Life Before Shot Clocks and Scoreboards – A Simpler yet Less Convenient Time

If you watched the last game of the Eastern Conference Finals, you won’t miss seeing the most annoying thing in the world. The scoreboard and shot clock was not working and the entire technical support team could not fix it. The game got delayed for 1 hour. When the game resumed, the announcers said that their time was almost up. All the excitement disappeared. When this happens, it takes your eyes of the players and you appreciate the nerds who take hours inventing stuff. Our lives are very different from what they were before. Think of how you will live everyday without the following inventions.

1. The Portable Shot Clock and Scoreboard.

Without scoreboards and shot clocks, it will be hard for the participants and viewers to keep track of the game.

2. Instant Replay.

Now that we can view instant replays, officials can make the right calls on the game. In the past, the games relied on whether or not the officials got the call right. They do make mistakes. Now the replay determines what is fair because replays don’t hide the truth.

3. Cell Phones

My grandma did not see the need for cell phones and other gadgets. I asked her how did her friends find out where she was or how to call her? Without cell phones, you will have to stay home and wait for someone to call you. Now, we could go anywhere we want and still be able to call the person we need to speak with.

4. The Internet

I work for Robbins Sports and Athletics, an online provider for sports equipment and apparel. Without the internet, I will be jobless. Can you spend an entire day without internet? There is so much to do on the internet. You need it to check your emails, run an online business and others. If you need to do research, you just have to go online instead of going to the library. You can surf the web and find all the information you need.

5. The Automobile

Last spring, I went to Arizona so I could watch the San Francisco Giants. I live in Utah and the trip took us 10 hours going there and coming back home. I realized how long it would have taken us before the automobile was invented. It might have taken us an entire week to get there riding a horse.

6. The Telephone

You may think that the telephone and cell phone is one and the same but you are wrong. Prior to the cell phone, people cannot receive calls once they leave their home. Before the telephone was invented, people communicated by writing letters. The letters were delivered by horse or by ship and that took forever. The telephone changed the way we live.

7. The Oven

Fire was one of the biggest discoveries of man. Roasting your food over an open flame was ideal for cavemen but today we are more advanced than that. We have to appreciate that we don’t need a spit in preparing our meals.

Nishan Wilde is the VP of Sales for RobbinsSports.com. It is an online seller for Portable Scoreboards and Team Sports Equipment.