Social Medianaires

During the lockout Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach, Raheem Morris, watched a lot of video. He watched video of his incoming draft picks, he watched video of situational defenses, and watched videos of an offense that last year shocked a few people. He did this all on an iPad. He liked the iPad so much that the Bucs have decided to replace the the traditional playbook with Apple’s device.

The touch based iPad tablet seems like a natural move for any sports team. Morris was interviewed at length, yesterday when the story broke, and he came up with some ideas that even this writer didn’t think about. Instead of using a DVD and skipping plays by fast forwarding now players have an easier time at looking specifically at plays that involve them. A nickelback (defensive back, normally a cornerback) for example can skip plays were the Bucs line up in a base defense and hone in on his Nickelback package. Same thing for a third down running back. Although most players need to know every play, watching video especially when you have a certain role to play is sped up with use of the iPad.

The players also love the switch over to the iPad because it means they can carry their music around with them. Even Morris himself admitted to having a custom playlist he listens to as he watches tape. It seems like an insignificant reason, but anything that gels a team together is worth it’s weight in gold.

This writer thought of one “doomsday” scenario in which iPad use for any pro team could become a little shaky. We live in a post “Spygate” world. The Patriots videotaped practices to gain an upper hand, MLB teams steal signals all the time, and hockey is barbaric. What in the world is stopping someone from hacking an iPad to get access to a team’s playbook? I know it’s a long shot, but if that were to happen, things would get dicey.

Imagine a rival team being able to steal your playbook, know how you’re gameplanning them, etc. It would be like playing a buddy in Madden, except with millions of dollars essentially at stake. That’s a gamble that most franchises probably don’t want to take. Time will be the only way to tell if the iPad belongs on the sidelines or in the dugout.

Overall I think this is a great idea, especially for a team like the Tampa Bay Bucs. They are so young that most of the players are pretty savvy when it comes to technology, and they’ve always been known by head coach quirks. Use of the iPad is certainly a Raheem Morris quirk now.

The iPads will allow player to access a variety of information to help them perform their job better. Linemen, linebackers, running backs, doesn’t matter your position on the field this switch will help you. More information means better preparation, better preparation means success most of the time.

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I have two big concerns over the iPad. One, how many do they go through in one NFL Season? Two, does Apple have to pay advertising costs on the iPad?