Sports
NFL Replaces Chain Gang With Hawk-Eye Tech—But Not Completely
In case Alexa, Siri, or Rosie Jetson didn’t tell you, the NFL is officially junking the chain gang as its primary first-down measurement system. Those noble descendants of football lore will still traverse the sidelines in 2025, but mostly as a security blanket.
Better not be an electric one.
Moving forward, Hawk-Eye virtual technology will determine whether a ball crossed the line to gain, with the chain gang relegated to secondary use in case of a glitch. The NFL tested the system last season.
Is it ironic that this Luddite is researching Hawk-Eye through an old-meets-new method available via my trusty village library card? Entering the card number on this magical website grants access to electronic editions of dozens of participating papers nationwide.
I’m reading how the Hawk-Eye system syncs with in-stadium cameras that track athletes, officials and, naturally, the ball. If a team achieves a first down (read in your best robotic voice), the system alerts officials, who then make the signal revered ’round the football world.
(I know baseball is tinkering with experimental ball-strike challenge technology, which ultimately could negate umpires’ emphatic, Frank Drebin-esque strike calls one day, but here’s hoping the tradition of extending one’s right arm after a key first down doesn’t disappear.)
Maybe this is a silly bit of catastrophizing. Most of the robots we’ll see on any given Sunday will still be the animated ones coming in and out of Fox commercial breaks, right? And it’s not as if the longstanding onscreen yellow first-down line for viewers at home is fading to black. Or has done anything other than enhance the viewing experience.
In a recent Washington Post report, NFL Senior Vice President of Football Business Strategy Kimberly Fields confirmed Hawk-Eye isn’t activated until a real, live, cheerable, jeerable human official spots the ball after using their senses to determine a player’s forward progress.
Progress (your call on the robotic voice this time). There’s that word again.
For all the concern about technology invading sports and souring the essence of people playing and deciding the games we love, Fields offered this reasoning in a separate report.
“If it’s not improving the game, making it more efficient, we’re not going to do it,” she told The Associated Press. “We will do nothing that hurts the integrity of the game.”
According to the NFL, going virtual with first-down determinations is expected to save small chunks of time, too. The league reported an average of 12 measurements per week during the 2024 season. Whereas chain gangs needed 75 seconds to make a call, their virtual cousins took just 30.
That’s enough to make Washington Commanders coach Dan Quinn want to dance the robot.
“Sometimes, you’re on that drive and you want to keep going, moving the ball,” he said. “So, having ways to do that. … Can you do it in a big pile on a quarterback sneak? Probably not. But there’s other ways you can, to spot it when it’s close. Can you identify it and work quickly? I’m down for that.”
Same here, I guess—especially since the colorful, passionate, pole-toting people on the sidelines aren’t going away.
Remember my reverence for newspapers? I’m suddenly smiling again about a recent TV grid summary for Cool Hand Luke:
“A Southern loner on a chain gang refuses to be broken.”
Should Hawk-Eye have a failure to communicate, NFL chain gangs will surely be ready to represent humanity—just like they have for more than a century.
Sports
Former Gamecocks playing in Israel trying to come home
Feb 22, 2026; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley claps following their defeat of the Mississippi Rebels at Colonial Life Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images Former South Carolina players Tiffany Mitchell, Mikiah Herbert Harrigan and Destiny Littleton are “in a war zone in Israel,” according to Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley, who added that an effort is underway to get the players back to the United States.
In a social media post on X on Saturday, Staley wrote,”We are working a plan to get home. Let us pray for our loved ones to return home safely asap! Thank you in advance.”
Per ESPN, a spokeswoman for South Carolina athletics had no further information on the players’ situation amid the United States-Israel military strikes against Iran.
Littleton posted videos on X from Jerusalem that she was safe and heading to a teammate’s home to take shelter.
“I’m just trying to stay calm,” Littleton said. “I really don’t want to even be out here on the streets. I’ll keep you updated.”
Along with South Carolina, the 26-year-old Littleton also played at Texas and USC during her college career from 2017-2023.
Mitchell, a starter on the Gamecocks’ first Final Four team, played at the school from 2012-16 and was a two-time SEC Player of the Year. The 31-year-old has spent 10 seasons in the WNBA since the Indiana Fever selected her with the ninth pick in the 2016 WNBA Draft.
Herbert Harrigan, 27, has a championship ring from the 2016-17 season with the Gamecocks and played at the school until 2020. That year, she was the No. 6 pick in the WNBA draft by the Minnesota Lynx and also played for the Seattle Storm and Phoenix Mercury.
–Field Level Media
Sports
NBA roundup: Luka Doncic's birthday gift is a Lakers victory
Feb 28, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward/guard Luka Doncic (77) is defended by Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos (15) in the second period at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images Luka Doncic celebrated his 27th birthday with 26 points, eight assists and six rebounds to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 129-101 rout of the Golden State Warriors on Saturday in San Francisco.
Los Angeles came into the Bay Area on a three-game losing skid but rebounded emphatically. The Lakers surrendered the game’s first two points, then went on to score the next 10 en route to a lead they never relinquished.
LeBron James shot 4 of 6 from 3-point distance and 7 of 13 from the floor overall en route to 22 points. James also flirted with a triple-double, adding a game-high nine assists and seven rebounds.
