[HN Gopher] Underdog no more, a deaf football team takes Califor...
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Underdog no more, a deaf football team takes California by storm
 
Author : danso
Score  : 148 points
Date   : 2021-11-15 15:08 UTC (7 hours ago)
 
web link (www.nytimes.com)
w3m dump (www.nytimes.com)
 
| gyc wrote:
| In high school, my school's basketball team went to play a
| basketball game at my state's high school for the deaf. A really
| interesting and unique experience.
 
| tzs wrote:
| The only potential problem I can see with a deaf team is that
| they would seem more likely to miss the referee stopping play.
| For example, a receiver for the non-deaf team fumbles a pass, a
| deaf player recovers and is running for the goal getting ready to
| try to plow through a couple opposing players who are in the way,
| and the ref blows their whistle to stop the play because the
| receiver did not have possession before fumbling so it was really
| just an incomplete pass.
| 
| If the deaf player does not know the play has stopped they might
| still try to plow through those other players who did hear the
| whistle and are no longer ready to take a hit.
| 
| The article says that the refs are asked to wave their arms
| around when stopping play in addition to the usual whistle blow,
| but that requires the player to be looking at the ref.
| 
| In a pro stadium or top level amateur league stadium, where the
| whole damn field is going to be encircled by animated advertising
| at field level, it would be possible to make something that
| detects when the ref stops play and flashes "STOP PLAY!" in some
| hard to miss color scheme. That should be noticeable by any
| player who is still standing (and players who are not standing
| aren't going to cause problems if they miss play stopping).
 
  | kerblang wrote:
  | To the best of my recollection American Football does not wrap
  | the playing field in animated ads like European Football/Soccer
  | does. I assume that's partly because everybody just hates the
  | idea for every possible reason...
  | 
  | Noise can be a problem in really large stadiums and college/pro
  | fans will sometimes successfully disrupt the opposing offense
  | by making it too loud for them to hear each other in the
  | huddle.
 
    | dragonwriter wrote:
    | > To the best of my recollection American Football does not
    | wrap the playing field in animated ads like European
    | Football/Soccer does. I assume that's partly because
    | everybody just hates the idea for every possible reason...
    | 
    | No, just that ground-level perimeter displays are too
    | pedestrian for American football.
    | 
    | https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29868399/sofi-stadium-
    | vi...
 
      | jaywalk wrote:
      | The video board at SoFi (or any other NFL stadium) is not
      | primarily used for ads. There are ribbon boards along each
      | seating level of the stadium that _are_ primarily used for
      | ads, which is much more similar to the European field-level
      | ads.
 
      | NobodyNada wrote:
      | At least at the football games I've been to, the
      | videoboards aren't primarily used for ads but to show score
      | information, close-up camera shots, instant replays,
      | gimmicks to hype up the crowd, etc. There's some
      | advertising but it's usually in the form of the announcer
      | saying "now let's watch the best plays of the year, brought
      | to you by some random insurance company!" Most of the ads
      | are old-fashioned paper billboards placed next to the
      | videoboards, and not in distracting places like on the
      | sidelines.
      | 
      | Televised football is totally different -- the ads are
      | absolutely _obnoxious_. But I guess if you actually buy a
      | ticket then they 're incentivized to actually give you a
      | good experience. Maybe NFL stadiums are worse than college
      | stadiums, or maybe my school is just unusually pleasant, I
      | don't know.
 
    | bathtub365 wrote:
    | Every few minutes they completely stop play to show televised
    | and in-stadium big screen ads instead.
 
      | dmonitor wrote:
      | It's absolutely unbearable. Completely ruins the experience
      | of going to a college football game when you have to stand
      | on uncomfortable bleachers for four hours and play is
      | stopped every 5 minutes for a 2 minute TV timeout.
 
