Abstract:
A system and method provide a site on a network accessible to a staff of officials from a sports league to facilitate more consistent and correct officiating of games played under league rules. The site provides links to digitized game segments demonstrative of lessons to be learned from review of the segments. Each digitized game segment is provided with a comment and/or question intended to instruct the reviewing official as to the lesson to be learned from review of the displayed game play. Additionally provided to the officials over the site are periodic tests and rule clarifications intended to further sharpen their officiating skills. Officials that travel between different sports venues in a given week are able to review the site between games for newly posted training-related materials from prior games.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not applicable. 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not applicable. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to communication systems and methods, and more particularly, is a multi-media network-based communication system and method primarily for training sports officials. 
     Quality sports officiating results from having an experienced, well-trained staff of sports officials. One of the primary techniques presently employed to train sports officials involves taping sports games, selecting from the taping instructive plays, and providing video tapes of such plays to the sports officials for review. Plays of instructive value include those where: 1) an official&#39;s call was inaccurate; 2) a similar game situation has been dissimilarly officiated; 3) a player in violation of a game rule has discovered a way to avoid having a call made against them; or 4) the subject game situation occurs infrequently or involves resolving complex game rules. Typically, a training authority for a sports league tapes the games, selects the desired plays, and provides the instructional tapes to their field of officials, along with a description of the lessons demonstrated by the accompanying tapes. 
     This training scheme has several drawbacks, each resulting from the common sports league practice of employing a large field of officials that either live in the different cities having sports venues, or travel around the country (on a weekly basis) to their assigned games. In other words, the intended recipients of the instructional tapes (i.e., the officials) are many, spread out across the country, and frequently, in transit from one city to another to officiate. 
     As a result, a separate instructional tape must be made for every official in the league. As is commonly the case, there are many league officials, meaning that the cost to purchase tapes is not insignificant. Adding to this is the notion that such training tapes must be prepared and distributed every week during the sports season, to cover the latest officiating pointers from the previous week&#39;s games. Moreover, there are considerable added costs to priority ship the tapes on a weekly basis across the country to every official. Aside from the cost issue in preparing and shipping the tapes across the country each week to every official, it has been difficult to successfully coordinate the tape shipments with the officials&#39; hectic travel schedules. Consequently, despite the heavy investment in time and money to prepare and ship the tapes, officials frequently fail to receive the latest tapes in a timely manner, which may impact the quality of their officiating. 
     Supplementing the tapes in the training effort, the league&#39;s training authority frequently sends tests and recent rule clarifications to its staff of officials. Presently, such tests are sent out by priority mail to the officiating staff, and the completed tests are similarly returned to the training authority for evaluation. The scheme in use today to disseminate rule clarifications to the officials involves explanation by way of telephone call or facsimile report. The burdensome cost and coordination issues noted above with respect to the preparation and shipping of training tapes also apply to these latter two training techniques. 
     Thus, there is a need for a multi-media network-based communication system and method for training sports officials. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The system and method embodying the present invention provide a site on a network accessible to a staff of officials from a sports league to facilitate more consistent and correct officiating of games played under league rules. 
     From broadcasts of league games, certain game segments are selected as being valuable for training the officials. Such selections are typically made by a training authority for the league. Game segments that are valuable for training officials include those where: 1) an official&#39;s call is inaccurate; 2) a similar game situation is dissimilarly officiated; 3) a player in violation of a game rule uses a technique to avoid having an official render a call against them; 4) the subject game situation is one that occurs infrequently or involves resolving complex game rules; or 5) the training authority otherwise determines that the game segment is of training value. The selected game segments are digitized and formatted for posting on the site, such segments being accessible via links on the site to multi-media files for presenting audio-visual or visual-only representations of the selected game segments. Similarly, the training authority selects certain comments and/or questions that are posted with the links to the related digitized game segments. Such comments and/or questions are reviewed by an official to describe, suggest, or evoke a lesson to be learned from their review of a related digitized game segment. Additionally provided to the officials over the site are periodic tests and rule clarifications intended to further sharpen their officiating skills. 
     This system and method obviates the prior need to periodically send to every official multiple training tapes, tests, and rule clarifications, averting the undesired cost with sending such shipments. Similarly, the previous difficulty in having such shipments reach a staff of on-the-move officials is now overcome, as this approach ensures that the officials will receive newly-posted training materials, regardless of the officials&#39; travel patterns. As a consequence, the officiating of league games will improve in both consistency and accuracy. Additionally, the system and method of the present invention provide a scheme to widen accessibility to the training-related information traditionally provided only to officials, such that team players, owners, fans, and the like may be granted access to review such materials. 