Golden State had just one scorer with more than 12 points: Gui Santos, who finished with 14. Moses Moody scored all 12 of his points on 4-of-10 3-point shooting. De’Anthony Melton added 10 points and Al Horford scored eight points off the bench.
Hornets 109, Trail Blazers 93
Brandon Miller connected on six 3-point shots as part of his game-high 26 points as Charlotte beat visiting Portland.
Coby White, in his delayed Hornets home debut after a trade from Chicago and time off with an injury, racked up 20 points — 10 in each half — off the bench to help Charlotte win its fourth straight game. The Hornets effectively iced the game with a 10-0 run to build a 17-point fourth-quarter lead.
Jrue Holiday led the Trail Blazers with 25 points and Jerami Grant provided 21 points, reaching four consecutive games with 20-plus points for the first time this season.
Heat 115, Rockets 105
Bam Adebayo posted a double-double, and Andrew Wiggins ignited a fourth-quarter rally after returning from an in-game injury to lead Miami to a victory over visiting Houston.
Adebayo paired 24 points with 11 rebounds to help the Heat snap a two-game skid. Pelle Larsson (20 points) and Tyler Herro (18) contributed to the balanced scoring attack. But it was Wiggins, who took an elbow to the jaw from Rockets center Alperen Sengun and needed stitches in his cheek to close the gash, who led a critical fourth-quarter surge. Wiggins finished with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Kevin Durant scored a game-high 32 points and added eight assists for the Rockets. Amen Thompson (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Tari Eason (10 points, 11 boards) added double-doubles, while Reed Sheppard chipped in 14 points and five assists for Houston.
Raptors 134, Wizards 125
Immanuel Quickley had 27 points and 11 assists to propel visiting Toronto to a victory over Washington.
Brandon Ingram added 24 points and RJ Barrett chipped in 21 points for Toronto, which snapped a two-game skid. Jakob Poeltl totaled 18 points and 10 rebounds and Scottie Barnes scored 18 for the Raptors, who shot a sizzling 71.4% in the second half while scoring 73 points. Toronto shot 60% from the field for the game.
Will Riley’s 19 points led the Wizards, followed by Bilal Coulibaly and Kyshawn George’s 14 points apiece. Tristan Vukcevic added 13, while Bub Carrington and Justin Champagnie finished with 12 apiece. Washington made 16 of 34 3-point attempts but dropped its fourth straight, shooting 53.4% overall.
Pelicans 115, Jazz 105
Saddiq Bey scored 24 points and New Orleans beat host Utah for the second time in three nights.
Bey, who scored a season-high 42 points in the Pelicans’ 129-118 victory on Thursday night, was joined in double figures by rookie Jeremiah Fears (18), who added a season-high 11 rebounds, Bryce McGowens (18 points), Herb Jones (17) and Jordan Poole (11) as New Orleans won its fourth consecutive game. Leading scorer Trey Murphy III missed his fifth consecutive game because of a right shoulder contusion, and second-leading scorer Zion Williamson had just four points in 11 minutes before leaving the game with a right ankle injury.
Isaiah Collier scored 21, Keyonte George (ankle) returned from a six-game absence to score 17, Elijah Harkless added 14, Ace Bailey had 13, Kyle Filipowski had 12 and Brice Sensabaugh 10 to lead the Jazz, who lost their fifth straight game.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jordan Eberle leads Kraken past woeful Canucks
Feb 28, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Kraken right wing Jordan Eberle (7) scores a goal past Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen (32) during the second period at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Blake Dahlin-Imagn Images Jordan Eberle had two goals and an assist and Chandler Stephenson had a goal and two assists as the Seattle Kraken opened a six-game homestand with a 5-1 victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.
Vince Dunn and Matty Beniers also were credited with goals for Seattle, which snapped a two-game skid. Goaltender Joey Daccord made 27 saves. Daccord nearly scored into an empty net, but his attempt rolled just wide left of the net.
Liam Ohgren scored and Kevin Lankinen stopped 20 of 24 shots for the Canucks, who have lost five in a row and are 2-15-4 in their past 21 games.
It appeared Eberle completed a hat trick with an empty-netter at 17:00 of the third period, with headwear raining down on the ice.
But fans were unaware the official scorer had changed Eberle’s apparent power-play goal at 11:56 of the period and gave the goal to Beniers, as Eberle’s stuff shot glanced off the toe of Beniers’ skate.
The Kraken opened the scoring at 7:36 of the first period as Dunn took a pass from Stephenson and put a wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle past a screened Lankinen.
Stephenson doubled the advantage at 10:20 of the period. Adam Larsson’s shot from the left point deflected off the back of the leg of Vancouver’s Marcus Pettersson as he tried to clear traffic from the top of the crease and the puck fell to Stephenson, who swiped it into the open left side of the net.
The Canucks got on the scoreboard at 8:28 of the second as Ohgren’s turnaround slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle beat a screened Daccord.
The Kraken restored their two-goal at 13:47 of the second as Eberle blocked defenseman Elias Pettersson’s shot from the left point and raced down ice on a breakaway, lifting a backhander past Lankinen.
The Canucks, in last place in the league’s overall standings, sat defenseman Tyler Myers for a second straight game for roster management purposes as he’s likely to be dealt before Friday’s NHL trade deadline.
–Field Level Media
Former Gamecocks playing in Israel trying to come home
Xiaomi 17 Ultra hands-on: The cameraphone with a monstrous zoom