    | Eelongate wrote:
    | Advertisers paying the TV companies don't want to compete
    | with advertisers paying the stadiums. So they compromise; the
    | ads in the stadiums are on the big screens, which the TV
    | cameras don't focus on.
    | 
    | Everybody in America gets pumped full of ads unless they
    | really go out of their way to avoid it. Here is how I do it:
    | No TV. No live sports, concerts, and I don't go to movie
    | theaters. I live in a town restricts billboards (though this
    | remains the chink in my anti-ad armor.) And of course the
    | usual ublock origin,etc setup on my computer. I know it's
    | working when people tell me about watching new movies I've
    | never heard of. (If something gets enough recommendations
    | from people I know, I might give it a try. The grapevine is a
    | great crap filter.)
 
  | Ajedi32 wrote:
  | Maybe they could point some bright colored lights at the field
  | and flash them when the play ends? That seems like a pretty
  | low-budget way of achieving the same thing.
 
  | chaoz_ wrote:
  | Good point, what about asking ref to press some button when the
  | foul is detected. Then, some small watch could vibrate and
  | notify a player. Sounds like a simple enough idea to implement.
 
    | Kalium wrote:
    | I am reminded of when the NHL tried to use a wirelessly
    | trackable puck. It worked until the tech involved wasn't up
    | to the rigors of being slapped around by professional hockey
    | players.
    | 
    | In the same vein, I have some doubts about the ability of a
    | watch to stand up to the forces at play on the field.
 
  | JackFr wrote:
  | I played football in college against Gallaudet University
  | (which is a school for the deaf.) They used a very large drum
  | (6 ft diameter) on the sideline for their snap count as well as
  | whistle plays dead.
  | 
  | But referees warned us that they were not going call late hits
  | on the other team unless they were egregious and that we should
  | keep aware on the field and protect ourselves accordingly.
 
| singlow wrote:
| Texas also has a very successful football team at the Texas
| School for the Deaf. They play in a 6-man league (the team in the
| article plays 8-man) but they are 8-1 this year and leading their
| district heading for the playoffs.
| 
| I attended one of their games this year, which happened to be the
| one they lost, against my nephew's team. The quietness of the
| game was what stood out to me the most. Of course our team was
| making noise and our fans were doing the usual cheering. The
| cheerleaders and fans even tried to "make a lot of noise" on
| third down, I guess out of habit, because it made no difference,
| except to get our defense excited I suppose. But the only noise
| from the other side was a big drum or canon that they used which
| I suppose the deaf players could feel the sound of to set some
| timings.
| 
| https://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/texas-school-for-the-d...
 
| sweetheart wrote:
| I started reading a new book today, "Beasts of Burden" by Sunaura
| Taylor, which talks about the parallels between the fight for
| rights for the disabled and the fight for animal rights. The
| first chapter or so serves as an introduction to what disabled
| rights means, and what it feels like to be disabled in an ableist
| world, and the author talks about a cliche in disabled culture
| which is "super crip", in which we are astonished and inspired by
| someone with a disability doing something that we deem impossible
| or difficult for a disabled person, like getting married, or
| climbing a mountain.
| 
| Serious question, because I'm genuinely curious and don't know,
| but is an article like this just the same tired cliche? I'm
| curious to hear from others where the line is drawn between being
| a positive and helpful representation of what life can be for
| someone who is disabled, and being condescending because we're
| surprised deaf folks can be good at football.
 
  | mwcampbell wrote:
  | What I find annoying, as a (partially) blind person, is when
  | people say I'm inspirational because I'm good at something
  | where my disability isn't even a factor. For example, one time
  | I did karaoke at a bar where I had never been before, and while
  | I was singing my first song, a guy was saying stuff like, "guy
  | is blind, that's awesome... this guy is inspirational". (I know
  | this because he posted a video on Facebook, which got back to
  | me via a friend.) So, I'm inspiring because I'm blind because I
  | can sing? How does that make sense? "Blind musician" is such a
  | stereotype, I figured the reaction would be more like, "he's
  | blind; of course he can sing."
 
    | mintplant wrote:
    | > So, I'm inspiring because I'm blind because I can sing? How
    | does that make sense?
    | 
    | Best I can think of is that--since this was karaoke--maybe
    | they were impressed that you didn't need to read the lyrics
    | off the screen? Assuming the bar didn't have an accessible
    | alternative to the teleprompter.
 