     These and other objects, advantages and aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following description. In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which there is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention. Such embodiment does not necessarily represent the full scope of the invention and reference is made therefor, to the claims herein for interpreting the scope of the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of the system of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the primary elements of the system of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the host system of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the software configuration for the host system; and 
     FIGS. 5A and 5B are workflow diagrams representing preferred aspects of operation for training officials according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference characters represent corresponding elements throughout the several views, and more specifically referring to FIG. 1, a multi-media network-based communication system (“system”)  10  is shown employing the present inventive method to train a staff of officials  12  from a sports league. The system  10  establishes a framework to, among other things, provide training-related information from the league&#39;s training authority  18  to the officials  12 , by way of a training system  14  run by a system administrator  16 . 
     The training authority  18  is an individual or committee designated by the sports league to oversee certain aspects of the on-going training provided to the league&#39;s staff of officials  12 . The sports league comprises a professional sports league, such as the National Basketball Association or National Football League (“NBA” or “NFL”), or an amateur league, such as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”). The system administrator  16  is an individual or group tasked by the league with establishing and operating the training system  14 . The training authority  18  provides the system administrator  16  with training-related information, and appropriate instruction as to how it is to be incorporated into the training system  14  for use by the officials  12 . 
     The training-related information is stored on an appropriate medium, such as a video tape having plays from league games which are selected by the training authority  18  for their training value. The training-related information may also include appropriate comments and/or questions for presentation with the plays on the training system  14 , or any other information which the training authority  18  wants to disseminate to the officials  12 . Such comments and/or questions are for review by an official  12  to describe, suggest, or evoke a lesson to be learned from their review of instructive game segments (e.g., plays) selected by the training authority  18  for review. The training-related information is submitted to the system administrator  16  over a suitable communication link  22 , which may include mailing of the video tapes and other information for circulation to the officials  12 . 
     Preferably, the system  10  runs on the Internet, with the system administrator  16  establishing and operating a Web site (“site”) incorporating the system&#39;s underlying method, which along with the training-related information is uploaded to the training system  14  in a conventional manner over a communication link  20 . The officials  12  access the site via their respective Internet service providers (“ISPs”) over a suitable communication link  20 . Similarly, the training authority  18  may access the site using their ISP over a communication link  20 . 
     Referring to FIG. 2, a block diagram is shown representing the primary elements of the system  10  of FIG.  1 . The training system  14  includes a host system  28  connected with a host gateway  26  thru a communication link  30 . The host gateway  26  is connected to each official&#39;s terminal  24  by way of communication links  20   a  and  20   c  and data bus  20   b.  Similarly, connection between the host gateway  26  and the system administrator and training authority terminals  17 ,  19  is made by communication links  20   c  and  20   d  and data bus  20   b.  The host system  28  provides the desired site, and the host gateway  26  interfaces with the host system  28  using a protocol understood by the remote terminals  17 ,  19 , and  24 . On the Internet, for example, transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) is frequently employed. 
     Employing terminal  17 , the system administrator  16  accesses and provides the host system  28  with appropriate instructions to have the desired site hosted thereon. 
     Additionally, the system administrator  16  may use terminal  17  (and/or other conventional input devices) to periodically update the site to include the training-related and other information provided by the training authority  18  for dissemination to the officials  12 . 
     The site provides a “home page” remotely accessible to the officials  12 , the training authority  18 , and the system administrator  16 . The home page provides the necessary instructions and links for the officials  12  to review the posted training-related information, to provide feedback to the training authority  18  following review of the posted information, and to perform other desired tasks. Additionally, the home page includes suitable instructions and links for the training authority  18  to communicate with the officials  12 , as needed. Of course, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that one or more home pages could be employed, where in the latter case, there would preferably be a separate home page for the officials  12  and the training authority  18 . 
     With the system  10  according to the present invention, the officials  12 , the training authority  18 , and the system administrator  16  can gain access over communication links  20  (e.g., telephone and/or other data transmission lines) to the host system  28  by contacting the host gateway  26 . As is known in the art, this contact can be established on a network such as the Internet by sending data packets to an electronic address associated with the site provided by the host system  28 . 
