# Sports Rules You Don't Think Are Necessary **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 23, 2012, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360 "2012-01-23T02:55:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/1 "2012-01-23T02:55:22Z")
I’m watching the NFL title game and I’m endlessly confused as to why a “False start” is even a penalty. Why should the offensive lineman NOT be able to flinch or jerk backwards to pull a defensive player offside? I can’t think of a good reason to have that rule. Another one I don’t get is baseball’s “appeal” rule, the idea being that if a baserunner misses a base, for instance - let’s say he runs from first to third and misses touching second - the fielding team has to do a formal “appeal” at second to have him called out. That strikes me as being idiotic. If the umpire saw the guy miss second base and the guy goes to third, he should just call the guy out. So come of with rules you thin are unnecessary in other sports. Note that I’m not looking for rules changes you want to make to change the sport in a fundamental way; I mean rules you think they could just get rid of or simplify. ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/2 "2012-01-23T03:32:39Z")
NHL: The goalie trapezoid. It serves no purpose. If the goalie can’t play the puck in the corners, why not tether him to the crease? ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/3 "2012-01-23T03:35:24Z")
False start is kind of important since its a primary concept that the offense is “set” at the start of the play. Change that and the whole nature of the offense will change. I’m not really a fan of the balk rule. Intended to penalize a pitcher for trying to fool the base runner, it never gets applied when a pitcher tries to fool a runner. It only seems to get applied when the pitcher twitches slightly in a tight spot. Then the penalty is huge, instead of just being a ball, it’s a whole base. Crazy. ---
**Author:** ![KellyCriterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@KellyCriterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyCriterion)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/4 "2012-01-23T03:40:32Z")
Offside in soccer (and possibly any sport). There seems no obvious reason for it, and protects against what would otherwise just be sloppy defending. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/5 "2012-01-23T03:54:56Z")
> [@KellyCriterion](#): > > Offside in soccer (and possibly any sport). > > There seems no obvious reason for it, and protects against what would otherwise just be sloppy defending. The offside rule is absolutely essential. Without it each team will park at least one forward in the other team’s box. Then the defending team needs to keep a defender at home. The game would devolve into two bunches of players at each end and a lot of hoofing the ball forward. ---
**Author:** ![KellyCriterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@KellyCriterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyCriterion)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/6 "2012-01-23T04:00:52Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > The offside rule is absolutely essential. Without it each team will park at least one forward in the other team’s box. Then the defending team needs to keep a defender at home. The game would devolve into two bunches of players at each end and a lot of hoofing the ball forward. Australian Rules Football has similar game mechanics to soccer, but has no offside rule, and it doesn’t descend in to “long bombs” to a lone forward and lone defender. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/7 "2012-01-23T04:22:24Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’m watching the NFL title game and I’m endlessly confused as to why a “False start” is even a penalty. Why should the offensive lineman NOT be able to flinch or jerk backwards to pull a defensive player offside? I can’t think of a good reason to have that rule. Because that’s unsportsmanlike, cheesy, and goes against the spirit of the competition. For the same reason, the defense isn’t allowed to jump across the line and then back really quick to try and draw a false start. Because it’s cheese. As to why the offense needs to be lined up and stationary in the first place, that was introduced for player safety. [Wikipedia link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_American_football#Violence_and_controversy_.281905.29): > [@](#): > > From its earliest days as a mob game, football was a violent sport.[5] The 1894 Harvard-Yale game, known as the “Hampden Park Blood Bath”, resulted in crippling injuries for four players; the contest was suspended until 1897. The annual Army-Navy game was suspended from 1894–1898 for similar reasons.[21] One of the major problems was the popularity of mass-formations like the flying wedge, in which a large number of offensive players charged as a unit against a similarly arranged defense. The resultant collisions often led to serious injuries and sometimes even death. > > The situation came to a head in 1905 when there were 19 fatalities nationwide. President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to shut down the game if drastic changes were not made. > […] > As a result of the 1905–1906 reforms, mass formation plays became illegal and forward passes legal. Bradbury Robinson, playing for visionary coach Eddie Cochems at St. Louis University, threw the first legal pass in a September 5, 1906 game against Carroll College at Waukesha. Other important changes, formally adopted in 1910, were the requirements that at least seven