      | mwcampbell wrote:
      | Yeah, I guess that could be it. And no, I'm not aware of
      | any accessible option for karaoke lyrics. But as I like to
      | say, real performers have been memorizing their songs for
      | thousands of years.
 
  | zachrip wrote:
  | This really makes me think about myself. Misattribution is
  | probably the most annoying thing. I didn't get far in the
  | software industry in spite of my loss of vision or hearing (in
  | fact it was my vision declining that made me focus on computers
  | and to quit sports). On the other hand, I'm decent at
  | competitive shooters despite my disabilities. So sometimes it's
  | just like "why are we talking about my disability, it has
  | nothing to do with this." Sometimes we want to be celebrated
  | for just the "normal" amazing things, and especially things our
  | abled peers couldn't achieve (or maybe I just hold myself to
  | way too high of standard).
 
| tmnstr85 wrote:
| My youngest daughter has CP and global traumatic brain injury
| from bacterial meningitis at birth. Its a brutal as it sounds.
| She is 2.5 and knows about 60 signs. This article warmed my heart
| and brought tears to my eyes. Two thoughts: 1. Loneliness is
| real. Special needs children are often overlooked. Take the time
| to recognize them, let them know they are seen. 2. Someone should
| fund a jumbotron for this school.
 
  | LanceH wrote:
  | My kids are involved with wrestling and the sport is generally
  | all about getting more people involved in anyway possible.
  | There are rules for the deaf to allow a translator to walk
  | around the outside of the mat to sign. There are rules for the
  | blind that require contact be maintained throughout the match.
  | Amputees are not unheard of and sometimes present major
  | challenges since missing a leg might bring a seriously stronger
  | person down a couple weight classes.
  | 
  | Nothing really to say about this article other than I'm happy
  | they're able to get out there and play. I just wanted to point
  | out a sport that seems to be doing it right at the national
  | level, not just one instance.
 
  | fouc wrote:
  | Are they still using audiotoxic medicine that burns the cochlea
  | hairs to deal with bacterial meningitis?
  | 
  | i.e. is she deaf from medicine? or from the meningitis?
 
| temp8964 wrote:
| Their major advantage is that they can communicate through sign
| language. I am just curious through, how hard is it for other
| teams to develop a sign language to take advantage in this
| aspect, if they really focus on it? I mean basically this is just
| a trade off, i.e. relocating training time from other practice to
| the sign language.
 
  | notesinthefield wrote:
  | Many teams at all levels already do depending on how they
  | structure play and defensive calling. I was an offensive
  | lineman and linebacker through high school and college - our
  | line coach used hand signals for blocking schemes and the OC
  | had 2 different signals he used to indicate which plays should
  | be used from our wrist list. Linebackers communicated changes
  | to defensive backs and safeties with hand signals based on what
  | we saw lineman do or changes we head from the QB.
 
  | anonAndOn wrote:
  | Not hard at all. Baseball, from juniors to the majors, also
  | uses sign language.
 
    | Isthatablackgsd wrote:
    | > Not hard at all. Baseball, from juniors to the majors, also
    | uses sign language.
    | 
    | This need additional contexts. Deaf communities use Signed
    | Languages in baseball. Outside of Deaf communities, they are
    | not sign language. Language by definition requires grammar
    | structure, cultural information, foundation of linguistic,
    | etc.
    | 
    | They are using pidgin is the word you are looking for.
    | Baseball use pidgins, they don't use sign languages. It is an
    | important distinctive because one is actual language and
    | other are not.
 
      | anonAndOn wrote:
      | In the context of play calling, it matters not. Both are
      | terse, coded messages that may or may not resemble ASL.
 
      | supportlocal4h wrote:
      | The vast majority of USians I know do not speak proper
      | English. Nor do they follow the rules of English taught at
      | any of the US schools I attended. Many people fight against
      | this. Others embrace it. You might say that these people
      | speak pidgin. I say it is their native language.
 
