The 40-yard dash is the standard when it comes to testing football speed and was first used in the football world as a comparative measuring tool by the Dallas Cowboy organization in the 1960's to evaluate its players, including receiver "Bullet" Bob Hayes, the gold medal winner in the 100 meters at the '64 Tokyo Olympics.

Even though there have been huge advances in technology in this, the age of the cell phone and internet, not much has changed when it comes to measuring football speed. Today's athletes are still slaves to the precious few seconds it takes to cover 120 feet of ground and the varying reliability of those with stopwatches in hand.

The importance of the 40 was never more in evidence than at the recent NFL combine in Indianapolis where former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett was clocked in shockingly slow times of 4.86 and 4.90 in the 40. Many felt his bad testing day may have dropped him from being a 1st or 2nd round selection all the way out of the draft, potentially costing the athlete millions of dollars in signing bonuses and salary.

Recently, Clarett tested again and ran a 4.67, obviously much better, but it raises the question: just exactly how fast is the former Buckeye star? Was the improved time reflective of him getting in better shape or was his improvement simply because he tested before different timers under different conditions?

That's been the primary complaint against the 40 and how it's been traditionally measured: despite being the No. 1 reference tool for football speed today, times in the 40 vary greatly not only by how they're recorded, but by who administers them. Efforts to introduce and successfully implement new, advanced technology that could standardize the timing process and provide universally recognized accurate results have generally been a failureŠ until now.

This week, Student Sports of Torrance, Calif.‹the company that introduced the first high school football combines back in 1993‹in conjunction with Portland-based SPARQ, will unveil a new timing system at the nationally recognized Nike Football Training Camps that will revolutionize the way the 40 is measured. "SPARQ Timing" will eliminate the primary problem of previous electronic timing efforts‹the cumbersome time delays caused by setting and resetting the machines at quick-moving football events like combines and camps‹while removing the major drawback of hand timing‹the great amount of room for human error.

"The Nike Camp in Miami this Sunday will be the launch site for a new digital timing system unique to football," explains Andy Bark, Director of the Nike Football Training Camps. "We're excited to introduce what we are considering the foremost state-of-the art timing system in the country. The SPARQ Timing system was designed for the 'Football 40' as SPARQ took into account the football player, coach, parent and speed/strength coach when designing it."

Reflecting on the power a 40 time has, Bark realizes accuracy is crucial.

"I've been to over 20 pro days and it amazes me, first, at how important the 40-yard dash is to these NFL scouts, but more importantly, how great of an inexact science it is these scouts are using to time the players. Teams will hand out multi-million dollar contracts based a lot on what a player has run in the 40. The scary thing is I've been at the finish line and seen scouts test an athlete with a range in times from 4.69 to 4.91 and each guy thinks his stopwatch reading is the gospel truth."

Most experts agree that the biggest discrepancy in hand times occurs at the finish line when the human reaction time to the blur of a body passing by can vary by tenths of a second or two depending on whether the timer hit the stopwatch early or late. Bark says the SPARQ Timing system in Miami will prevent errant times caused by a quick or tardy triggerfinger.

"At the Nike Camp this weekend, we will have completely eliminated the potential of that error by using a laser beam to stop the clock (when the athlete crosses the finish line). I'm excited to use this great technology because over the last 14 years I've been accountable for the timing of over 50,000 high school players and I've seen first-hand how the hand-held error factor can make certain players faster and others slower."

Another major advantage to the new SPARQ Timing is the elimination of controversy regarding time accuracies, which often arises when multiple watches are used and timers may have misleading viewpoint angles leading them to record inaccurate times.

"Last year, at one Nike Football Training Camp," remembers Bark, "I had over 50 coaches and parents of the elite athletes dispute their son's 40 times, suggesting the timers had made errors. Certainly, it's a volatile issue for high school athletes because, unlike a Maurice Clarett who has money on the line, these players could win or lose a scholarship based on how accurate their 40 time is."

"SPARQ Timing has eliminated that possibility," the event director says, "and we're proud to have worked with SPARQ to help develop this system superior to anything out there. The standard is being set in regards to timing and we're very happy to be the first to introduce this in any football environment‹be it high school, college or pro."

Bark concludes with an interesting prediction.

"I will be surprised if every high school and college, combine and pro-day isn't using the SPARQ Timing system within nine months."