Before NFL goalposts were moved from the goal line to the back line, and the hash marks were moved in to line up with the uprights (circa 1974), it could be very difficult for a kicker to get enough loft and a straight enough angle to hit a field goal from near the goal line. A simple intentional delay-of-game penalty and a placement five yards back would actually make the kick easier, despite being slightly longer horizontally.
Yes, and this is generally done in the name of safety. For example, a driver may be coming in a too fast to make a chicane. It would be safer for him to go straight through the runoff area than try to force his car around the turn, possibly taking out other cars with him. As long as no advantage is gained, the officials are fine with it. Otherwise, a driver may be tempted to create a dangerous situation if he knew he would be penalized for using the safe escape route.
I think my point about taking deliberate penalties.
In football, teams do take them, but almost only for strategic purposes to gain or lose yardage. However, the defense in American football won’t start comitting penalties left and right in order to catch up.
However, in basketball, the team that is behind will start fouling, i.e. breaking the rules, in order to mount a comeback.
But an American football team (or a Canadian one) isn’t going to start taking extra whacks at the QB and drawing 15-yard penalties in order to catch up.
Yet in basketball, you start hacking the player with the ball when you are behind late in the game in order to catch up.
And, of course, in many organized sports the desire to win is far greater than the desire for honesty.
I saw a KU College basketball player once raise his hand to object to a foul called against an opposing team member - and he admitted that he, not his opponent, had actually committed the foul.
His coach (I don’t remember the name, I don’t follow sports) called him off the floor, and dressed him down for almost a minute - according to the player, in the University Daily Kansan article, not because he had fouled but because he had admitted it. And afterwards, the player’s name became sort of a running joke on-campus due to the immense “outrage” by the “sports fans”. :rolleyes:
Based on that example, what incentive did the other players on the KU team have for being honest?
Not very darn much. Disgusting.
Thanks for the responses folks!
I remember watching a game of cricket between New Zealand and someone else (Australia or South Africa I think). A fielder (Jeremy Coney?) apparently caught a batsman out with a low diving catch. The umpires quickly gave the batsman out but the NZ team called him back in because the fielder reckons he didn’t catch it. Not really taking a penalty but it is making a decision that they didn’t need to do which was against their best inerests.
In cricket it used to be regarded as “the right thing to do” to declare yourself out in situations where the ball took the faintest edge on the bat and was subsequently caught. Nowadays, almost all players will only “walk” (back to the pavillion) when the umpire has given them out.
Probably already mentioned but, sometimes in football when the offense is at the opponents 35-50 yard line on fourth down, I’ve seen offenses take intentional “delay of game” penelties to give the punter room to work. Some of the more shady defenses have also been known to DECLINE these penelties.
Also FWIW…
Mo Vaugn today was hit in the foot by a ball, something that SHOULD HAVE given him first base, but he kept his mouth closed and stayed at the plate. He singled.
In the Centenary Test at the MCG Rod Marsh called back Derek Randall after he was given out caught. Randall went on to score a century and nearly win the game for England.
Jimmy Connors deliberately double faulted after receiving a call in his favour against John Newcombe in the Australian Open. He once suggested that players call the lines like in social tennis. He thought that even the worst whingers would give an opponent the benefit of the doubt so as not to be seen as a cheat.
I was going to mention cricket as well, although it is not like it was in the old days[sup]TM[/sup]
I watched a limited-overs game in South Africa between Western Province and Transvaal, the two great rivals of the age, where Clive Rice (Tvl) was bowled on a no-ball, which is not out, but because of the crowd noise, he didn’t hear the umpires call and began to walk toward the pavilion. One of the WP fielders quickly ran in an removed one of the stumps with the ball, running him out (since he had left his crease). The umpire had no choice but to give him out and Rice, furious at the “poor sportsmanship”, stormed off the pitch. Just as he got off, the bowler (having had a little conference with his captain) called him back on, conceding that the dismissal was unfair (although legal). For several minutes, Rice refused to return, but eventually he did - as I recall, WP won the game in the end, so it all ended happily 
for me at least 
Grim
One of golf’s most famous anecdotes involves Bobby Jones, who called a one-stroke penalty on himself at the 1925 U.S. Open, for inadvertantly moving his ball. Nobody else had seen him do it, so he could have gotten away with it. In the end, he lost the title by one stroke.
But for years afterward, when people attempted to honor him for his integrity and good sportsmanship, he deflected the praise, saying “you might just as well praise a man for not robbing a bank.”
On November 16, 1940, Cornell beat Dartmouth 7-3 on a fifth down. The officials miscounted and Cornell got an extra play. Upon review, Cornell forfeited the game to Dartmouth 3-0.
In 1990, Colorado got a fifth down because of an official’s mistake and beat Missouri 33-31. Colorado, who went on to share the national title with Georgia Tech, gave sportsmanship the finger and said they would allow the game’s result to stand.
Just to add another complication to the idea of sportsmanship - one of my fencing coaches had a story about a tournament where the directing for one of his bouts was just terrible. After the director had incorrectly awarded him a point, he (my coach) tried to decline it. The director felt insulted by the implied criticism and wouldn’t let him decline the point. So even if a competitor tried to correct a bad call you still have a problem with officials who don’t want to admit they’re not perfect.
Most people I know seem to feel that a few bad calls are inherent in any sport. Some go for you and some go against you and it pretty much evens out in the end.
A fifth down is more than just one official’s fault. It’s the whole crew’s fault. And the chain gang’s. It is completely inexcusable. There were seven officials and four guys running the chains (at least).
I’ve seen it happen in high school games a couple of times, but fortunately it didn’t affect the outcome of the game.
As for Mo Vaughn’s HBP (or not), the Hit by Pitch is one of the few plays in baseball where a player can argue with an umpire and actually get him to change the call. The player can point to evidence, most famously shoe polish on the ball, but also red marks on your arms, bruises, etc.
In an English Premiere League game some years ago Alan Shearer “called off” a penalty kick. He was racing for the ball and the goalkeeper dove and grabbed the ball. Shearer jumped over him but his foot hit the goalkeeper slightly and it caused Shearer to go down. From the ref’s perspective it looked like a foul which would result in a penalty kick. Shearer got up and waved his hands to tell the ref he hadn’t been fouled.
I believe the ref had already blown the whistle and pointed to the penalty spot. If not, he was at least running toward the penalty area with the clear intention of calling a penalty.
Colorado coach Bill McCartney went on to found Promise Keepers, devoted to preaching to men about how to conduct their lives morally.