Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The Field

The gridiron that we all love is a beautiful thing. It's incredible to imagine that at one time it was more like a checkerboard. The, thankfully, tossed rules of those days required vertical lines to better officiate some of the crazy intricacies of the games. Unlike the vast range of fields that you find in baseball, the basic football field is exactly the same in every single stadium in high school, college and the NFL. Some of the field markings vary at other levels but every NFL field is exactly the same. The crazy Canadians, of course, have to hack up most all of this beautiful consistency.

From the 53 1/3 yard width to the 120 yard length, including end zones, to the 18'6" width of the uprights, every measurement is strictly enforced. The yard numbers must be 6'x4'. Those numbers are 12 yards from the sideline. The hash marks are 70'9" from the sidelines. The goal crossbar is 10' above the ground. The uprights extend 30' into the sky. The most striking rule is that the little flag at the top of those uprights must be 4''x42". And, it has to be orange.

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