Sports Rules You'd Like to See Implemented

Cafe Society
41

I assume that you mean get rid of the two-line pass rule? The NHL’s already done this.

I would modify this one a little. Have 2 types of penalties, penalties that prevent a player from a scoring chance and penalties that don’t. If a penalty of the first type is called, the penalized team can’t ice the puck, but they can if a penalty of the second type is called. This is to try and eliminate the “good penalties” in hockey. I can’t think of any other sport where taking a foul over a scoring chance against is considered a good decision.

Good god, no. First, this would eliminate breakaway passes. For that reason alone this is a terrible idea. Second, this would completely change the way defence is played, and I can’t see a good reason to do that.

42

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention some hockey rule changes I’d like to see:

a) Standardize the height of the glass in NHL arenas. Some arenas, like the ACC, have glass that’s way too low.

b) Change the delay of game rule for putting the puck over the glass from the defensive zone from a penalty to an icing. The faceoff is in your zone, and you can’t change players. This should serve as enough of a deterrent to shooting the puck out of play(which happened way too often in the old NHL) without being too punitive.

c) Strengthen the rule on putting your hand on the puck in your own crease. If any defensive player reaches out and touches the puck in his own crease, make it a penalty shot.

d) All goaltenders to play the puck anywhere when they’re on the power play, including outside of the trapesoid.

43

For cherry-picking campers, maybe. For everyone else, no. Though I should have added removing the puck-first rule to when-the-pass-is-made is necessary, as well.

44

I’m with ya! I hate place kicks in football. The kickers today are too good which makes the kick itself Bore-ring! Except I’d make a field goal worth 3 points when the 1st down line of scrimmage is within the 20 yard line and make it worth only 2 points when the first down line of scrimmage is further out. I want to reward teams who penetrate deep into the other team’s territory, not teams with good kickers. I’d keep the safety at two points and award the defense a six point touchdown if they can successfully defend a two point conversion by running it back for a TD. If you return a fumble or an interception 100 yards, it ought to be worth something.

45

Good catch. I started to type “…barring injury”, then realized that opens the can of worms of faking injuries, so I left it out on purpose :smiley: . So the answer is “I don’t know”. Maybe umpires discretion or force him to pitch injured (roll the ball in if he has to, or anyone he is physically unable to pitch to gets a free pass).

Oh - and as someone mentioned upstream - 3 batters or end of inning.

46

An intentional walk should not get two bases. That would destroy a fundamental strategy of the game. However, they shouldn’t have to pitch four balls, either. Just tell the plate ump that they’re giving the batter a freebie and down to first he goes.

47

Didn’t realize that (my hockey viewing was way down this year). My work here is done then.

Also for hockey I’d like no touch icing. That’s the way we’ve always played and it speeds the game and cuts down on cheap hits.

48

An option for mandatory substitution in soccer. Call it a blue card. Between yellow and red.

49

No insult received. I know no NL fan will feel this way.

I grew up on AL baseball and watched very little (ie no) NL. Recently due to fantasy BB mixing leagues, I have been forced to watch some NL games. I find the pitcher bunting/striking out every at bat very boring. Bunting is not really strategy if the player is incapable of hitting. The double switch was probably cutting edge strategy in 1920, but not so much now.

The game has become too specialized. To me forcing a pitching specialist to hit is akin to forcing the shrotstop to pitch an inning.

50

Or, you know, plays where Wade Redden has the puck in the defensive zone, Martin Havlat flies the zone and Redden hits him with a long bomb. Your rule would make transition hockey nearly impossible. Without the threat of a player out-skating the defence, the defence can come in tight on the puck carrier and give him few options. As it is currently, some of the defenders have to back off to cover the wingers, which opens up holes in the defence.

It also slows the game down by forcing more whistles. Injuries occur so rarely on an icing play that there’s really no point in changing the rule.

The many of the recent rule changes have improved the game by reducing the number of whistles(by penalizing icing and shooting the puck out of play, and introducing touch-up offsides). Hockey is a much better sport when it’s played continuously without stoppages in play, so I don’t see any reason to increase them.