        | Isthatablackgsd wrote:
        | > I know do not speak proper English. Nor do they follow
        | the rules of English taught at any of the US schools I
        | attended.
        | 
        | It is not because of people fighting against it. It just
        | that English is damn complicated and not easily to be an
        | expert on it. Written and Spoken English does not have
        | the same discourse style. There are times when I thought
        | I structured it correctly and turns out it not. I am
        | natural-born American and English is my first/second
        | language (ASL is my first). Even English native speakers
        | struggles with it than non-native English user.
 
  | peter422 wrote:
  | In professional (and hearing) football and baseball hand
  | signals are used as well. Security through obscurity mostly
  | works fine. The teams generally change the meaning of the
  | signals from game to game or even play to play, and it mostly
  | keeps the defense from knowing what the signals mean.
  | 
  | In this context _if_ the other team did happen to have somebody
  | who could interpret the signals quickly enough, it would be
  | pretty easy for the players to just have a few codes which
  | change the meaning of the signals. And of course you can just
  | agree what codes mean what in the huddle or the sideline where
  | the other team can't see.
 
    | hutzlibu wrote:
    | "it would be pretty easy for the players to just have a few
    | codes which change the meaning of the signals."
    | 
    | At some point, though, you might confuse your own team more,
    | than the other team, so I would keep it simple, especially if
    | we are talking about a sport, that involves banging heads
    | together.
 
  | dfxm12 wrote:
  | I don't know if the article makes this clear, but it if they
  | are just using ASL, the benefit there is that they've been
  | communicating via ASL their whole lives and understand it
  | "natively". It's also a language that was refined over time to
  | communicate things quickly and concisely.
  | 
  | Other teams do develop their own language, with both verbal and
  | hand signal components. However, I'm not sure high school
  | football coaches are necessarily adept at making new languages,
  | sure maybe it is good enough for what they're doing, but is it
  | as robust as ASL or English? Of course not. Then, the players
  | need to take time to learn it, if they ever even fully grasp
  | it. Then, the players will come and go, so once a senior, who
  | probably fully gets it leaves, the coach is left with a bunch
  | of new players they have to teach - for this reason, the
  | language is hard to refine. For all of these reasons, the team
  | using their native language has an edge in communication.
  | 
  | This is probably better at the pro level since a player on each
  | side has a direct line in their helmet from the coaches and the
  | players stick around long enough to master the new language.
  | 
  | Overall, though, I think this line in the article is
  | downplayed: The coach _attributes the turnaround to rigorous
  | conditioning and an especially talented cohort of players, some
  | of whom have played together for years at lower levels._ It 's
  | a great human interest story to talk about turning a perceived
  | disadvantage into an advantage, but it sounds like, deaf or
  | not, this particular group of players shows great teamwork and
  | a great work ethic.
 
    | supportlocal4h wrote:
    | Most football coaches have the option of using "robust"
    | English (or some other robust language). Nobody sees it as an
    | advantage.
 
      | dfxm12 wrote:
      | Yeah, it's not advantageous because if you're a QB on the
      | line and communicate to your WRs in English, the secondary
      | will understand it, too.
 
  | Isthatablackgsd wrote:
  | Deaf person here and attended that high school. I was surprised
  | to see my high school in the news.
  | 
  | The team can learn sign language if they prefers or they can
  | use pidgin. Pidgin is a simplified form of the communication to
  | convey it. Pidgin itself is not a language, it is more of
  | jargon in a sense. Pidgin is very common uses outside of Deaf
  | communities.
  | 
  | Baseball use call signs, and that is pidgin. Crane operators
  | have their hand signs, that is pidgin too! Same for military,
  | they use pidgin. Pidgin is easier to learn than sign language
  | as it can be simple handshape or call sign, similarly to emoji
  | in a way. Sign language requires efforts and you will be
  | surprised to find thousand muscles you never thought you used
  | before.
 
    | SideburnsOfDoom wrote:
    | > The team can learn sign language if they prefers or they
    | can use pidgin... it is more of jargon in a sense.
    | 
    | I assumed that it was like a Battle Language
    | https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Battle_Language
 
    | bin_bash wrote:
    | Is that technically pidgin? I thought pidgin was a simplified
    | version of language used expressly for communication between
    | speakers that don't understand each other. Is it still pidgin
    | if neither one understands full sign language?
 
