That would shave maybe a minute off the average game.
True, but I think it may introduce another problem as the ref then has another subjective judgement call to make.
At least under the current system if it is a direct free kick offence in the box it is a penalty. However, if the ref were able to refer that judgement call to an off-field TMO then your suggestion would be workable.
As for what the in-between set piece would be, how about placing the ball anywhere on the 18yd box arc-line and taking a shot just like a penalty?
Close enough to tempt a shot but the keeper has a much better chance of saving it.
I think something like this would be the ideal sanction for the holding, shirt pulling and obstruction at corners. I hate that, and seeing as refs don’t want to give a penalty (even though they should) maybe that would be a way to manage it.
get rid of the designated hitter
putting a time limit on time between pitches would hurt the pitcher/batter dynamic
delaying it and putting the time on your own terms is part of the battle
F1 is a tricky one. You can’t standardise everything as then it takes away from the cutting edge development of different designers and manufacturers.
I don’t like the “triple points” suggestion from Bernie, that seems very clunky.
I’d like to see the weekend run two races, each half the full length but one run in qualifying order and a subsequent one in reverse order.
NASCAR
[ul]
[li]No restrictor plates.[/li][li]No past champion provisional after 5 years. [/li][li]If you didn’t finish 50% of the laps from previous 3 races, you must post a speed in the top 20 to qualify.[/li][li]Second visit to track in same year is a clockwise circut.[/li][li]Tracks over 1 mile are 150 laps. Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600 remain unchanged.[/li][li]Intentionally taking someone out is a 2 race suspension. Threatening to do so is one race suspension. Therefore, following through on threat would be 3 races, so shut up with the tough talk. Do it if you’re going to do it and take the medicine, just don’t be an ass about it either. Two violations here means the car is also suspended–no replacement driver, no owner points. Answer to your sponsor if you can’t control yourself, and pick your battle.[/li][/ul]
Rugby Union:
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Make the game 13 a side. The time has come, particularly at the top level, to accept that the players are much fitter than when the game was amateur and that there are too many players on the field to easily create attacking opportunities. I’d remove both flankers. The knock on effect would be each member of the forwards would have to do more running and more breakdown work, meaning the forwards would likely become leaner and faster, as opposed to huge and bulky. It also means that there will be more space for attacking opportunities to open up, with a premium being put on exploitation of that space. All this would ultimately depower the scrum further, which should make it easier to referee (thus further tidying up an area which is taking too much time out of the game at the elite level) and mean fewer bodies at breakdown, making that easier to referee - whilst also not removing the competition at the set pieces, the opportunity for mauls and close contact forward orientated play, should that be what a team wishes to do.
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The use of the Television Match Official has gone too far. It needs to be reined back in, as it is causing lots of the refs to check every last little detail and is causing delay. Empower the refs to make most of the decisions, allowing them to go back only to the phase of play from which a try is scored to check those scores, as was the original intent. Going back multiple phases is overkill. I can see an argument for the TMO getting involved to clear up foul play - so that the team that is offended against can benefit if someone is yellow/red carded rather than serving a ban well after the fact against other teams. But that should be the limit.
As discussed in another thread, I find the extra point after a touchdown in American football boring. I didnt even realize it until recently, but the clock is stopped during this time. It makes the whole thing feel really redundant and I figure most people take the opportunity for a quick piss before kickoff.
Not sure the best way to improve it, and don’t want it to be rugby-lite, but just a few ideas:
-extra point remains, but the kickoff position is set further back (say, ten or fifteen yards)
-A sucessful 2 point conversion gives the standard kickoff position, but a failure starts further back.
-Same as above, but the attempt on the 40yd line for a kick (or run). Start on the standard kickoff position success or fail.
This would add a third option and varying levels of risk/reward. You could take the normal sissy extra point, but it might give your opponent better field position. Or take a risk of only 6 points.
-Field goals attempted from beyond the 45 yard line are worth 4 points.
-The clock is active during extra point attempts. If time expires on the quarter when a touchdown is made, no extra point can be attempted.
I’d say just the opposite and bring the NL into the modern world of baseball. Since the introduction of the DH in 1973, the game has become even more specialized with long relievers, setup men. lefty specialists and closers. That specialization in bullpen roles doesn’t fit with the pitcher still having a spot in the lineup. Trust me, you won’t miss the ‘suspense’ of seeing a manager employing the double switch.
I don’t think they’d ever put a clock on a pitcher with men on base. I believe it only applies to bases empty. But with bases clear, here’s no reason to give a pitcher more than 20 secs between pitches.
RU refs have too much power and automony. I understand that they need it in RU, to deal with all the scrotum pulling and arsehole bothering, but it has created an undesirabe situation where each refs interpretation of the rules varies significantly and has a massive, unwanted effect on the game. Mix in a layer of obsequious authority fetishising and they’re the last group of officials we should be looking to for influence on the beautiful game.
