Pay No Attention To That Attention-Grabbing Thing On Your Screen

The technical innovations that many of us grew up not seeing on our television screens seem so vital to us now. The ticker – that constantly flowing stream of textual information that makes us feel like we're getting five times the bang for our news buck – appears here to stay. The little market updates in the corner instantly convey to us whether it's a good day or not (little green arrow pointing up = good; little red one pointing down = not so much so). It's even a relief to know instantly, with no finger-counting involved, what time it is in every U.S. time zone, whether you know anyone in them or not.

But just because something is possible to do on-screen doesn't mean it should be done, and something that caught my eye last night drove home the fact that all this technology can become more of a distraction than a help.

As I settled in to enjoy one of the last college football games of the season, the Orange Bowl, I was anticipating a competitive game between Penn State and Florida State, helmed by two legendary coaches. I know, I know, it's football and not news. But it's important to note that many technological on-screen developments have taken the lead in televised sports, later to make their way in one form or another to television news. So hang in there with me a minute.

Many of the new "toys" used in sports in general, and football in particular, have made events more enjoyable and understandable. Nothing has quite revolutionized the football-viewing experience like the "yellow line" – that superimposed yellow ribbon stretched across the field that marks the spot a team must advance to for a first down during each series. Rather than guessing or waiting for the announcers to tell us whether a pass or run has crossed that line, we can see it. And it's almost always accurate.

Another helpful tool has been the "flag" flash. When a penalty flag is thrown on a given play, a little flash goes off underneath the requisite box that keeps the score and the time and the word "flag" usually rotates onto the screen. No more jumping up excitedly and high-fiving the room over a touchdown pass only to discover it had been called back because of a holding penalty. Good stuff.

But what happened last night was almost enough to make me reach for the radio. ABC televised the game (they will also air tonight's national championship contest), a network with plenty of experience in airing important football games on Monday nights. Their logo, a round "bug" with ABC inside, was nestled in the middle of the box floating near the upper left-hand corner of the screen – the same one mentioned above with the score and time contained.

So far, so good except then I began to notice a flash within the box, one that did not announce a penalty. As I continued watching, that flash kept catching my eye so I took my attention away from the game for a moment and began to examine just what was happening. What I observed was this – during every single play, the little round ABC logo would flash and rotate, clearly in an attempt to make eyes move to catch the action. It was not subtle, and even after I returned my gaze to the screen, the eyes constantly returned. They kept seeing the flash and sending the signal to my brain of "flag," keeping me in a constant state of confusion (even more so than usual) about what was happening.

Now I'll confess, I haven't watched a lot of football games on ABC this year since Monday night games are usually taking place past my bedtime and I don't know whether this is a new technique for them or not. I can't even say if other networks, like CBS or NBC, do the same thing. All I know is it was the first time I observed it and it nearly ruined the game for me.

It also got me thinking about some of the junk that from time-to-time clutter up our screens when we're trying to watch some news. Tickers are great, but can we have more than five stories running across at any given time? I love to know what the Dow is doing even though I have very little idea what it really means for me, but I don't need the individual statistics that are sometimes run because I have absolutely no clue about those. And do we really need simultaneous live shots from ten different locations?

The moral of the Orange Bowl for me was not so much about making sure the place kickers were prepared, it was that when it comes to watching television, I'm much more interested in the primary program than the distracting bells and whistles that sometimes surround it. Have fun watching that USC-Texas game tonight, but keep a radio on hand, just in case.