     Referring to FIG. 3, a block diagram illustrates in more detail the host system  28  of FIG.  2 . As shown, a controller  32  comprising a central processing unit (“CPU”) and associated read only memory (“ROM”) is connected along data and address bus line  30  to a random access memory (RAM)  34 . Also connected to the RAM  34  and the controller  32  is one or more mass storage devices  36 . These components are operatively connected to input/output interface devices  40  which control various corresponding input/output devices  42 . These input/output devices  42  may include such conventional elements as a keyboard, a mouse, a video display, a printer, a digitizer or scanner, and other input/output devices. The host system  28  also employs a modem  38  to exchange information with remote terminals  17 ,  19 , and  24  over standard voice lines, though it is understood that other devices can be utilized to transfer data between the host system  28  and the various remote users of the system  10 . 
     As is conventionally known in the art, the ROM provides software instructions to perform basic operations upon power up of the host system  28 . Once the host system  28  receives these instructions, the CPU reads operating system instructions stored on disk to configure the system  10  and to permit execution of various applications programs. These applications programs permit the method of operation described below in connection with FIGS. 5A and 5B. 
     FIG. 4 generally illustrates the software configuration of the host system  28 . The host system  28  operates under control of a conventional operating system  48 . The operating system  48  permits various conventional application processes to be executed. These include a communication application  46 , a database application  50 , and any other desired applications  44 . 
     The communication application  46  permits data transfer with the officials  12 , the training authority  18 , and the system administrator  16 . More precisely, the communication application  46  permits officials  12  to: log onto the site, review and provide feedback concerning the latest training submissions (e.g., video game clips), take tests or review rule clarifications provided by the training authority  18 , and provide desired reports to the training authority  18 . Such desired reports may include a game report in which an official summarizes certain aspects of a completed game, a travel expense report in which an official identifies travel-related expenditures, or any other report desired by the training authority  18 . The communication application  46  also permits the training authority  18  to log onto the site and exchange communications with the various officials  12  or the system administrator  16 . Similarly, the system administrator  16  may log onto the site to exchange communications with the officials  12  and/or the training authority  18 . 
     The database application  50  organizes, stores, and retrieves the various training submissions for the officials  12 . As noted, the training submissions are selected by the training authority  18 , and provided to the system administrator  16  for putting in appropriate format for posting on the site. The training submissions typically include video clips depicting game plays having training value, and text which presents comments and/or questions about corresponding video clips. Additionally, training submissions may include tests for the officials  12  to take, or recent rule clarifications from the league. This information is organized and stored within the environment of the operating system  48  in one or more mass storage devices  36 . 
     FIG. 5A is a workflow diagram representing one preferred aspect of operation for training officials  12  according to the present invention. Specifically, in step  52 , one of the league games is played and televised over any conventional broadcast medium. In steps  54  and  56 , the game&#39;s televised broadcast is received and recorded by the training authority  18  over a conventional television signal reception and recording system. The game recording is stored on any conventional storage medium, such as a video cassette recorder (“VCR”) tape. In step  58 , the training authority  18  reviews the game recording, and in step  60  identifies which, if any, of the game&#39;s plays are of training value for the officials  12 . Plays of training value include those where, in the training authorities opinion: 1) an official&#39;s call was inaccurate; 2) a similar game situation has been dissimilarly officiated; 3) a player in violation of a game rule has discovered a way to avoid having a call made against them; 4) the subject game situation occurs infrequently or involves resolving complex game rules; or 5) the training authority  18  otherwise finds training value in the game segment. 
     Assuming that certain plays from the game have been selected for training use, the selected plays are now relayed to the system administrator  16  for posting on the site. In this regard, the training authority  18  may forward to the system administrator  16  a recording of the full game broadcast, along with instructions identifying the plays for posting on the site. Alternatively and preferably, the training authority  18  makes a recording of only the selected plays, and forwards the recording to the system administrator  16 , along with instructions concerning how and when to post the selected plays on the site. Such instructions may include, among other things, the identification of comments and/or questions for the system administrator  16  to post with the selected plays, such comments and/or questions enhancing training value by appropriately focusing the officials&#39; review of the selected plays. 
     It is understood that the selected-plays recording is stored on any conventional storage medium, such as a VCR tape, and is submitted to the system administrator  16  in any conventional manner, such as by mail or courier. However, those in the art understand that the selected-plays recording and related posting instructions may be appropriately formatted to send by conventional electronic transmission to the system administrator  16  for posting on the site. It is further understood that the selected-plays recording has thus far been described as containing plays from a single game, though such recording may include selected plays from a plurality of games, such as the league&#39;s games from the previous week. 