It’s often said with football that you can’t improve perfection, but there’s no doubt that the instigation of the backpass rule had a hugely positive impact. Liverpool FC have never won the English premiership since this rule was implemented - prima facie evidence for the rule’s righteousness. So there’s always scope for improvement. Personally I think it’s a little too easy for teams to park the bus and frustrate, but only a little. I can’t think of a fix for this that is gentle enough just to nudge the balance back the other way.
perhaps, but I think that the ugliest sight in sport is the snarling, dummy-spitting footballer haranguing the ref. I think it needs to move far more to the model of the authoritarian RFU referee even if it doesn’t reach quite those extremes. To be fair though, there are many other sports where the ref’s word is law and the players seem able to adapt to that.
MMA - Drop the 10 point must scoring system and score the fight holistically (ala Pride)
- Reduce the weight given to a takedown in and of itself and focus on what is
done after the takedown
- Assess penalties for 2nd a subsequent rules violations (if inadvertent) or after
the first infraction if intentional
- Make sure that the refs understand that a groin shot results in a 5 minute
recovery time-out but eyepokes etc. do not (though I think they should)
- Form an official commission to provide rankings and guidance universally
as opposed to the mix ‘n’ match system now in use.
I agree that scrums need to be fixed. Personally I think having the two front rows bind together first, and then have the locks and back three bind on to the now set front rows ought to do it. Removing flankers seems too radical to me, however your point that tries are harder to score seems borne out by this analysis of the 2012 Six Nations. SO I guess if removing the flankers leads to more open play I guess I’ll support it. Maybe trial it in a lower level competition for a couple of years to see?
That source also shows just how bad the scrums are at the top level - almost half result in a collapse, a third are reset and 40% result in a free kick or penalty. Interestingly lower level scrums seem much more effective - with only 1 in five collapsing. I’ve no idea why this should be.
The thing about this though is that I don’t think the scoring system is broken. Yeah, lot’s of people are complaining about the PAT but the points make sense to me:
2 pts – Safety
3 pts – field goal
6 pts – touchdown
1 pts – PAT
7 for the TD is standard and a TD is worth just a little bit more than two field goals. So the extra point is almost a “gimme” but I don’t think it should be eliminated.
I can see moving the PAT back 20 yards or if it’s completely gone have the scoring team declare that they want to go for two.
American football.
Laser sensors at the goal line or out-of-bounds lines. Have them keyed to the football to see if they really crossed the line. Same thing for first downs. If the laser lines aren’t practical, is GPS precise enough?
Or it means that fouls in the box don’t get called because the ref feels a PK is too big of a penalty. The foul/reward system in soccer isn’t the best.
I don’t really see this as commonplace in football - I mean you’re right it’s a disgrace when it happens, but how often do you see a Roy Keane style, full monty cursing at the ref nowadays? I think because the worst examples are so egregious that people use it as a stick to beat football with. Refs can get played by teams a lot in the prem, as they can in a lot of sports (e.g. RU games refereed by McCaw, R. - Christchurch) but instances of them losing control, getting pushed around by players seem very rare.
The simulation and cheating is a different story - no question that is a big and shameful problem.
Neither would work technically. A laser is light and can be blocked by the ball carrier and the defenders. GPS is nowhere near precise enough: it looks like it can only get within three meters for public use – about ten yards.
I don’t see this as being a major problem. On average a team uses three relief pitchers a game, so cutting the warmup pitches to three might save you, what, twenty seconds a game? Thirty? And once a pitcher gets hurt, they’ll blame the rule change. You’d never make it stick.
The delay’s in the batters. I think it was Bill James who pointed out that in the 1970s Mike Hargrove was called “The Human Rain Delay” for his incessant stalling when he hit, but that if he played today no one would notice because EVERYONE is like him now. Batters screwing around is the bulk of the problem.
Football: The ball is played from where it goes down, no matter where on the line that may be. If it goes offsides, then it is played 15 feet from the nearest sideline.
Baseball: Get rid of the Designated Hitter (though I fear that what will eventually happen is just the opposite)
All Sports: Either do away with Instant Replay altogether, or make virtually all aspects of every play ‘reviewable’. I’m sick and tired of hearing “the call was wrong, and the replay clearly shows it, but unfortunately that particular aspect of the play is not reviewable”. If the idea is to ‘get the call right’, then fix the rules so that the call can be corrected whenever it’s demonstrably wrong. And if that’s too difficult, then just go back to the ‘old way’, when the refs still got the calls right 95% of the time. But it’s sickening to sit around waiting for five minutes, when it’s obvious to anyone with a passing understanding of the game what the correct call should be, and still have the call not be ‘corrected’ due to some esoteric subsection of the instant replay rules.