Football Zebras.com

The NFL is experimenting with a new clock operation system in the first preseason game in the new Meadowlands Stadium. During tonight’s Giants–Jets game (Jets are the designated home team), the new Precision Time System devices will be worn by four officials on their belts to start and stop the clock.

As reported by Sean Leahy of the USA Today, the vice president of officiating, Carl Johnson, said, “If we have the potential to time our games with more precision, then we will pursue all avenues, including experimenting with alternate methods to accomplish that goal.”

Walt Coleman will be tonight’s referee.

Update: During the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, the play clock became inoperative. From what we can tell, the 25-second clock is not operated by the PTS system.

We reported here a few weeks ago about the silly ban by the NFL on the press tweeting or textcasting a game from the press box. Fair enough, they can do whatever they want, since it is a condition of the press credentials the league issues. Ban or no ban, we see the Wall Street Journal had a staff member blog the Titans–Jets game from 3,000 miles away with “minute-by-minute analysis.” Writer Peter Sanders even makes it clear, in a thinly-veiled snub to the league policy:

I will not be enjoying this game from the raucous bleachers (or even the press box) at Giants Stadium or in a Nashville sports bar. Instead, through the magic of the Internet and the lightning-fast signals of CBS Corp., I will be able to track this game from the comfort of my couch in sunny Los Angeles.

That should not diminish, however, your reading experience.

That said, I’m sure that the Wall Street Journal isn’t the first, nor last, major media outlet to blog or text a game live. However, the author’s point of blogging from the left coast, in spite of the ban, shows the absurdity on trying to keep the facts of the game exclusive to the established media partners. Coincidentally, the blogger is also writing from the largest city without a league presence.