a desire to alter the rules of a game whenever the athletes' skills make it appear that the game has become easy to play?//
  

       For one thing, this is an American sport, so we have a proprietary right to do with it whatever we wish. Same with basketball, and, I believe, baseball. It's not like I'm trying to change golf, rugby, or cricket. For another, I wasn't saying field goals are easy, but as hard as it is, a lot of kickers manage to get it center. However, you do have a point, I'm willing to concede that. I try not to get so defensive, sorry if I offended.
  

       How about a compromise, where off-center kicks still get the same points the currently do, but extra points are awarded for kicks within a certain distance from center?
21 Quest, Oct 21 2007
  

       I'm not offended by you. What I generally take offense with is sport being bastardized for the sake of "improvement".
  

       Feel free to "improve" NFL football all you like. It has become so much of a business there's not much sport left in it anyway.
  

       Just keep your "improvements" far, far away from the best form of the sport, Canadian Football.
Canuck, Oct 22 2007
  

       Don't know enough about Canadian Football to even think about messin' with it. Honestly, I don't even like American Football that much, and rarely watch it. This idea was originally thought up as a joke, due to how obsessive a lot of folks get about the smallest details in the game, and how they insist on zooming in as close as they can with a million cameras from a billion angles to resolve the smallest, most trivial issues. This idea in particular was spawned by a commercial for Energizer (or maybe it was Duracell) batteries saying "the biggest decisions are made by the smallest details" or something to that effect, and showing a camera zooming in on a close play for the replay.
21 Quest, Oct 22 2007
  

       I agree with Canuck on this one. One thing he didn't mention is the pressure already placed on the kicker. It's the last play of the game, the offense has been miserable for 59:45 but the defense has managed to keep the score within 2. So the kicker gets the call with the ball on the 37 yard line with a gusty wind from the corner and a driving rain. Ah damn, he misses, what an asshole, jerk, loser, fire the guy.
  

       If we want to make an "improvement" to American football, let's drop the kicking game altogether.
Noexit, Oct 22 2007
  

       What would we call it then? Handball? Oh, right, that name's taken, isn't it? The name of the game is Football. Therefore, more emphasis should be placed on the players' kicking skill.
21 Quest, Oct 22 2007
  

       Since so many people seem to also be caught up in the most trivial of sports statistics they should add asterisks to explain record performances. For an explanation, one would have to consult their local asterisk expert as to why Billy-Joe Jim-Bob's field goal record from 2008 has seven asterisks after it. (Turns out Billy-Joe kicked the dang thing 47 yards into a 16 mph breeze which came out of the northwest on his team's ninth appearance on Monday Night football after daylight savings time had ended, and it hit the crossbar before it fell through. The guy holding the ball was left-handed and has a sister named Linda)
Canuck, Oct 22 2007
  

       //Therefore, more emphasis should be placed on the players' kicking skill.//
  

       But then you'd be playing soccer, an entirely different game altogether.
  

       ;)
Noexit, Oct 24 2007
  

       "this is an American sport, so we have a proprietary right to do with it whatever we wish"
  

       Well, yeah, except that it's already a diluted and bastardised version of rugby for people who like to wear preposterous armour while playing contact ball sports.
Murdoch, Oct 25 2007
  
      
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