51

For baseball, I’d like to borrow one from soccer…very limited substitutions. I hate seeing a “pitching staff” of a zillion relief players.

For baseball, you pick your roster and you get 1 relief from the bench per game for any position, maximum. After that, then you either have to rotate from a different position, or play short-handed if someone gets injured. Your 3rd baseman had better also be able to pitch if things get hairy :slight_smile:

This would encourage more actual skilled and rounded players, instead of multi-million dollar one-trick-ponies.

52

Football: Agreed on the idea of putting a position sensor in the ball. I’d think that you could tie this in to the replay booth for challenges. The ref could review the tape to the point where a player’s knee is down, and have an exact position for the ball at that time. Seems like it would’ve been useful in the Super Bowl, no?

Basketball: No timeouts in the last 2 minutes.

Golf: Out of bounds plays like a water hazard; just a stroke rather than stroke & distance. Except you can’t play out of OB like you can a water hazard.

Baseball: You should win things by watching :slight_smile:

I have one about chess too, if anyone considers that a sport :wink:

53

No way! That’s some of the greatest moments of drama in the game. Pinch hitters and pinch runners, changing pitchers, defensive substitutions. It’s even better in the NL without the DH.

54

I’d like to address the hockey suggestions. First, as noted, the red line no longer exists for calling two line passes. Second, with regards to icing- a rule change was added this season. In the past if a team was tired they would ice the puck so they could change lines with the whistle. This year the rule states that the team that iced the puck can not change the players on the ice. So it isn’t a call that results in a power play but it still penalizes the team that ices the puck. Third, offsides- they swithed the rule back to the way it was in the 1980s. For the last 10-15 years if the defending team got the puck out of their zone and put it back in deep, the forechecking team had to leave the offensive zzone and wait for the other team to bring it out of their zone. Now, the team on the forecheck only has to clear the zone and then they can go right back in on the forecheck. Broadcasters sometimes refer to it as a “tag-up” offside.

55

The reason the managers wear uniforms is because all personnel on the field during a game must be in uniform. If the manager wore street clothes, he wouldn’t be allowed to run out on the field and talk to the pitcher or argue with the umps. There was a manager from the 1930’s (IIRC) who wore a suit and tie despite not being allowed on the field.

Anyway, my suggestions have to do with auto racing. First of all, NASCAR should get rid of this stupid “chase for the cup” system they have in place now. Also, the point system should be changed to a system more like F1 has, which rewards winning a lot more than cruising around and playing it safe from week to week. The points should only go back to the top 20 cars, too. The way it is now, cars that wreck get taped up and put back out on the track dozens of laps down and completely out of it just to pick up a few more points. If only the top 20 got points, there’s nothing to be gained by getting back on the track. Actually, there’s a lot more I’d like to see changed in NASCAR, but if I had to pick one, it would be the points system.

In F1, the cars need to be changed to allow more passing opportunities. I’m tired of watching “the exciting battle for 9th”. More mechanical grip and less downforce should help, and banning carbon brakes would lengthen braking distances and give a driver a better chance to outbrake their opponent. I don’t like the two race engine rule, either. I think each race should be considered it’s own discrete event, independent from the others.

56

Risking the wrath of all “football” fans here, does anyone else feel that soccer
probably needs, oh I don’t know about 7-9 players per team (incl. goalie), and not
11? It just seems like the field is a bit too crowded for there to be adequate ball
movement, esp. considering you can’t “catch” and hold the ball as in basketball and
American football, so each player in soccer needs more room to control the ball.

Consider how cramped the ice would be if there were 7 players per side in ice
hockey, or 6 in basketball (and in fact the argument could be made that the increasing
size of players in both sports have shrunk the playing fields too much as it is), and
you get the gist of my argument.

Now I’m sure I’ll get all sorts of replies from soccer fans as to why and how 11 is the
optimal number, but exhibit A for me is how much lower scoring is in soccer vs. ice
hockey. Wouldn’t opening up the field a bit be a good thing?

