On the other hand, the game of rugby (or more correctly rugby-football) has become totally metricated. The five and ten yard lines became the five and ten metre lines while the 25 yard line became the 22 metre line. The main rugby-playing nations are (in no particular order) Britain (usually playing as three separate countries - England, Scotland and Wales), Ireland (North and South in a combined team), France, Italy, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Argentina
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Paul Trusten Sent: 29 September 2008 15:57 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:41769] Re: Metric American Football >From a public perception standpoint, I shall never suggest that U.S. football be metricated. Not only do Dr. Sherman's practical considerations make it unworkable, but I don't think football fans would stand for it for a moment. How the jokes would really fly then! The point is well taken, though, that in a metric America of, say, 2075, would the referees, born into metric units only, take out their measuring cable and say, "Fourth down and 20 mm to go," when the field is still measured in yards? Modern metrication is a technical change in the society, usually involving commerce. Even Australia scrupulously avoided measurement issues that were wholly cultural. There were no "metric langage police" in the streets looking to cite someone who was talking in yards instead of meters. Where U.S. football field measurement touches upon commerce should be left up to the owners, fans, and players of the game. If I ever became a member of the U.S. Metric Board, I would probably have a small subcommittee dealing with this very issue, because it is such a sensitive one. As U.S. society becomes wholly metric, the culture will follow. It will just take time. Remember that it took 200 yearto stop quoting U.S. stock prices in pieces of eight. Maybe the U.S. football field in the year 2200, when nobody cares about yards, will be changed to 100 m. Maybe it will go in like the designated hitter rule in the American (baseball) League (but this one will be in both football leagues, please!) Just MHO. Paul T. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kimbrough Sherman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Sent: 29 September, 2008 09:22 Subject: [USMA:41768] Re: Metric American Football > Forget metric American football! I cannot foresee problems converting any > sport other than football to SI, as Soccer (International Football) has > always had difficult metric measures for dimensions created in yards. But > American football has two almost impossible barriers to conversion. > 1. If we could convert all specifications from yards to meters, it > would be hard to compare past performances with 10 yards for a first down > to 10 meters or to use 9 meter measures as the qualification for a first > down. > 2. If "ten yards" became 10 meters, no stadium in the NFL, and probably > few stadia in the college ranks could accommodate a 120 meter by 50 meter > field. Maintaining yards as a football measure may have to stay for ever, > and to my mind, it wouldn't matter. I wouldn't care if horse racing kept > their furlongs, as long as the total race length is stated in meters. > Moving "quarter mile" posts to 400 meters would be no harder than the > conversion of running tracks thirty years ago. > > Nonetheless, I think that the use of "millimeter" as a term of very short > distance is no small event. If this time it doesn't move into the U.S. > public consciousness, the next use will. > > A. Kimbrough Sherman > Associate Professor > Dept. of Information Systems > and Operations Management > Loyola College in Maryland > 4501 N. Charles Street > Baltimore 21210 > 410.617.2460 Fax.2118 > > >>>> "Ziser, Jesse" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 9/27/2008 10:21 PM >>> > This does not surprise me. > > I think people who grew up in the United States and were taught metric > alongside WOMBATs sometimes > kind of mentally mix the two into one set of units. They see metric units > as filling in the > gaps. "centimeter" is sometimes (uncommonly) used in conversation to mean > "about a half-inch", > and millimeters are (more commonly) used for smaller lengths just because > the US "system" doesn't > provide a small enough unit. Speaking in "32nds of an inch" or some such > verbose nonsense just > isn't worth consuming the extra joules. > > I've said it before: I really do believe most Americans know more metric > than they think they do. > > --- James Frysinger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> With a bit over 2 min left in the third quarter and just after a >> reviewed call on a possible safety, the ball was placed "one millimeter >> from the goal line", according to the lead announcer on the ESPN >> broadcast. >> >> Ironically, a penalty backed the ball back up into the end zone >> resulting in a call of a safety against Indiana and in favor of Michigan >> State. >> >> That's my first observation of metric units being used in American >> football. Yep, she said "one millimeter". >> >> Jim >> >> -- >> James R. Frysinger >> 632 Stony Point Mountain Road >> Doyle, TN 38559-3030 >> >> (H) 931.657.3107 >> (C) 931.212.0267 >> >> > > > > > > > >
