Rules You Would Like To See Changed in Sports

[DanOregon]

Since the WC thread seemed to draw some interest, figure it deserved its own thread. We've already seen rules we thought sacrosanct go by the wayside in college football, baseball and even soccer with its hydration breaks. What should be next?

And let's get the ball being fumbled out of the endzone resulting in a touchback out of the way.

I'll throw in the re-entry rule. Let players sub in and out as much as the coaches choose in soccer and baseball.

 

[MTM]

In hockey, no more automatic delay of game if a puck is shot over the glass. Let the officials decide if it was intentional.

 

[Webster]

In soccer — stopped clock rather than injury time and no offensive players in the 6 yard box on any corner or free kick.

Basketball — eliminate coach’s challenges and replay review except for flagrants. Also, no more hack-a-Shaq (Mitch). My shoot for the moon is to move the 3 point line to a flat line from something like 27 feet.

 

[BTExpress]

The "bonus" situation in basketball means one shot plus the ball. You cannot benefit from fouling unless you earn it by stealing the inbounds pass.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

****, this is easy. Just call out MLB's failures.

Kill the DH. Kill the extra-inning runner. Bring back 7-inning games in true doubleheaders. Ban day-night doubleheaders.

 

[dixiehack]

The "bonus" situation in basketball means one shot plus the ball. You cannot benefit from fouling unless you earn it by stealing the inbounds pass.

I would say double bonus but otherwise this.

No more penalties or DQs if a pro golfer signs an incorrect scorecard. Like we don’t know who shot what already.

 

[Pilot]

Um… balks are often stupid. I’d fix that.

— Some foul balls count at strikes and some don’t? Wtf? Fix it.

— In some basketball leagues and divisions sometimes a timeout allows you to advance the ball to the other end of the court. wtf? Dumb.

— Ski jumping is partially a judged event. Dumb. Longest = winner, however you get there.

— You need to prove your competence for any gymnastics or ice skating trick before the event, and once you’ve shown you can do it safely, do whatever the hell you are able. No restrictions.

— I’m not sure there is a real way to make sense of “was that a catch?” in football, so it stays, I guess.

But really if I’m sports czar for 24 hours, any hour not spent fixing college sports is an hour wasted. Bundled TV rights, 8/10-team regional conferences. (It’ll take the other 23 hours and 45 minutes to figure out how to pay players within some kind of salary cap system.)

If I end up with a few extra minutes, I’ll fix spotting the ball in football.

 

[tapintoamerica]

****, this is easy. Just call out MLB's failures.

Kill the DH. Kill the extra-inning runner. Bring back 7-inning games in true doubleheaders. Ban day-night doubleheaders.

1) Keep the universal DH.
We cannot go back to the charade of pitchers hitting. It's the only thing in sports in which failure is not only tolerated; it is viewed as necessary. Pitchers don't want to reach base lest they pull a hammy.
2) Kill the Manfred Man rule.
Perhaps compromise and put the Manfred Man on first instead of second. But it's gimmickry, and it's an advantage to the visitor.*
3) Big no on the 7-inning doubleheader games.
4) Kill split-admission doubleheaders

* It probably isn't an advantage, but my team never wins extra-inning games at home.

 

[Batman]

2) Kill the Manfred Man rule.
Perhaps compromise and put the Manfred Man on first instead of second. But it's gimmickry, and it's an advantage to the visitor.*

* It probably isn't an advantage, but my team never wins extra-inning games at home.

Man, you'd hate the sudden death rule they're using in some of the minor and independent leagues.
After 10 innings, the home team gets the option to bat or play defense. The team that bats then starts the inning with a runner on first. If they score, the batting team wins. If they make three outs without scoring, the defensive team wins.

 

[Batman]

Could soccer offside be fixed if they made one subtle tweak?
Instead of any part of the body being past the defender resulting in offside, make it either the entire body or both feet (or even one foot) needs to be past the defender for it to be offside.
Seems like it would eliminate some of those ridiculous offside calls where the offensive player reacts faster than the defender and is called for leaning too much, without violating the spirit of the rule.

 

[dixiehack]

For years, the only replay system I’ve liked was tennis. No judgement call and near-instant results (held just an extra beat to build a little drama). Then I went to the SEC Baseball Tournament and the ABS system works the same way. So keep that one too. Everything else in the trash.

 

[Pickleballgolds]

Serving tennis players get one ball from the ball kids; hit it.
Tour pros (golf) get 4:15 to play 18 holes in groups of three, 3:45 in twos. When these time limits are reached, you are given a bogey for every hole not completed.
Horse races are run at exact distances. A six-furlong race is not 40 feet longer at one track, 32 feet at another, 12 at another, 55 feet at another …
A shooting foul is one in which the player is in the act of releasing the ball from his hands; there is no such thing as a shooting foul when the ball is at knee level.
No more than one timeout in any three-minute period of game time (college basketball).
A 12-ounce beer at every U.S. arena and stadium is capped at $10.

 

[Batman]

Speaking of offsides, one I would change is offsides in high school football. If a defender flinches and puts so much as a fingernail in the neutral zone it's offsides. I'd change it to be like the NFL or college, where you can get back if you don't make contact or pass an offensive player.
I'd also make it a penalty for the QB to clap in an effort to get the defense to jump. It annoys the hell out of me. You clap, you snap. That's my rule.

 

[I Should Coco]

Could soccer offside be fixed if they made one subtle tweak?
Instead of any part of the body being past the defender resulting in offside, make it either the entire body or both feet (or even one foot) needs to be past the defender for it to be offside.
Seems like it would eliminate some of those ridiculous offside calls where the offensive player reacts faster than the defender and is called for leaning too much, without violating the spirit of the rule.

That would make it similar to hockey's offsides, where as long as some portion of the player is touching the blue line as the puck enters the offense zone, play on. Right?

 

[Kato]

No more offside replay to overturn goals in hockey — unless the goal is scored immediately off the rush (I’ll accept passes on an odd-man chance). But a goal that comes after 20-30 or more seconds of possession in the zone? Come on. Winding the clock back to check the zone entry over the blue line? It’s ridiculous. Offsides gets missed and play goes on. Deal with it and defend.

 

[qtlaw]

No salary caps in any major sports. You don't want to compete with others who ARE willing to pay more? Get out.

 

[qtlaw]

The "bonus" situation in basketball means one shot plus the ball. You cannot benefit from fouling unless you earn it by stealing the inbounds pass.

Somehow this makes me remember Dean Smith's "brilliant" 4 corners offense. No I don't want to see that.

 

[BTExpress]

A touchdown is scored when a player literally touches down in the end zone with any part of his body while possessing the ball. No "breaking the plane" if you don't land in the end zone.

Somehow this makes me remember Dean Smith's "brilliant" 4 corners offense. No I don't want to see that.

It shouldn't. You still have to shoot within 30 seconds. Opponent just can't play the "hope he misses his FT(s) and even if he makes them we can still gain by making a 3-pointer" game.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

1) Keep the universal DH.
We cannot go back to the charade of pitchers hitting. It's the only thing in sports in which failure is not only tolerated; it is viewed as necessary. Pitchers don't want to reach base lest they pull a hammy.
2) Kill the Manfred Man rule.
Perhaps compromise and put the Manfred Man on first instead of second. But it's gimmickry, and it's an advantage to the visitor.*
3) Big no on the 7-inning doubleheader games.
4) Kill split-admission doubleheaders

* It probably isn't an advantage, but my team never wins extra-inning games at home.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

No salary caps in any major sports. You don't want to compete with others who ARE willing to pay more? Get out.

No salary caps. Yes salary floors.