      | wizzwizz4 wrote:
      | Technically, I think it is pidgin. They have no common
      | (sign) language, so they have come up with a scheme for
      | communication that isn't a language.
 
      | Isthatablackgsd wrote:
      | If the Deaf team are using sign language to communicate
      | with each other, then no it is not pidgin because American
      | Sign Language is a language. Pidgin is a lingua franca like
      | Gestuno (International Sign) and Esperanto.
      | 
      | EDIT: If you are talking about Deaf Team and Hearing Team
      | (people with hearing ability for those folk who are not
      | familiar with Deaf communities jargon) attempt to
      | communicate with each other without sign language, then yes
      | it can be a pidgin. If the Deaf Team itself communicating
      | with their teammates, then it is not a pidgin because they
      | switch to their native language to express.
 
  | JackFr wrote:
  | > Their major advantage is that they can communicate through
  | sign language.
  | 
  | I read the article and I played football against Gallaudet in
  | college, and I fail to see how that is an advantage at all. We
  | came the line of scrimmage and our quarterback announced the
  | play we were running and on the line we would verbally agree on
  | the pass blocking scheme. "I've got 64, you take 73 cause it
  | doesn't look like the linebacker is coming."
  | 
  | I suspect they're succeeding because they're well coached, very
  | fit and physically talented. And while their deafness is no
  | real liability I don't see it as an advantage.
 
| guerrilla wrote:
| Hmmf, my college roommate was on this team. I'm not surprised.
| They were pretty serious.
 
| apeace wrote:
| I am a hearing person. Me and some friends have made learning ASL
| one of our hobbies over the last couple years. I highly recommend
| it, it's very fun! It also opens a window into the deaf world
| that I find really fascinating.
| 
| There is a joke in the deaf world that hearing people are
| emotionally repressed. I don't think it's taken seriously, but
| it's because speaking ASL requires you to be so expressive with
| your face and body. For example, instead of raising the pitch of
| your voice to indicate you are asking a question, you raise or
| furrow your eyebrows (raised for a yes/no question, furrowed for
| an open-ended question). You also don't say things like "I REALLY
| like it", you just say "I like it" and show the REALLY part with
| your face and body. It's understandable how hearing people could
| look like a bunch of emotionless drones with that context!
| Learning to be visually expressive is one of the most fun parts
| about ASL.
| 
| As with the football team in the article, using ASL around
| hearing people can feel like a super-power. Imagine saying to
| your friend, "This place sucks, let's get out of here," while the
| bartender is right in front of you! Probably not the most polite
| thing, but useful. It's also great if you're somewhere crowded
| and/or loud. You can really zone out the noise and have a
| conversation.
| 
| Also, doing simple things like spelling people's names can be a
| fun party trick (for hearing people).
| 
| Anyway, I just wanted to emphasize that as a hearing person,
| there was so much more to learn about ASL and the deaf community
| than I thought there was. I can't recommend it enough.
 
  | zucked wrote:
  | My spouse (hearing) spent some time immersed in the Deaf
  | community and the learnings she got from just scratching the
  | surface was really eye opening. All of what you said is true -
  | there's no use for many of english adjectives because body
  | language tells it equally as effectively.
  | 
  | The Deaf community was way more nuanced and interesting than I
  | expected. ASL is a _really_ cool language and it 's fun and
  | relatively easy to learn.
 
  | DoneWithAllThat wrote:
  | What is a "hearing person"?
 
    | mosen wrote:
    | A person that can hear.
 
      | DoneWithAllThat wrote:
      | So then someone who isn't deaf? Why not just say that?
 
        | apeace wrote:
        | Yes, someone who isn't deaf. "Hearing" or "hearing
        | person" is the vernacular used in the deaf community. It
        | can be important to establish depending on the context.
        | In this case I wanted to make it clear that I was
        | learning ASL despite not being deaf.
 
        | michaelpb wrote:
        | Are you asking for writing tips? I'm not OP, but for one
        | "someone who isn't deaf" is 4 words and has a complex
        | structure while "hearing person" is 2 words and has a
        | simple structure, and thus is more effective writing.
        | 
        | It seems strange to me to suggest more complicated
        | structures to replace simpler ones! Is there another
        | reason to use the more complicated structure?
 
