That early diagram represents a very dangerous field that is no longer used (although it is similar to the in=bounds area of Canadian football, but Canadian football has 20 yd endzones and buffer areas on the side.
American football is 360' x 160' counting the 30' end zones. In addition a 12' safety buffer is required all around, just out of bounds, and strategy frequently involves running out of bounds to stop play and the clock. Even Canadian dimensions (extra ten yards of play and deeper end zones) don't fit in most American stadiums. Metrication would probably have to reduce the 100 yd grid to a 90 m grid, use a 9 m chain for first downs, and some other changes. Canada has been metric about as long as Australia (although admittedly, we are a bad influence on them) and they haven't bothered to metricate their version of football/gridiron. Obviously, it is up to Australia whether they wish to modify their version, but I feel the proper approach is to metricate the game, if desired, not misreporting the units used by the game. ________________________________ From: Pat Naughtin <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Mon, November 15, 2010 4:41:50 PM Subject: [USMA:48865] Re: Yards Come to Australia Dear John, I have interspersed some thoughts. On 2010/11/15, at 23:55 , John M. Steele wrote: Is it really worth the energy to be "appalled?" The word is used for effect to someone who just doesn't know or care -- the journalist. The casual use of the line, "With the metric system given the boot for the afternoon …" which sets an unfortunate precedent for others to, similarly, "give the metric system the boot". It's a cultural thing to lead communities back to the days of old pre-metric measuring words. Remember that the UK almost completed their metrication upgrade before 1980 when an election required the Thatcher government to "save the pint and the pound for Britain". With these two old pre-metric measuring words the Thatcher government changed the culture from generally favouring the metric system to one of active opposition to it. The UK is still suffering, and will continue to suffer from this (ignorant and innocent) act of treachery for many years to come. My view -- every sport has a document defining the "rules of the game," by some title, and an association which maintains those rules. The rules are the rules until the association changes them. For anyone who cares enough to watch the game, the field is plainly marked in yards. Translating game statistics of an Imperial/Customary game to metres is as silly as US publications converting metric track and field events to feet and inches. I have no issue with a parenthetical conversion, but the primary reporting should use the official units of the game. Supplemental units should be used as deemed necessary based on the readers. Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gridiron_football#Origin_of_the_gridiron where you will see the original dimensions for Gridiron football. It doesn't require much imagination to notice that: 330 feet is very close to 100 metres, and 160 feet is very close to 50 metres I wonder if the planners of 1911 were already considering that they would be changing to metric at some time in the future. By the way, if the field size remained much the same except that its description was changed to rounded metres (such as the cross bar shall be 3 metres high) then each play could go: "The whole nine metres" When the game is officially converted, the reporting should be as well. A good example is your horse race (Australia Cup?). It has been converted to 3200 m and should be described as such (or 3.2 km). A parenthetical (about 2 miles) is fine, but it should not be converted in primary reporting. If yards are that unacceptable in polite Australian society, the pressure should be on the association to change the rules of Australian Gridiron, not on the reporter to depart from official units and records. It is the "Melbourne Cup" and it has been raced over 3200 metres since 1974. A parenthetical (about 2 miles) would only be appropriate if it is your overall policy to retain the culture for your whole society with the old pre-metric culture appropriate to the early 1600s. I suspect that this 1600s policy is used by the AP Style book (albeit ignorantly and innocently). I also think that this is also the policy of the BBC in London when they reported the Melbourne Cup as a two-mile race (without any reference to the true length of 3200 metres). Cheers, Pat Naughtin Geelong, Australia From: Pat Naughtin <[email protected]> >To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> >Sent: Sun, November 14, 2010 10:27:29 PM >Subject: [USMA:48863] Re: Yards Come to Australia > > > >On 2010/11/15, at 12:20 , John M. Steele wrote: > >I was surprised by this article. Apparently there is a league there which >plays >American rule football, which is called Gridiron, there. >>(there is also a Google article) >> >>http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/sport/other/firebirds-storm-home-for-5th-title/1996688.aspx >> >>"With the metric system given the boot for the afternoon, Milne put in a >>dominant display which saw him named most valuable player rushing 133 yards >>from >>14 carries and also having four receipts for another 24 yards." > > > >Dear John, > > >I imagine, without seeing it, that the field of play would have been marked >out >as shown in either of the diagrams >at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gridiron_football and as you can see these are >both marked out in yards. > > >Canberra is the Australian Capital Territory and, as such, it has all the >foreign embassies including the USA Embassy and the Canadian Embassy. I >suspect >that the supporters at the ground might have included a lot of homesick North >Americans. Sadly, one of the symptoms of their homesickness appears to be a >longing for old pre-metric measuring words! > > >However, that said, newspapers here generally put translations of foreign >words >like 'yards' into parentheses. Accordingly, I have written to the Editor of >the >Canberra Times as follows: > > >## >Dear Editor, >I have just read the article, Firebirds storm home for 5th title by DAVID >POLKINGHORNE, >athttp://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/sport/other/firebirds-storm-home-for-5th-title/1996688.aspx and > >I am appalled that you did not translate the gridiron distances into metres >for >Australian readers. Australia is not a state or a colony of the USA or Canada >and foreign terms like yards should be translated into modern metric system >units. >Regards, >Pat Naughtin >Geelong, Australia >## Pat Naughtin Author of the ebook, Metrication Leaders Guide, see http://metricationmatters.com/MetricationLeadersGuideInfo.html Hear Pat speak at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lshRAPvPZY PO Box 305 Belmont 3216, Geelong, Australia Phone: 61 3 5241 2008 Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA. Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST, and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com/ to subscribe.
