What Scott Adams is proposing is a system that would allow individuals to compete in team rowing or tug-o-war competitions with individuals from other cities/countries/continents via the internet, which would be new technology. It's sort of like the transition from local multiplayer on a game console to online play. Home multiplayer video games have been around since the 80's, but it's not until recently that they've made their way online. The internet is a great tool because it ensures that you never suffer from a lack of available teammates/competitors. In the olden days, your ability to partipate was dependant on those around you having the same interest. Scott suggests setting up gyms for this kind of thing, but the beauty is that with the proper equipment, anyone would be able to compete from home. This could be a boon for people living in more remote/rural areas who want to compete in team athletic events.

Plus, there's all kinds of other neat things that you can have the tech do with regards to scoring, like having a system to scale/normalize scores so that a team of 10 adults can compete against a team of 10 children and come out with roughly a 50/50 win ratio.