Cryptology in Sports

Cryptology is used in thousands of different ways, but one of the most intriguing applications is in sports.  As I was looking through the library databases for journals about cryptology, I stumbled upon an article called "Cryptology in Baseball."  It got me thinking that cryptology is used all the time in sports.  At first, you may not notice cryptology being used in sports, but truth is, almost every team in the world uses cryptology.  Let's take baseball for example.  Have you ever seen the coach making signs to the players on the field?  This is cryptology.  There is a secret code that each player on the team knows.  For example, if Buck Showalter, manager of the Orioles, touches his left ear, it could mean that Adam Jones, the player on first base, should steal second base.  Only the players on the Orioles would know the meaning of Showalter's code.  Also, there are other aspects of cryptology seen in baseball.  Nulls, or symbols that appear in a code but have no meaning are used very often.  When the manager gives his code, he often throws in other random signs to try and confuse the other team and prevent them from stealing the code.

Other sports use cryptology as well.  Football teams have a code used to call plays.  Basketball players often hold up a certain amount of fingers to initiate a certain play or formation.  These are only a few examples.  Next time you watch a sporting event, try to pick up on some of the codes being used. Feel free to leave a comment describing where you have seen cryptology being used in sports.