[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by ajmc

Long ago I was taught there are certain biblical certainties we must accept, even when there may be reasonable doubt. Among them are; all lines are perfectly straight. If you touch a line, you've touched it, even if it looks bowed to the naked eye. If you haven't touched it, you haven't touched it.

Unless there is an OBVIOUS discrepancy, all 10 yard lines are 10 yards apart. Life, unfortunately is nor perfect, nor are the markings on many football fields, but the game, like life, must go on.

The act of measuring is something that is done, solely, to assist the Referee in determining whether or not the LTG has been reached. Neither team has any right to demand a measurement. Most Referee's will use the available tool of a measurement when they have any doubt whatsoever if the LTG has, or has not, been reached, but that is entirely the Referee's option.

Aren't lines, by definition, straight?

A line can be described as an ideal zero-width, infinitely long, perfectly straight curve (the term curve in mathematics includes "straight curves") containing an infinite number of points. In Euclidean geometry, exactly one line can be found that passes through any two points. The line provides the shortest connection between the points.