The Immaculate Reception: a good call

[Bill McBlueState]

Did anyone else see this in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today?

The physics of the matter say the Immaculate Reception ball hit Tatum

Monday, October 18, 2004
By Byron Spice, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

If you believe Isaac Newton, says John Fetkovich, then you have to believe that the Immaculate Reception was a fair play.

Fetkovich, an emeritus professor of physics at Carnegie Mellon University, certainly believes in Newton, the English mathematician who formulated the laws of gravity and motion three centuries ago.

snip

Fetkovich exhumed his notes and sketches after reading a story on this page two weeks ago about University of Nebraska physicist Timothy Gay and his new book, "Football Physics." Gay discusses the physics of the Immaculate Reception in his opening chapter and, in an interview, speculated that an analysis of the ball's trajectory might reveal who it bounced off.

A key to such an analysis is a fundamental law of physics called the conservation of momentum. This law says that when two bodies collide, one gains as much momentum as the other one loses. When Tatum hit Fuqua, for instance, he transferred all of his momentum to the running back, leaving Tatum standing and Fuqua flying to the ground.

What Fetkovich needed to figure out was whose momentum was transferred to the football.

snip

the rest is at http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04292/397451.stm

Could this finally silence the Raiders fans, who thirty years down the road are still griping about that call? Probably not... they're not real big on things like "science" and "logic."

on edit: Wow. thanks, JVS. :dunce:

[Magrittes Pipe]

1. Or "bathing."

[Beware the Beast Man]

2. To this day- John Madden refutes that call.

Fuck him.

[JVS]

3. reception, not conception

Madden can suck it!

[PittLib]

4. I could not care less about the physics of the "Immaculate

Reception" ... Franco is an ardent Kerry supporter who recently lent his voice to the phone campaign here in Pittsburgh. THAT makes him my hero.

[Bill McBlueState]

5. Great!

That's a lot more than we can say about the Bus, a known * supporter. Go Franco!

[PittLib]

6. I wait on them ...

and while they both treat me well (edge to Franco for being more personable) - the difference is obvious in the company they keep. Franco is an absolute gentleman and pillar in this community.


(Shameless aside: While volunteering in the VIP section during a rally - Franco and another regular guest from my restaurant recognized me and shook my hand. Keep in mind that I am a waitress and I did nothing to initiate the interaction. It felt damn good and spoke volumes about Franco.)