offensive players be on the line of scrimmage at the time of the snap, that there be no pushing or pulling, and that interlocking interference (arms linked or hands on belts and uniforms) was not allowed. These changes greatly reduced the potential for collision injuries. ---
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/8 "2012-01-23T04:33:04Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Another one I don’t get is baseball’s “appeal” rule, the idea being that if a baserunner misses a base, for instance - let’s say he runs from first to third and misses touching second - the fielding team has to do a formal “appeal” at second to have him called out. That strikes me as being idiotic. If the umpire saw the guy miss second base and the guy goes to third, he should just call the guy out. The baserunner can always go back and touch the base and fix the error of not touching it. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/9 "2012-01-23T07:29:51Z")
> [@cmosdes](#): > > The baserunner can always go back and touch the base and fix the error of not touching it. In theory I suppose that’s true, but why is a runner who missed a base allowed to score a run? MLB’s rules define a run as “the score made by an offensive player who advances from batter to runner and touches first, second, third and home bases in that order” – notice that the sentence ends there, instead of continuing to say: “, or who touches first and second base, then misses third base when no one on the opposing team is paying attention.” If an umpire sees a runner miss a bag before eventually reaching home base and returning to his dugout (which is most assuredly out of the basepaths), why should he not call said runner out? ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/10 "2012-01-23T07:36:04Z")
Tying NFL instant replay challenges to timeouts. A better rule would be a 5 yard penalty if you’re wrong. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/11 "2012-01-23T08:20:38Z")
That makes sense to me: the rationale is that instant replay slows down the game, which is bad, so if you do it unnecessarily at least you lose the ability to slow down the game for a comparable length of time later. What strikes me as totally unnecessary about replay is the whole “under the hood” process. As above, replay slowing down the game is a problem, and the league acknowledges this, yet the replay process goes like this: – Coach throws challenge flag. – Ref stops play and runs over to Coach. – Coach and Ref have a conversation. – Ref runs to a designated (or at least acceptable) spot on the field. – Ref explains that the ruling is being challenged. – Ref runs (often a long distance) over to the replay hood. – Ref watches replays. – Ref runs back to acceptable spot on the field. – Ref announces ruling. – (optional) Ref goes back to Coach to argue for 30 seconds. – Play resumes. Now, given that the league has decided to have a dedicated replay official up in the booth, this is farcical. Just let the replay official do the whole job. We can try letting him decide when to initiate all challenges, but if that results in too many stoppages we can still retain the challenge system so there’s a disincentive to review marginal calls. Seriously, these things take twice as long as they should. I would also note that running replay like they did in the 80’s would be significantly faster now, since the replay video is all digital, and thus more easily manipulated – used to be the replay official was stuck working with a VCR and a tiny, low-def screen. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/12 "2012-01-23T09:02:29Z")
> [@KellyCriterion](#): > > Australian Rules Football has similar game mechanics to soccer, but has no offside rule, and it doesn’t descend in to “long bombs” to a lone forward and lone defender. For a start, an Aussie rules field is substantially larger. A kick from one end of the pitch to the other in football/soccer is a lot easier than with Aussie Rules. > **[Australian rules football playing field](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football_playing_field)** > > An Australian rules football playing field is a venue where Australian rules football is played. > The playing field is typically a large oval-shaped grass surface, usually a modified cricket field, hence often known as an oval. These fields may vary especially for variations of the game. However, for official Australian Football League matches, strict requirement specifications must be met for stadiums. > Australian rules football grounds, even at the highest level of the game, have no fixed... > [@](#): > > The playing field may be approximately 150 metres (or more) long goal to goal and 135 metres (or more) wide boundary line to boundary line wing to wing. > **[Football pitch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soccer_field)** > > A football pitch or soccer field is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is typically made of natural turf or artificial turf, although amateur and recreational teams often play on dirt fields. Artificial surfaces are allowed only to be green in colour. > All line markings on the pitch form part of the area which they define. For example, a ball on or above the touchline... > [@](#): > > The two goal lines must be between 45 and 90 m (50 and 100 yd) and be the same length.[3] The two touch lines must also be of the same length, and be between 90 and 120 m (100 and 130 yd) in length.