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Ask HN: Can AI make American football comprehensible to non-Americans?

2 points by amichail 2y ago

American football seems incomprehensible and hard to enjoy unless you have a deep knowledge of the sport. Maybe AI can help non-American viewers enjoy it?

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
Chihuahua0633 2y ago
Maybe.
maxwell 2y ago
Where's the confusion...?
grajaganDev 2y ago
AI can't do any worse that the current NFL announcers.
giardini 2y ago
What about cricket?
pinewurst 2y ago
It's not very comprehensible to non-fan Americans either. I've always thought of American football as chess between the coaches where the pieces don't necessarily obey orders.
dave4420 2y ago
You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. There are various other sports people in the rest of the world enjoy watching, without feeling that they’re missing out by not getting American football.
jfengel 2y ago
I feel the same way about non-American football. I find the sport dull because I don't know what's going on. It's hard to control the ball with just your feet, so it's constantly changing sides: to an untrained eye it looks as if they're just very good at it. I like the stop-and-go aspect of American football. Between plays, they can go over replays. You can watch 22 players each fulfilling their separate tasks. For that, you don't need AI; you just need to listen to the commentators. I think soccer fans like the continuous drama of a sport that does not stop. So, I think, do hockey fans, which has the same property. I think it's to hockey's advantage that there are only 6 players per side, so it's easier to track more of the action. I'm sure somebody could build an AI to do the job of the commentators. The data exists, though access to it without the express written consent of the NFL would be problematic. Still, once you've done it, it would be even better to be able to interrogate the virtual commentators: "Why didn't they try this play? Why was this player in that position? Can you show me another team attempting the same play more successfully?"

2 points by amichail 2y ago

American football seems incomprehensible and hard to enjoy unless you have a deep knowledge of the sport. Maybe AI can help non-American viewers enjoy it?

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

Chihuahua0633 2y ago

Maybe.

maxwell 2y ago

Where's the confusion...?

grajaganDev 2y ago

AI can't do any worse that the current NFL announcers.

giardini 2y ago

What about cricket?

pinewurst 2y ago

It's not very comprehensible to non-fan Americans either. I've always thought of American football as chess between the coaches where the pieces don't necessarily obey orders.

dave4420 2y ago

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. There are various other sports people in the rest of the world enjoy watching, without feeling that they’re missing out by not getting American football.

jfengel 2y ago

I feel the same way about non-American football. I find the sport dull because I don't know what's going on. It's hard to control the ball with just your feet, so it's constantly changing sides: to an untrained eye it looks as if they're just very good at it. I like the stop-and-go aspect of American football. Between plays, they can go over replays. You can watch 22 players each fulfilling their separate tasks. For that, you don't need AI; you just need to listen to the commentators. I think soccer fans like the continuous drama of a sport that does not stop. So, I think, do hockey fans, which has the same property. I think it's to hockey's advantage that there are only 6 players per side, so it's easier to track more of the action. I'm sure somebody could build an AI to do the job of the commentators. The data exists, though access to it without the express written consent of the NFL would be problematic. Still, once you've done it, it would be even better to be able to interrogate the virtual commentators: "Why didn't they try this play? Why was this player in that position? Can you show me another team attempting the same play more successfully?"