3-D TD jumps off screen

Excuse me, there's a San Diego Chargers cheerleader in your lap.

And that's way less scary than having LaDainian Tomlinson carrying the Oakland Raiders' defensive line into your lap.

The Thursday night NFL Network broadcast of the Chargers' 34-7 win over the visiting Raiders was shown in three theaters (one each in Los Angeles, New York and Boston) in three-dimensional or 3-D technology.

There were, by invitation only, about 400 people at the Mann's Chinese Six Theatre in Hollywood -- mostly industry and technology experts. Still, there was a collective gasp when the Chargers cheerleaders jogged onto the field.

And there was a collective "woo" when Tomlinson scored the game's first touchdown and a loud "aah" when Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers tossed a pass that was out of bounds and heading for . . . yes, again, your lap.

Standing in the hallway sweating bullets was John Modell, son of former Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell.

The cameras and technology used in this game were developed by the Burbank-based 3ality Digital, whose major investor is the Modell family. When the screen went briefly blank in the first quarter because of a satellite transmission issue, John Modell slapped his forehead and said, "Murphy's Law. It's always in effect."

This wasn't the first time 3-D technology has been used for a sporting event. And it won't be the last. Fox Sports announced this week that it would be broadcasting its BCS bowl games in about 150 theaters across the country in 3-D. Ticket prices and specific theater locations have yet to be announced.

In 2007, the NBA All-Star game was held in Las Vegas but broadcast live in 3-D at Mandalay Bay's theater. This was done in part to alleviate the pressure created by having the game in the 19,000-seat Thomas & Mack Center when demand for tickets was three times that number, said Steve Hellmuth, senior vice president of operations and technology for NBA Entertainment.

So the NBA in what Hellmuth said was a "scary yet ultimately thrilling" experiment, placed about 10 3-D cameras in Thomas & Mack and Hellmuth watched with the theater audience.

"It was realistic enough," Hellmuth said, "that people in the theater were standing up when fans in the arena stood up because they were trying to see over the heads of the arena fans."

Two other NBA games have been broadcast in 3-D, a 2007 Finals game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs at Quicken Loans Arena and a 2008 regular-season Clippers-Dallas Mavericks game.