VamosRafa
Hall of Fame
I know this isn't about Federer, but it does affect Federer (and would have affected him a lot in the Miami final this year), so hopefully it will be welcome here. ;-)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5205-1829189,00.html
An electronic line judge? You cannot be serious!
By Neil Harman
Match officials could be a thing of the past as Hawk-Eye zones in
“I’M NOT paranoid,” John McEnroe raged, the first time he was stopped in his tracks by the Cyclops service line beep, “but that machine knows who I am.”
Thus the bête noire of tennis officialdom greeted the technological advance that, one imagined, would bring to an end the confrontations that spawned some of the great verbal indelicacies of sporting legend. But tennis moved inexorably on, McEnroe’s wooden-racket era died, titanium took over, the players became fitter and in the age of the 153mph serve, the blinking of an eye became the curse of the line judge.
The first time an electronic device was used on Wimbledon’s Centre Court to assist the net-cord judge was 1983 (the net-cord judge is now extinct). Two years later, the foot-fault judge disappeared and in 1991 a “speed of service” radar gun became a part of the sport’s must-have accessories. Seven years on and umpires used hand-held scoring devices rather than the old sheet of paper and sharpened pencil.
How long, one wonders, before the chair umpire is the only official left? Confirmation has emerged that the latest in a series of stringent tests of Hawk-Eye, the electronic line-calling system that uses five strategically placed cameras around a court to zone into the middle of the ball, has proved that the equipment works.
The rush is on to become the first tournament to instal the equipment and have it certified to replace the certifiable — those who like to spend free time sitting in the baking sun watching balls bounce back and forth while at the mercy of professional tennis players who always believe that they see the lines better anyway. The Masters Series in Indian Wells, in the California desert in March, is tipped as the place where Hawk-Eye, the brainchild of Dr Paul Hawkins, a Briton, will make its debut.
In July, with the US Open revving up to instal the system, Hawk-Eye did not meet with full approval, though of the 90 balls it was asked to call, it made only three errors and they were at 7.30pm without the aid of floodlights. Hawkins and his team remained in New York and, last week, after two days of testing, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) approved Hawk-Eye for tournament use in reviewing decisions made by on-court officials. That is step one.
During the Open, line calls were logged and monitored for accuracy and, according to Hawkins’s statistics, 65 per cent were called correctly while, on average, mistakes were made when the ball was around four centimetres out. “Line judges can lose concentration,” he said, “and it is as easy to make a mistake by ten centimetres as it is by four.”
Hawk-Eye’s margin of error is in the three-millimetre range. “Even if it is off by one tenth of 100 per cent, it’s impartial,” Cliff Drysdale, a former US Open finalist and commentator on ESPN, the television sports network, said. “Tennis needs this for a variety of reasons, for the viewing public, the live audience and, most importantly, because we don’t need more repetitions of players getting hooked out of matches by bad calls.”
Those views were endorsed by Arlen Kantarian, the chief executive of professional tennis at the USTA. “Our goal is to move fairly aggressively to a system that will first and foremost improve the accuracy of line calls and also add intrigue for the fans and players,” he said.
The introduction of Hawk-Eye can open a Pandora’s Box. There are those who believe that once it is taken up by the three grand-slam tournaments — the French Open does not need it because the ball leaves a discernable mark on the clay — the desire for the construction of Centre Court screens on which to watch replays may become overwhelming at both the Australian Open and, dare one say it, Wimbledon.
“I am sure that different events will have different feelings on this,” Hawkins said. “But we are very excited about what Hawk-Eye can do for the future of tennis and proud to accept the responsibility of taking the sport forward and whatever the expense — the cost is around £25,000 per court per week — we believe it will be more than covered by TV revenues and the sponsorship interest it will generate.”
BLINK AND YOU MIGHT MISS IT
Hawk-Eye is the brainchild of Paul Hawkins, 31, the company’s managing director. “I was playing serious cricket at the time (for Buckinghamshire) and the idea came about after a bad lbw decision.” he said.
A graduate from Durham University with a PhD in artificial intelligence, the concept was developed by Roke Manor Research, of Romsey, Hampshire, Hawkins’s employers at the time the idea was conceived in 1999. It was funded by the Television Corporation, now Hawk-Eye’s owners. “It’s unusual for television companies to invest in technology,” Hawkins said. “Usually they buy once developed.”
A keen rower, cricketer, and table tennis player, Hawkins launched Hawk-Eye for the 2001 Test summer.
Based at the Rose Bowl in Southampton, the company employs 11 full-time staff and 20 other “skilled freelancers”.
The process of developing Hawk-Eye for tennis meant that Hawkins’s personal viewing of the Ashes series was restricted. “I managed a couple of hours on the Saturday of the Lord’s Test and that was it,” he said. Three members of his staff were present on each day.
Hawkins can summon little enthusiasm for the introduction of Hawk-Eye to football. “Line calls probably constitute little more than one per cent of all controversial decisions in football,” he said.