[3] However, in international matches, the goal lines must be between 64 and 75 m (70 and 80 yd) long and the touchlines must be between 100 and 110 m (110 and 120 yd). There is a specific style of football/soccer called the “long ball game” that is both rather boring to watch and considered by many to be a much less skillful version of the game, despite it (occasionally) being effective. It is most often seen in the lower leagues. The worry is that without the off side rule more and more teams would adopt the long ball game, thus making soccer/football a more boring game to watch (yes, yes, person that writes “it is already boring” is very funny indeed). > **[Long ball](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_ball)** > > In association football, a long ball is a pass attempt that moves the ball a long distance on the field via one long aerial kick from either a goalkeeper or a defender directly to an attacking player, with the ball generally bypassing the midfield. Rather than arrive at the feet of the receiving attacking player, the attacker is expected to challenge the opposing defence in the air, with other attacking players and midfielders arriving to try and take possession of the ball if it breaks loose.... ---
**Author:** ![Cumbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cumbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumbrian)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/13 "2012-01-23T12:11:22Z")
I ref rugby games and I have at least one: > [@](#): > > Toss. The referee organises the toss. One of the captains tosses a coin and the other > captain calls to see who wins the toss. The winner of the toss decides whether to kick off or > to choose an end. **If the winner of the toss decides to choose an end, the opponents must > kick off and vice versa**. Emphasis mine. I find this utterly ridiculous. So you had the good fortune to win the toss - if you choose an end from which to play, you also get first use of the ball? Why? If you choose an end, then surely the other team should get to choose whether they kick off or receive the kick off? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/14 "2012-01-23T12:35:27Z")
Tennis: **Let serves not counting.** Count 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/15 "2012-01-23T13:14:08Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Tennis: > > **Let serves not counting.** I think that would be unfair on the returner, as the unpredictable change in the pace and trajectory of the ball would make it almost impossible to time the ball. It would also lead to more games going with serve, which dominates enough already. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/16 "2012-01-23T13:26:44Z")
Rotation in voleyball. I’m sure it serves (served) the purpose of having all-round players, no ohter sports does it because it logical to have specialised players for each position. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/17 "2012-01-23T13:37:13Z")
American Football or Gridiron, if you will. NFL rules for hitting the quarterback ‘the so-called Brady rule, named for the famous and talented quarterback of the Boston Patriots’ have really crippled the game. “…prohibits a defender on the ground who hasn’t been blocked or fouled directly into the quarterback from lunging or diving at the quarterback’s lower legs.” This happened after Tom Brady tore his ACL and MCL a couple of seasons ago after being hit by a defender. I swear to OG, if it had been Tony Romo, this rule would not have been enacted. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/18 "2012-01-23T13:55:07Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > The offside rule is absolutely essential. Without it each team will park at least one forward in the other team’s box.. Yep. It turns in to nothing but lobbing the ball into the goal area and hoping for a lucky deflection. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/19 "2012-01-23T14:03:21Z")
It seems to me that the rule for NFL challenges should be that if you make one that’s upheld, it’s not subtracted from the total available to you. Your action has allowed the refs to fix an error they made, which should not be viewed as something to be discouraged. Yes, it would tend to increase the number of stoppages - which is the fault of the refs for making incorrect calls, not of the coaches making challenges. Certainly, streamlining the review process makes sense. Perhaps a “hybrid” system is possible, where a clear-cut decision (say, player’s foot was obviously on the line, or the ball obviously touched the ground) is made quickly by the replay official in the stands, whereas for a tough decision he defers to officials on the field who use the current scheme. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/20 "2012-01-23T14:06:43Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > It seems to me that the rule for NFL challenges should be that if you make one that’s upheld, it’s not subtracted from the total available to you. Your action has allowed the refs to fix an error they made, which should not be viewed as something to be discouraged. > > Yes, it would tend to increase the number of stoppages - which is the fault of the refs for making incorrect calls, not of the coaches making challenges. > > Certainly, streamlining the review process makes sense. Perhaps a “hybrid” system is possible, where a clear-cut decision (say, player’s foot was obviously on the line, or the ball obviously touched the ground) is made quickly by the replay official in the stands, whereas for a tough decision he defers to officials on the field who use the current scheme. I thought that was already in place. In other words, I agree wholeheartedly. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360.md?page=2)