     For purposes of further description, assume that the training authority  18  provides the system administrator  16  with a VCR tape of selected plays from one or more league games, and with desired posting instructions. In step  62 , the system administrator  16  digitizes the selected plays in a conventional manner. By way of example, the selected plays are captured using a VCR which plays the tape and runs the video output to a conventional desktop computer employing a DC1000 capture card, from Pinnacle Systems of Mountain View, Calif. The selected plays are encoded into the audio video interleave (AVI) format using a conventional video editing application, such as Premiere™ from Adobe Systems Inc. of San Jose, Calif. The AVI-formatted plays are converted to the motion picture experts group (MPEG) format using a conventional encoder, such as the LSX-MPEG encoder from Ligos Corp. of San Francisco, Calif. It is understood that the selected plays may be digitized to include audio, as well as video information. 
     In step  64 , the MPEG files for the selected plays are conventionally loaded onto the host system  28  for posting on the site. Similarly, any comments and/or questions that the training authority  18  wants posted with the links to the selected-play MPEG files are also conventionally posted for viewing. In step  66 , the officials  12  log onto the site using such conventional means as the entry of an assigned user-name and password. 
     Thereafter, the officials  12  review the comment and/or question related to a selected play that they wish to view. As noted, such comments and/or questions are reviewed by an official  12  to describe, suggest, or evoke a lesson to be learned from their review of a selected play. The officials  12  may review a comment and/or question before or after viewing the corresponding selected play, which is accessed by conventionally selecting the link to the appropriate MPEG file (e.g., by pointing and clicking with a mouse-driven pointer). It is also noted that the comment and/or question related to a particular selected play may prompt an official  12  for a response concerning their review of the selected play. Such a response may consist of a written and/or oral response appropriately formatted for electronic delivery to the training authority  18  over the site. 
     By way of example, a selected-play MPEG file may demonstrate a frequently occurring game activity, such as violation of the “three-second rule” in basketball. The training authority  18  may instruct the system administrator  16  to post with the link to the MPEG file a message directing the officials  12  to submit a ruling on the play. The training authority  18  may then review the officials&#39; responses to the ruling request, and provide appropriate feedback over the site to the officials  12 , collectively or individually. In this manner, the league&#39;s staff of officials  12  are trained to more consistently make the proper ruling. 
     FIG. 5B is a workflow diagram representing another preferred aspect of operation for training officials  12  according to the present invention. Specifically, the site may be used to post tests to evaluate the officials&#39; knowledge of the game&#39;s rules, or to post a recent rule clarification that the training authority  18  wants disseminated to its staff of officials  12 . Such tests are periodically assigned to the officials  12  (e.g., on a weekly or monthly basis). Rule clarifications are generally provided on an as-needed basis, for example, when in the training authorities opinion, a given rule has been incorrectly applied in games, and a rule clarification may improve officiating results. 
     In step  68 , the training authority  18  creates the test or rule clarification. A test comprises a series of questions intended to measure the officials&#39; knowledge of league rules, while a rule clarification consists of a description of the proper interpretation and/or application of a particular rule to game play. If in step  70 , the training authority  18  is disseminating a test, then steps  72 - 76  are followed, while circulation of a rule clarification is handled by steps  78  and  80 . In the former case, the test is posted on the site in step  72  by the system administrator  16 . The officials  12  thereafter access the site to take the test in step  74 , permitting the training authority  18  to use the site to review the completed tests and to post test results in step  76 . In like manner, the system administrator  16  posts the rule clarification on the site in step  78 , facilitating official review thereof in step  80 . 
     It should be understood that the methods and apparatuses described above are only exemplary and do not limit the scope of the invention, and that various modifications could be made by those skilled in the art that would fall under the scope of the invention. For example, the site also provides a convenient mechanism for the officials  12  to submit certain reports required by the training authority  18 , such as a game report, a travel expense report, etc. Moreover, while the site is primarily intended for use as a training tool for officials  12 , it may also be used to train other league participants, such as players, coaches, team owners, and the like. If desired, the site could also be employed as a tool to educate sports fans in the general public about proper officiating of the game under league rules. Additionally, though the site is primarily employed to pass training-related information between the training authority  18  and the officials  12 , the site also establishes a convenient electronic bulletin board for the officials  12 , or any site-users, to exchange ideas. 
     It is also noted that the system administrator  16  may log onto and operate the site from any terminal, not simply terminal  17  as shown in FIG.  2 . For example, the system administrator  16  may operate the site from the training authorities terminal  19  or from a terminal comprising one of the host system&#39;s I/O devices  42  from FIG.  3 . 
     It is further noted that while the comments and/or questions provided with selected game segments are typically provided in text form for visual review by the officials  12 , they could just as well be provided in audio form. Similarly, responses to such comments and/or questions provided to the training authority  18  by the officials  12  could be in either text-based or audio form.