Ending game's due to darkness

[LIUmp]

Originally Posted by chapmaja

I understand your opinion of this rule, and somewhat agree, but it does make a point.

Maybe the schools should have a light detector that detects the amount of available light on the field. If the light level gets below a certain level, the game is suspended and then a decision is made to continue or not to continue the game based on a totality of the situation. If heavy clouds are moving over, but will vacate the vicinity, the game is only suspended. If the light level gets to low due to sunset then you have a different situation.

Drop Dead rules are often like Zero Tolerance laws. They are good on paper, but don't stand up well in the real world.

You can't make this decision yourself?

"Sorry folks, in my judgment, it's too dark to continue this game safely."

Is that hard?

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by LIUmp

You can't make this decision yourself?

"Sorry folks, in my judgment, it's too dark to continue this game safely."

Is that hard?

That's what I do.

Problem is, as this article points out, our night vision degrades as we get older. Here's an example from the article of how something looks to a 20, 60, and 75 year old:



One night a few years ago after a cookout, my son and I went out in the back yard looking for a pair of shoes that a friend's child left back there. It was already pitch black, at least to me. My son went over to them and picked them up. I literally could not see them!

So while you may judge it's too dark to continue, it may in fact be relatively safe to play from the players' perspective. But hey, we need to be able to see to make calls, so our judgment prevails.

[Dakota]

While the topic of that article is interesting, it is written with a bunch of unsupported data and speculation that even the author himself discredits within the article. In fact, the article even contradicts itself.

IOW, what he has written may be largely correct, but I wouldn't bank on it from that article alone.

I suspect the article is written to sell his seminars, not to provide objective information. After all, you do need to create the crisis before you can sell the solution!

[Little Jimmy]

Have to agree with Manny about night vision as you get older. Twilight time never was my strong suit and it's getting a little tougher as the years move on, especially on an unlighted field.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by LIUmp

You can't make this decision yourself?

You mean like whether the batter actually attempted to "bunt" the ball?