# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/141 "2012-01-27T15:51:39Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > NFL replay rule: Just apply the last-two-minutes procedures to the entire game. The red-flag business is farcical and clogs up the game even worse than pitchers batting. > > NFL excessive celebration rule: Fuck that nonsense. Let 'em celebrate! Let the fans enjoy it too! Where’s the harm? OK, taunting is out, but it’s \*always \*been out. It isn’t hard to tell the difference, either. Replay: Parts of the game move slow enough as it is…if every slightly iffy play had to get reviewed by the booth or head referee under his little hood, it would tack on a lot more time than the challenge flag does. Since coaches are worried about wasting a time out, they aren’t likely to throw it on a play that could go either way, or isn’t a “big” play. Celebration: I think the current rules are pretty good…no taunting, and no props. I remember a few years ago one player had hidden a cell phone under one of the pylons, and after making a TD, took it out and pretended to make a call with it…that was just stupid. If nothing else, it made him look like a damned fool. What’s wrong with just spiking the ball? Or jumping up and tossing it over the goalpoast? Or jumping into the stands and hugging a few fans? ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/142 "2012-01-27T17:58:23Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > If nothing else, it made him look like a damned fool. For the record, there was nothing that Joe Horn could have done to make himself more foolish than simply being Joe Horn. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/143 "2012-01-28T00:25:57Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > And baseball needs some type of time clock. Pitchers are only allowed 10 seconds after the last pitch to throw again. There’s already a rule limiting them to 12 seconds once they’re set. What baseball needs is to \*enforce \*the rule. What seems to stretch out AB’s the most is the constant Og-damned stepping out every single batter does, after every pitch, to tug on his gloves or scratch his balls or just stare into space. It didn’t use to be such a problem as it is now. Just stand in there and take your swings like a man, damn ya! Oh, you need a rule to make sure you do? How about one limiting batters to one stepout per AB (OK, except for unrelated stoppages in play, like pitching changes). Or maybe that’s just an enforcement issue, too - encourage umps not to grant time automatically anymore. > [@](#): > > And after the last out of an inning, the other team has two minutes to get on the field and ready for play. > > I might watch the game then. Take it up with the networks. They need to get through all their commercials before the game restarts. The delays there ultimately come from the need for money. Another one: Basketball, at all levels. Eliminate the rules permitting endless timeouts in the last minute or so. One, max, and only a fifteen-second one. Get that last minute done in less than half an hour sometime and “I might watch the game then.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/144 "2012-01-28T00:27:04Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > The difference with golf being that all aspects of a player’s score are entirely in the player’s hands. There is no opponent (other than the course). Name another sport that has a professional level where that is true. Just about all the field events in track-and-field. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/145 "2012-01-28T00:40:03Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Another one: Basketball, at all levels. Eliminate the rules permitting endless timeouts in the last minute or so. One, max, and only a fifteen-second one. Get that last minute done in less than half an hour sometime and “I might watch the game then.” 😉 The time is made up in other places. Teams aren’t given more timeouts in the last 2 mins. In fact, there’s a rule specifically to deal with the slowing down of the game. Teams save their time outs for the end to use in close situations, so the slowness is made up with a faster game before those last 2 mins. The rule they made up to speed the game along a little bit is that fouling someone without the ball in the last 2 mins is a technical foul and the aggrieved team gets the ball. This was to prevent those hack-a-Shaq strategies where Shaq was endlessly put on the line in the last few minutes as soon as his team, the Lakers, threw the ball in to anyone. George Karl, I think, is still a proponent of that strategy as late as a couple years ago, I think, and he would hack until the 2:00 mark. I’ve seen teams try to do that to Dwight Howard as well ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/146 "2012-01-28T00:55:47Z")
