Home-field advantage is a huge factor in any sport, but in football the so-called "twelfth man" is especially menacing. You've seen the twelfth man in action: The crowd of 70,000, able to drown out a visiting team's play calls with its mighty roar.
In the next few years, though, this advantage may disappear �- along with delay-of-game penalties and even huddles -� as wireless communications systems create a whole new field of play.
The National Football League used wireless headsets for the first time during the 1998 season, and an even more sophisticated miniaturized communications system is being tested in the high-school and college ranks. Created by SportComm, a small California company, the microEar radio communications system was used during games last year in a Virginia high-school league. It has also been tested in college football and professional hockey practices, arena football, and track and field events. It's even been used by a dog-and-trainer team that works in the entertainment industry, said Jason Schwetz, the company's CEO.
MicroEar uses an FM transmitter and in-the-ear receivers to establish one-way communications at distances of up to four miles. The receivers can be programmed to any number of specific frequencies, giving coaches on both sidelines a variety of channels to use. The device fits firmly inside the ear, and SportComm not only claims that it's the smallest radio communications receiver in the world, but says it's much more advanced than the bulky receivers used by the NFL. SportComm licensed the technology from a Swiss hearing-aid manufacturer and has exclusive-use rights in the United States.
