I know you’re in jest, but to clarify: the same rule applies as to any other country - these guys have to have the Dutch Nationality, and one of the terms of Suriname independance has since been interchangable nationalities, under certain circumstances. I know, it’s comparable to the Irish/Welsh situation. Sort of.
Besides that, guys like Kluivert and Seedorf were born and raised in Amsterdam, as far as I know.
No touch icing in hockey. They have this in the Q and, after 7 years, I have never seen anyone hurt in a race for the puck. Won’t happen in the NHL until someone gets killed though.
I see from this site that it hasn’t been decided how long a punt has to be for someone to recover. It better be a fairly long punt, at least 40 yards beyond the line of scrimmage or else it would be too easy to recover.
Basketball
Make it illegal to throw the ball at a member of the other team so it will bounce off the opponent and go out of bounds. This becomes a technical foul.
Baseball
The catcher can’t block the plate; the runner can’t charge into the catcher.
Pro Football
Almost any change to overtime rules so that both teams get a chance. I’d go with something like the college rule, but both team get kickoffs instead of just starting at the 20, or wherever it is.
College Football
Make halftime shorter. I’m falling asleep.
That distance seems too far given that the XFL’s main interest is pain.
Phew, good thing that’s been sorted out!
“There’s only one Tony Cascarino…” 
The rules CLEARLY STATE that no fielder may block a base or home plate. EVER. If they have the ball, fine, but then they aren’t blocking, they’re just making a tag.
If the umpires don’t enforce the rule, you’re screwed.
plnnr - I hear this all the time, and I find it to be an extremely fallacious argument. Golf is not the same as baseball. Neither are tennis or any number of indoor games where spectators are expected to behave themselves. The environment is different. The players are different. The generally accepted customs are different. If you can’t abide by this very simple requirement, don’t go. It’s that simple. (Me, I’d find it a little hard to keep silent during each and every swing, but that’s why I don’t watch golf live. Well, one of the reasons, anyway.)
ruadh - I’m pretty sure the refs wouldn’t have any trouble discerning a fake injury, provided one of them saw the player off the field each time. Some instances are so incredibly blatant (there was one player during the last World Cup who jumped off his stretcher), even the dumbest ref wouldn’t miss them. At any rate, the foul on the “perpetrator” remains the same whether or not the ref misses the fake injury, so I see no harm in pulling out the big gun when they do catch one.
Re: football overtime
Instead of a kickoff, the winner of the coin toss has the option of taking the ball on its own 10 or giving the other team the ball on their 10. The way it is now, with kickoffs from the 30, the team that wins the toss and receives has much too big an advantage. If they have to take it deep in their own end, they can still drive all the way to a winning field go but have to go a lot farther to do so. Likewise, a team with a strong defense might actually find it preferable to give up the ball; if they force a punt, it’ll be that much easier to get the winning score (this is possible under the current system, but much harder).
Baseball: Batters may not wear body armor unless they have a bona fide injury. There should be at least a little bit of fear of being hit by a pitch. You may wear all the body armor you want while in the outfield.
Golf: If you are a top 25 golfer and win a car at a tournament, you must give it to charity. What they fuck do you need a car for?
Table Tennis: Play slower, y’all go too fast for me.
Every Other Sport: I win
A quick web search confirms that you’re right about Kluivert, but Seedorf was in fact born in Surinam.
Absolutely laughable IMHO, but I was more responding to the idea of automatic red cards for diving. I don’t like diving any more than anyone else, but I’ve seen enough instances where nobody except the ref thought the player was diving to know this is a really bad idea.
ruadh, as far as Seedorf is concerned, Surinam can have him back
But then, you already knew about my great appreciation of Seedorfs input in our national team.
However: did you see the pass he played at Sükür (sp?) yesterday? Breathtaking, and a superb goal by Sükür to boot.
Now why is it that Clarence only takes corners at knee height, and penalties at stadium roof height when it comes to the national team??
Damn, that kid pisses me off. OK, sorry for the hijack - carry on.
