Entry 12

This post comes purely from a weekend of reflection on high school, college, and profession football. Although my intention for the weekend was focused purely on meditation and relaxation, I could not separate my experience from what I have been learning in Communication Technology and Society.

It all started with a coach's challenge. The announcer commented on the dialogue the coach was having with his team up in "the booth". The fate of the play, and possibly the game, rested on those 30 seconds of communication. As I reviewed this in my head, I realized how many technologies played into that single situation: video recording and playback, two way audio transmition, visual time-keeping, and others. To get to the main point, I think there is a huge standard of communication in college and pro football that goes completely unnoticed to most spectators.

Calling plays is the single most important element of the coach-player relationship. As I watched different games, I realized how this took place differently at different levels. A high school team generally runs plays in as it substitutes players. A college team, depending on the level, will relay calls by signals or audio. A professional team relies solely on audio calls with an arm sleeve to interpret. It was really interesting to see how this played out through the course of the game.

In high school, there was chaos if the coach needed to call a play quickly. This chaos toned down throughout more advanced levels, but speed was a constant of this element of communication technology.

I think Ellul's theory of image and word has some interesting implications. Within this environment, the two are completely synonymous. The piece of paper held up to call a play means the exact same thing as the play call itself. The play call relates entirely to a reality and not so much to truth. As the two blend, it is incredible to consider if this applies to other areas of life.

In addition to Ellul's theory, the Umbrella Perspective can be applied. Comparing the audio forms used in professional and college levels to the high school word-of-mouth form is ridiculous. Any player would say that having the coach call a play in your ear is the best way to get it. Any coach would say that the ability to call a play at any time is invaluable.

Also, one of the 3 Immutable Laws is kind of negated in this. These comtechs and pace are inversely related. This slows things down and allows the coach to set a slower pace that is not so chaotic.