The Best Innovations in Sports History

If you give human beings a chance to make their lives better, they will. Throughout sports history there has been change; some for the better, some for the worst.

This is a list compiling innovative accomplishments in sports history; a list that displays human beings' ability to think outside of the box and develop a better way to do things.

In most cases, these innovations have withstood the test of time.

Thank you for reading.

First Down Lines

Before first down lines were implemented, fans watching on TV had no clue what was going on.

Did he make it?

The morale of a large population of people can be assured within milliseconds because of these lines. It all started with Fox broadcasting and their effort at making hockey games more watchable.

This started by highlighting the puck (glowing puck) on television and ended two years later after many fans complained that it was distracting and didn't feel right.

This failure resulted in a small sports television company called sportsvision and eventually produced first down lines on television.

Full Body Competition Swimsuits

If you watched the Olympics last summer, you probably noticed that many of the swimmers were breaking world records and they were doing so at such an alarming rate that you probably thought they were all on the juice.

Well, actually, they were giving themselves a different kind of advantage; the advantage of less drag.

The general idea behind the swimwear was based upon the skin of a shark. What they wanted was a seamless suit that would greatly reduce drag while not adding a lot of weight.

This was accomplished in the winter of 2006 and was banned after the summer Olympics in 2009.

Grooves On A Golf Club

Golf started out as a simple game. Throw a ball on the ground and see who can get their ball closest to the target.

Well, the grooves on the face of a golf club made it easier to get the ball closer to the hole. Without grooves, the golf ball was naturally a driven shot. The addition of grooves made it easier for player to lift the ball and in short and medium game situations, players had more touch near the pin.

Back when players were still using wooden clubs, E. Burr decided that grooves would make it easier to loft the ball because they would cause the ball to spin if hit correctly.

Three-Point Line and Shot Clock In Basketball

Where would we be today without the three-point line?

Good team play?
Better passers?
True back-to-the-basket centers?

Whether you like the three-point line or not, you can't deny that it has changed the game and in my opinion, has made the game more exciting to watch.

The same can be said for the shot clock. Its inception in 1953 saved the game . Without it, the league would have gone under and basketball as we know it likely wouldn't exist.

Before the shot clock, basketball fans decided that they would rather pound their head against a wall than watch a six-overtime game in which the score would fail to break into the 30s.

Without it, basketball would not exist today.

As for modern basketball, comebacks that we see on a regular basis wouldn't occur without the three-point line.

Do you want to watch an 18-16 game in which each team only takes 20 shots?

Instant Replay on Television

We all take instant replay for granted, even though it makes the entire sports watching experience more enjoyable.

In 1955, the Canadian Broadcasting Company wanted a way to make their broadcasts more than just a rolling film. It started out as nothing more than a second ream of film that they would cut away to when something exciting occurred. After the replay was over, they simply went back to the main film.

The first game in which instant replay was used during a game was December 7th, 1963 in college footballs annual Army vs. Navy rivalry.

Without instant replay the landscape of the sporting world would look much different.

The Zamboni

The Zamboni is crucial to hockey's existence.

Without it the ice would become unplayable very quickly, making the game slow, messy, and unwatchable.

The Zamboni is a machine that resurfaces the ice during hockey games. When the players play on the ice, it becomes rigid. The constant cutting of the ice eventually makes the ice rough and unpredictable.

At first, the job of resurfacing an ice rink took 90 minutes with three people working simultaneously. Frank Zamboni, in 1949, made the job much easier and much quicker to accomplish.

At first, the Zamboni was nothing more than a stripped down Jeep on ice skates. Now, the company has evolved and uses more efficient methods for achieving the goal of resurfacing hockey rinks.

Golf Ball Dimples

The simple truth is that dimpled golf balls fly further, straighter, and have more touch than non-dimpled golf balls.

"The way this works is that when a ball is hit the dimples on the surface of a golf ball cause the boundary layer (the shell) on the upstream side of the ball to transition from laminar to turbulent. The turbulent boundary layer is able to remain attached to the surface of the ball much longer than a laminar boundary and so creates a narrower, low pressure, wake and hence less pressure drag. The reduction in pressure drag causes the ball to travel further."

The dimples on a golf ball also generate backspin, which in turn gives the ball more lift and, if done correctly, will allow the golfer to spin the ball on the green. This added spin gives the golfer more touch around the pin and a longer distance off the tee.

Without the dimples on a golf ball, the game would be far less interesting. We wouldn't be able to watch 250 yard drives or spectacular displays of touch around the green.

Vulcanized Rubber

Vulcanized rubber is one of those inventions that most people haven't even thought of, but makes everything in which it is used more enjoyable.

Lets start from the top.

Natural rubber is very sticky, smelly, and deforms easily. When it's cold , it's brittle. When it's warm, it becomes pliable.

Not exactly traits that you would want to have for sporting purposes.

The mastermind behind vulcanized rubber is Charles Goodyear and the way he went about discovering the new material is interesting.

The story is that he was looking for a new way harden rubber when he accidentally spilled some in the oven. He saw that the rubber hardened but did not become charred.

Although Goodyear claims that the process was not accidental, there is no evidence that it was either.

All we know is that vulcanized rubber is used in tennis balls, cars, many varieties of sporting equipment (such as pads and protective wear), and hockey pucks.

The Lawn Mower

Think about it.

How would the game change if we were still using goats and cows to graze the grass down to a reasonable level?

The invention of the lawn mower not only allows you to sit at home watching the game from your comfortable lounge chair instead of herding cattle around the lawn, but it also allows sports teams to make the game more predictable (and fair) by giving everyone the same surface to play on.

Although there is no clear inventor of the lawn mower, we should thank the person whom actually did produce this great time saving device.