        | [deleted]
 
        | RavingGoat wrote:
        | Can you see or are you nonblind?
 
        | [deleted]
 
    | moffkalast wrote:
    | A red hearing.
 
| Overtonwindow wrote:
| Wow! I've heard of players in sport getting into the "zone" where
| they no longer hear anything around them, they're just charging
| down the field, 100% focused. When the coach said that "deaf
| players have heightened visual senses that make them more alert
| to movement," I thought of that. Because one sense is cut off,
| their focus is less distracted.
 
  | waltbosz wrote:
  | I read that at the start of COVID when sports teams were still
  | playing games in empty stadiums, there were no screaming
  | audiences, and the players reported better focus on the game.
  | 
  | I wonder if the deaf team has an advantage in that regard.
 
| steve76 wrote:
| It's wrong to emphasize high school sports. Leave kids alone
| please. The real role of it is to keep bullies under control and
| give them a chance at a college degree. The one factor in winning
| is age of roster. Fill the team up with 19 year olds like drop
| outs and truants. How can't they loose? They go on and get
| destroyed in college or the pros. The people there are the ones
| who have been passed over and have a chip on their shoulder. The
| higher you go, it's not about skill. It's about willingness to be
| ground up and grotesquely distorted.
 
| dnautics wrote:
| Amazing that the article doesn't contain some (IMO) important and
| interesting historical context: The football huddle was invented
| at Gallaudet, so that other teams couldn't read sign language
| pre-play discussions.
 
  | gowld wrote:
  | It's a feel-good human-interest story; not meant to be
  | accurate. It doesn't investigate any of the claims made as to
  | why the team is successful.
  | 
  | > Mr. Adams, who coached the team for two seasons starting in
  | 2005 and began his second stint four years ago, attributes the
  | turnaround to rigorous conditioning and an especially talented
  | cohort of players, some of whom have played together for years
  | at lower levels.
  | 
  | Seems the most likely explanation, since sign language isn't a
  | new innovation for deaf football players. The rest is just
  | "since the team is good, it is a hook to talk positively about
  | deafness.
 
    | frogpelt wrote:
    | I think you nailed it.
    | 
    | It's awesome that they have overcome what others perceive as
    | a disability. And in this case, they might have actually
    | turned it into an advantage. But make no mistake, the reason
    | they are beating people is because they are good at football,
    | not because they are deaf.
 
      | dnautics wrote:
      | well no? Line-of-sight communication with zippy sign
      | language is not distance dependent, or as dependent on
      | environmental audio considerations (jamming). Incidentally,
      | I have always wondered why naval ship-to-ship communication
      | isn't with a LOS tight beam laser -- unjammable and
      | uninterceptable. Conceivably, a football team could learn
      | to adapt by physically blocking line-of-sight between QB
      | and receiver but it's too niche. Same goes for reading sign
      | language.
      | 
      | If indeed they are winning because they have a
      | communication advantage (which is and always has been in
      | american football), true it is not _strictly_ because they
      | are deaf, because any other team could learn to use a
      | similar system, but let 's be real. It's because they are
      | deaf, fluency especially at a high speed takes near-zero
      | effort.
 
        | rackjack wrote:
        | This reminds me of how left-handed boxers generally have
        | an advantage over their opponents.
 
        | dmoy wrote:
        | The same is true in fencing.
        | 
        | Though it's mostly because fencing (or boxing) a lefty as
        | a righty is unusual enough that you have less practice
        | doing it. While the lefty pretty much _only_ fences (or
        | boxes) against righties. It boils down entirely to
        | comfort. Someone with a good lefty in their club /team
        | that they regularly practice against won't have much
        | difficulty with it.
        | 
        | What's _really_ funny, by the way, is watching two
        | lefties fence against each other when neither of them
        | have a second really good lefty to practice against. It
        | just looks... awkward.
        | 
        | Of course then you get to a high enough level and it's
        | 100% footwork, and the lefty/right bit mostly stops
        | mattering.
 