MARK BRISTOW
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5205-1829189,00.html
An electronic line judge? You cannot be serious!
By Neil Harman
Match officials could be a thing of the past as Hawk-Eye zones in
“I’M NOT paranoid,” John McEnroe raged, the first time he was stopped in his tracks by the Cyclops service line beep, “but that machine knows who I am.”
Thus the bête noire of tennis officialdom greeted the technological advance that, one imagined, would bring to an end the confrontations that spawned some of the great verbal indelicacies of sporting legend. But tennis moved inexorably on, McEnroe’s wooden-racket era died, titanium took over, the players became fitter and in the age of the 153mph serve, the blinking of an eye became the curse of the line judge.
The first time an electronic device was used on Wimbledon’s Centre Court to assist the net-cord judge was 1983 (the net-cord judge is now extinct). Two years later, the foot-fault judge disappeared and in 1991 a “speed of service” radar gun became a part of the sport’s must-have accessories. Seven years on and umpires used hand-held scoring devices rather than the old sheet of paper and sharpened pencil.
How long, one wonders, before the chair umpire is the only official left? Confirmation has emerged that the latest in a series of stringent tests of Hawk-Eye, the electronic line-calling system that uses five strategically placed cameras around a court to zone into the middle of the ball, has proved that the equipment works.
The rush is on to become the first tournament to instal the equipment and have it certified to replace the certifiable — those who like to spend free time sitting in the baking sun watching balls bounce back and forth while at the mercy of professional tennis players who always believe that they see the lines better anyway. The Masters Series in Indian Wells, in the California desert in March, is tipped as the place where Hawk-Eye, the brainchild of Dr Paul Hawkins, a Briton, will make its debut.
In July, with the US Open revving up to instal the system, Hawk-Eye did not meet with full approval, though of the 90 balls it was asked to call, it made only three errors and they were at 7.30pm without the aid of floodlights. Hawkins and his team remained in New York and, last week, after two days of testing, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) approved Hawk-Eye for tournament use in reviewing decisions made by on-court officials. That is step one.
During the Open, line calls were logged and monitored for accuracy and, according to Hawkins’s statistics, 65 per cent were called correctly while, on average, mistakes were made when the ball was around four centimetres out. “Line judges can lose concentration,” he said, “and it is as easy to make a mistake by ten centimetres as it is by four.”
Hawk-Eye’s margin of error is in the three-millimetre range. “Even if it is off by one tenth of 100 per cent, it’s impartial,” Cliff Drysdale, a former US Open finalist and commentator on ESPN, the television sports network, said. “Tennis needs this for a variety of reasons, for the viewing public, the live audience and, most importantly, because we don’t need more repetitions of players getting hooked out of matches by bad calls.”
Those views were endorsed by Arlen Kantarian, the chief executive of professional tennis at the USTA. “Our goal is to move fairly aggressively to a system that will first and foremost improve the accuracy of line calls and also add intrigue for the fans and players,” he said.
The introduction of Hawk-Eye can open a Pandora’s Box. There are those who believe that once it is taken up by the three grand-slam tournaments — the French Open does not need it because the ball leaves a discernable mark on the clay — the desire for the construction of Centre Court screens on which to watch replays may become overwhelming at both the Australian Open and, dare one say it, Wimbledon.
“I am sure that different events will have different feelings on this,” Hawkins said. “But we are very excited about what Hawk-Eye can do for the future of tennis and proud to accept the responsibility of taking the sport forward and whatever the expense — the cost is around £25,000 per court per week — we believe it will be more than covered by TV revenues and the sponsorship interest it will generate.”
BLINK AND YOU MIGHT MISS IT
Hawk-Eye is the brainchild of Paul Hawkins, 31, the company’s managing director. “I was playing serious cricket at the time (for Buckinghamshire) and the idea came about after a bad lbw decision.” he said.
A graduate from Durham University with a PhD in artificial intelligence, the concept was developed by Roke Manor Research, of Romsey, Hampshire, Hawkins’s employers at the time the idea was conceived in 1999. It was funded by the Television Corporation, now Hawk-Eye’s owners. “It’s unusual for television companies to invest in technology,” Hawkins said. “Usually they buy once developed.”
A keen rower, cricketer, and table tennis player, Hawkins launched Hawk-Eye for the 2001 Test summer.
Based at the Rose Bowl in Southampton, the company employs 11 full-time staff and 20 other “skilled freelancers”.
The process of developing Hawk-Eye for tennis meant that Hawkins’s personal viewing of the Ashes series was restricted. “I managed a couple of hours on the Saturday of the Lord’s Test and that was it,” he said. Three members of his staff were present on each day.
Hawkins can summon little enthusiasm for the introduction of Hawk-Eye to football. “Line calls probably constitute little more than one per cent of all controversial decisions in football,” he said.
MARK BRISTOW