NFL Europe has field goals worth four points if they’re over 50 yards. That seems like an innovation worth exploring in the NFL.
NFL Europe is also played in 50,000 capacity stadiums, with 200 people watching.
Soccer: No penalty for injuries unless the injured party leaves the pitch for, say, at least 15 minutes. If you’re not that badly injured, quit whining. If you want to fake, fine, but get off the field.
Professional Darts: A slowly rotating dartboard. I think this would be cool, and make a 180 score really impressive.
Ping-pong/Table Tennis: One of those oscillating table fans to blow across the table during the match.
Snooker: Cushions that make little “boing” noises when the ball hits them. No reason, really.
Basketball: One automatic free throw per game for every player not currently endorsing a product of any kind.
Auto racing: Screw the physics of it – I want ramps and jumps and loops and other Hot Wheels type things. And maybe a criss-cross too.
No giving thanks to God when you win. You know, “God helped us to win today”. I’ve always wanted someone to say “Yeah, we were doing great, until Jesus made me miss the ball.”
College football: All players must be able to speak a coherent and grammatically correct sentence in English.
Baseball: More than four foul balls, and the batter has to switch to a wiffle bat.
Bowling: A less confusing scoring system would be nice.
Cricket: Given that test matches can take up to five days, anyone who watches cricket on a regular basis is not allowed to complain about the length of American football or baseball games.
Boxing: Why are there rules in boxing? Is beating the living crap out of people okay as long as there are rules? Should there be referees for muggings and lynchings?
(Actually, I have some rules for boxing: ONE title per class – none of this three or four different heavyweight titles stuff. And the next fight should be Mike Tyson vs. Don King. I might even go see that.)
Rugby: What’s not to like? The ball gets dropped, they pick it up and keep going; no namby-pamby padding like US football; plus there’s that haka sub[/sub] thing the All-Blacks do…
Professional wrestling: Must involve actual wrestling.
Hockey When the goalie comes out of the crease, he can be checked just like any other player. Especially when they go behind the net to handle a puck that’s been dumped in. As it is now they go back and slap it out and a opposing player can’t touch him. I hate this rule as it currently stands.
Basketball Change the goaltending rule to the same as international rules for both college and professionals. After the ball his off the rim and its still in the cylinder let 'em take it off. They should probably go ahead and just play by all the international rules. If the NBA and American college teams play by international rules, whenever the USA plays against international teams they would already be comfortable with rules and, for better or worse, I believe you’d see more lopsided scores again (in favor of the USA.) I know this sounds bad, but it would more accurately display the talent and level of play of each country.
Dave
Byzantine wrote:
Don’t mince words, Byz, tell us how you really feel.
jr8 - Bowling and boxing! How could I forget them.
All righty…
Boxing: Throw out the stupid point system. This is a fight, not a dance competition. If a fight goes the distance, the judges vote for the winner right then and there (they can also vote for a draw, although I doubt that many would do that). Even better, have them get up in the ring and announce their decisions one by one.
Sorry if this offends anyone, but I have had it with the point system covering up endless horrible, brainless, insane, unthinkable, wrong decisions. Let’s bring a sembalnce of accountability back.
While I’m at any, any boxer who disqualifies himself forfeits 90% of his share of the purse. If we’re going to hold judges accountable, it’s only fair that the boxers be held to the same standard, too.
Bowling: I’ve seen various scoring systems on arcade bowling games. Here’s my idea. Strike - 20 points, spare - 10 points plus the number of pins on the first roll. I think there’s way too much emphasis on consecutive strikes, and I’m tired of having a strike be worth only 20 points because I missed ONE PIN in the next frame. And why is it that you need to roll 12 strikes in a 10-frame game to score 300? Furthermore, I think getting a good first roll should count for something. Strikes are still worth more than anything, of course.
I want to see NHL hockey played on International sized rinks. Oh, and eliminate the last six expansion teams (enough already!!).
Cheers,
Hodge