        | philsnow wrote:
        | Line of sight / laser is restricted by the curvature of
        | the earth but VHF can go (a bit?) farther.
 
        | wizzwizz4 wrote:
        | > _Incidentally, I have always wondered why naval ship-
        | to-ship communication isn 't with a LOS tight beam laser
        | -- unjammable and uninterceptable._
        | 
        | You have to aim it. Ships on water don't stay still, fog
        | and rain exist, etc..
 
        | dnautics wrote:
        | seriously? It's 2021. Maybe there's something I'm
        | missing, but it shouldn't be hard to track and aim a 30cm
        | object at 100 m with a laser that is moving +/- 5-10
        | meters at a speed of 5m/s
        | 
        | Fog though, yeah. I get that one.
 
        | WastingMyTime89 wrote:
        | There is something you are missing obviously. Naval
        | engineers are not dumb.
        | 
        | > it shouldn't be hard to track and aim a 30cm object at
        | 100 m with a laser that is moving +/- 5-10 meters at a
        | speed of 5m/s
        | 
        | Boats don't move only in one direction. They have side-
        | way vibrations along the three special axis and
        | constantly rotate along two. The 100m is extremely close
        | for two boats and I think you don't realise what a heavy
        | sea looks like (understandable if you have never been far
        | from shore). Navigating in nine meters high waves is not
        | exceptional for a military boat. You are constantly
        | losing line of sights with distant boats.
        | 
        | Keeping a laser on something fast is doable (that's part
        | of what an optical targeting system does) but staying
        | fixed on a small receiver gets tricky. I don't think the
        | win in bandwidth and latency justifies the hassle which
        | is why I don't believe ship-to-ship laser communication
        | will ever happen. Ship-to-space however, that wouldn't
        | surprise me.
 
        | wizzwizz4 wrote:
        | The higher the tech, the more that can go wrong.
 
        | dnautics wrote:
        | navy doesn't seem to care (see USS Ford)
 
        | adventured wrote:
        | The US Navy has a lot of active carriers and few
        | superpower-scale threats, so they're taking an
        | opportunity to experiment (USS Ford) and can afford to do
        | it (for now). It seems like the right thing to do while
        | they can. Ford is the largest warship ever constructed,
        | it's not very surprising they might have problems with a
        | new class.
 
        | mbreese wrote:
        | Not to mention the horizon limiting communication to
        | those ships that are close enough. Naval warfare doesn't
        | take place between ships that can see each other anymore,
        | so one needs to be able to communicate over the horizon
        | anyway, so why bother to have two systems?
 
        | hutzlibu wrote:
        | " Incidentally, I have always wondered why naval ship-to-
        | ship communication isn't with a LOS tight beam laser --
        | unjammable and uninterceptable."
        | 
        | Because they do not work when there is mist, which is
        | quite often the case at sea and also I can imagine, it is
        | a nontrivial issue of aligning them, when both ends are
        | constantly moving, due to waves and cruising direction.
        | 
        | Also it might give the position away, if you power up the
        | beam to counter humidity.
        | 
        | In some cases, it might be beneficial, though.
 
    | dymk wrote:
    | TFA discusses how being deaf might have helped the players
    | strategically in conjunction with good conditioning and
    | coaching.
 
  | danso wrote:
  | Ironically, the California team is described as not needing to
  | huddle -- which makes sense since their opponents presumably
  | don't know ASL
  | 
  | > _Many teams try to use hand signals to call in plays, but
  | they are no match for the Cubs, who communicate with a flurry
  | of hand movements between each play. No time is wasted by
  | players running to the sidelines to get an earful from the
  | coaching staff. No huddle is needed._
 
    | jaywalk wrote:
    | I highly doubt the plays are called using ASL. They've
    | probably come up with their own sign language for that.
 
      | eightysixfour wrote:
      | Much like football plays for the hearing, they're probably
      | using numbers, metaphors, and "random" words to describe
      | the plays. No need to come up with their own sign language.
 
| danso wrote:
| Non-paywall link:
| https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/15/us/riverside-california-d...
 
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