In most western
sports, there is only one way to score. In sports like soccer, hockey, and
lacrosse you score by getting the ball into the net. In baseball, you score by
getting to home plate. But in football you can score by running or passing the
ball into the endzone, tackling the other team in your endzone, or kicking the
ball through goalposts. Thus goalposts are essential for football. The
opportunity to score when you are still 40+ yards away from the endzone makes
for incredible endings to games and adds a wrinkle that isn’t found in many
other sports. However, having a massive steel post in the ground right next to
where people are trying to run and hit each other isn’t necessarily the safest
setup. As I have learned from personal experience, running into the goalpost
isn’t fun… That’s why what I saw on Saturday struck me as a brilliant idea. In
the Syracuse University field house, home to lacrosse and football practices
throughout the cold months, they have suspended the goalposts from the ceiling.
This solves two problems: first, it is safer because there is no massive steel
post sticking out of the ground, and second, with space very limited within the
field house, it opens up another portion
of the field that would otherwise be wasted.