Yes, and the faster game played over the previous 47 minutes is enjoyable to watch. How about keeping it up all the way to the horn? Are you suggesting that the last-minute clog would become, say, a 38th-minute clog instead with restrictions on when timeouts can be used? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/147 "2012-01-28T01:53:26Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > Good one. > > And baseball needs some type of time clock. Pitchers are only allowed 10 seconds after the last pitch to throw again. And if the batter’s not in the damn box when it happens it’s an automatic strike. > > And after the last out of an inning, the other team has two minutes to get on the field and ready for play. You’re suggesting rules that already exist. The delay between innings is almost never more than two minutes, not by more than a few seconds, anyway. Go ahead, time it. As ElvisL1ves has pointed out, in terms of the length of at bats the problem is not the pitchers, it’s the hitters. Back about 30 years ago there was a player called Mike Hargrove, who was actually nicknamed “The Human Rain Delay” for his love of stepping out of the box and adjusting his helmet, gloves, and so on. As many baseball writers have pointed out, today Hargrove wouldn’t even be noticed, because almost every batter does it, many worse than Hargrove ever did. If you watch a game on ESPN Classic from, say, the 1980 World Series, you won’t see batters incessantly walking away from the plate and fiddling with their batting gloves as if it was the first time they’d ever worn them. That said, baseball games aren’t getting longer anymore, contrary to popular belief, and are shorter than football games. Playoff games are too long, but regular season games have been around 2:50 for ten years. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/148 "2012-01-28T03:42:34Z")
**Yog** -The “Hack a Howard” strategy allowed him to set FTA record recently. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/149 "2012-01-28T14:16:20Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Celebration: I think the current rules are pretty good…no taunting, and no props. I remember a few years ago one player had hidden a cell phone under one of the pylons, and after making a TD, took it out and pretended to make a call with it…that was just stupid. If nothing else, it made him look like a damned fool. What’s wrong with just spiking the ball? Or jumping up and tossing it over the goalpoast? Or jumping into the stands and hugging a few fans? I don’t know how Joe Horn could hear the call through his helmet ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/150 "2012-01-28T20:00:04Z")
I’d allow MLB teams to trade draft picks with the following caveats: can’t trade 1st rounders or “sandwich” picks. (“sandwich” picks are analogous to NFL compensatory picks) ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/151 "2012-01-29T03:56:24Z")
Ok, so enforce the rule. Batters can not be out of the box for more than five seconds or its an automatic strike. Should eliminate most of the scratching, adjusting and general time wasting batters are so good at. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/152 "2012-01-31T22:01:03Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > The offside rule is absolutely essential. And it leads to countless idiotic stoppages of play and boredom. An alternate idea is to prevent a player without the ball/puck from remaining in the “boxed area” near the goalie for more than a short period of time, or allow a player without the ball/puck to enter that area only after the ball/puck has crossed midfield. Sounds to me like doing away with the offside rules as they currently stand would lead to additional scoring and a more exciting contest, but would displease the purists who love the drama of nil-nil ties. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/153 "2012-01-31T22:04:07Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > Ok, so enforce the rule. Batters can not be out of the box for more than five seconds or its an automatic strike. Should eliminate most of the scratching, adjusting and general time wasting batters are so good at. And once that’s done, people will realize that’s not why the games are taking so long. Problem solved! 😉 ---
**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 31, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/154 "2012-01-31T23:27:33Z")
This one wins the thread: Style points in Ski Jump. Come on! Distance and nothing else!!! ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/155 "2012-02-01T04:30:19Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > This one wins the thread: Style points in Ski Jump. > Come on! Distance and nothing else!!! How did I forget this one? I have always found “Style point” in ski jumping utterly ludicrous. You couldn’t possibly find a sport with a clearer objective method of determining the winner; why on earth do they add such a silly additional score? If Lars Larsson has the longest jump, he should win, even if he landed on his head. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/156 "2012-02-01T05:30:11Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > Travelling in the NBA. They don’t call it anyway; why bother having a rule you won’t enforce? This > [@Laggard](#): > > And baseball needs some type of time clock. Pitchers are only allowed 10 seconds after the last pitch to throw again. And if the batter’s not in the damn box when it happens it’s an automatic strike. > > And after the last out of an inning, the other team has two minutes to get on the field and ready for play. > > I might watch the game then. As someone mentioned for the first one, the current rule has to be enforced. Your second suggestion is excellent. > [@RickJay](#): > > How did I forget this one? > > I have always found “Style point” in ski jumping utterly ludicrous. You couldn’t possibly find a sport with a clearer objective method of determining the winner; why on earth do they add such a silly additional score? > > If Lars Larsson has the longest jump, he should win, even if he landed on his head. Don’t you think he should at least land on his skis? MLB: The balk rule is necessary or the game is going to get a lot longer. And it’s too long already. Add an umpires choice for review. This wouldn’t slow down a baseball game at all, they’ve got a lifetime between at bats already. Not applied to balls and strikes. Get rid of the save statistic and keep blown save statistics instead. NFL: fix the damn rules for what qualifies as a reception. Right now a player has to catch the ball with both feet inbounds, and hold onto the ball for the rest of his life or they might call it incomplete. NHL: Get rid of all the padding. The fights look like two guys in those inflatable sumo suits. Pool: No more intergender matches where the girl gets to wear a low cut top. WWE: No more Michael Cole ---
**Author:** ![YoDoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e68b1a/32.png) [@YoDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YoDoc)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/157 "2012-02-01T05:47:19Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > This > > WWE: No more Michael Cole Oh my Og, please… ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/158 "2012-02-01T11:12:11Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > This one wins the thread: Style points in Ski Jump. > Come on! Distance and nothing else!!! Isn’t how it gets judged anyway? That the guys who jump longest \*must \*have had the best style by definition, so they get the highest style points? Agreed the rule is useless, but isn’t it harmless too? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/159 "2012-02-01T11:18:59Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Get rid of the save statistic and keep blown save statistics instead. That, and make relievers who blow saves ineligible for the wins they now can vulture. Saves are ridiculous now, yes - start the ninth with nobody on and a 3-run lead, manage not to fuck that up, and you get one. Eliminate the five-inning rule for starters getting wins, too, as long as relievers can win without even throwing a pitch. Assignment of losses is pretty capricious, too. Just give the win to the pitcher who got the most outs, and the loss to the pitcher who allowed the most runs. If you need to have a save rule, limit it to cases when the tying run is at least at bat. > [@](#): > > NHL: Get rid of all the padding. The fights look like two guys in those inflatable sumo suits. Less protection might also _reduce_ injuries, if the goons take fewer cheap shots at parts that look vulnerable. One exception: Make the helmets as invulnerable as possible - get rid of those silly little shells that don’t actually protect anything. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360/160 "2012-02-01T11:42:38Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > And it leads to countless idiotic stoppages of play and boredom. > > An alternate idea is to prevent a player without the ball/puck from remaining in the “boxed area” near the goalie for more than a short period of time, or allow a player without the ball/puck to enter that area only after the ball/puck has crossed midfield. > > Sounds to me like doing away with the offside rules as they currently stand would lead to additional scoring and a more exciting contest, but would displease the purists who love the drama of nil-nil ties. Part of the problem with footie is that the powers that be insist that the same levels of refereeing should be available at all levels of the game. This, for example, is their reasoning for the idiotic decision to keep video replays out of the game. ON a much bigger playing surface than the likes of hockey, these sort of rules would be harder to implement and would end up in a lot more disputes for, what many would argue, little to no gain. Personally I feel it sounds like a ridiculous idea as all it would see if players standing on the edge of the penalty area and waiting. It does nothing to stop the likes of the long ball game that the offside rule serves to limit. It may result in more scoring, but until people start realising that excitement doesn’t come from just scoring and that endless long balls to just outside the penalty area (try watching League 2 games in England) really are not too fun to watch, we really won’t get anywhere with the discussion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-rules-you-dont-think-are-necessary/610360.md?page=9)