[I am now convinced after much research on old threads on Usenet that the soccer offsides rule is needed-perhaps not in its current form, but some sort of offsides is vital.]

57

NFL–the Intentional Grounding rule/penalty is a joke. Let’s see…a LB is getting ready to sack the QB on the 12yd line, so the QB throws the ball OOB…the penalty is the ball is placed at the 12, and you lose the right to repeat that down…so how is that a penalty? The QB would have been down on the 12 anyway, the only difference is that he avoids a hit, and avoids the possibility of fumbling. AND, the defensive player loses a sack. The play should count as a sack, and the penatly should be an additional 5 yards.

Nascar–I’m unsure what I think of the Chase, but I hate how it’s scored. The 10 chase drivers should be scored individually, in respect to each other, and ignore their position among the other racers.
Any race sanctioning body(but mostly affects Nascar)–if you cause a yellow flag, you automatically lose a lap. There are too many times a racer can cause a yellow flag and benefit(tire is going down, fuel is low, about to get lapped…you just spin, keep it fired up, the field is frozen on the yellow, and you speed around and get down pit lane and benefit from your own yellow…I hate seeing that.

58

Well of course, that’s the rule but this thread is about rules that should be changed. I don’t think this particular one should be changed IMHO.

I think the manager in the suit you’re thinking of was the great Connie Mack of the Philadelphia A’s who managed the team for 40+ years. Of course, it helped that he owned the team. :wink:

59

Baseball - Something…ANYTHING…to elminate those soul-numbing failed pickoff wars. I defy anyone to explain to me what a 15 minute game of catch adds to the sport. My suggestion would be that a second failed pickoff attempt on the same at-bat results in all runners advancing, the same as a balk. Also, I really think there needs to be some kind of handicap placed on a batter who fouls off with 2 strikes, not just if he bunts. Nothing drastic; opposite side of the bag, one foot touching the back of the box, something like that. I just don’t like the idea of a batter being able to hack and slash as much as he wants without penalty. (It’s a little easier to tolerate in cricket due to the bowler rotation, but that’s another issue.)

Also, if the home team is ahead after 8 innings, it bats first in the 9th. There sometimes being a bottom of the 9th and sometimes not never made any sense to me. Eliminate any possible controversy about 8- or 9-inning complete games, no-hitters, etc.

And why is it a ground rule double in the first place? If it’s nearly a home run, it should be worth three bases. Which also eliminates the issue of whether a runner on third can score or not.

Soccer - I doubt there will ever be a practical offsides rule for this sport, so let me just reiterate an old suggestion that all displays of horrible sportsmanship be penalized. If the NFL can define Unsportsmanlike Conduct, so can the greatest game. In particular, faking an injury should be an automatic red card, no questions asked. That penny-ante crap has no place in a junior varsity league, much less the World Cup.

Basketball - Get rid of all the frustration about travelling/double dribbling not being called by outlawing the need for dribbling. Look, guys, it started out as a gimmick. There’s nothing at all sacrosanct about it. If easy turnovers are that freaking important, make the ball harder or slipperier or something.

Tennis - Either a serve that clips the top of the net is a do-over or it isn’t. Nobody tries to get a let, for crying out loud, so keep it consistent and don’t unduly punish the server.

Advantage and win by two should be optional at all nonprofessional levels. It may surprise some of you, but a lot of tennis players aren’t trying to be the #1 Ultra Macho Big Strong Dominating Manly Man. Some of them even want to be off the court in a reasonable time, believe it or not. I’d also support a change of all best of 5 non Grand Slam events to be changed to best of 3 with 9 games a set. Still requires stamina, but not nearly as murderous as the really big events.

And Christ almighty, “love means nothing” was cute maybe SEVENTY YEARS AGO. Trust me, the world will not come to an end if we use “zero”, “one”, “two”, and “three” for something other than tiebreakers. I mean, come on…Love, 15, 30, 40? How is that not an embarrassment?

Gymnastics, figure skating, ballroom dancing, anything with the word “synchronized”, et al - Look, it’s really very simple. You finish in the top three of an event requiring athletic ability, you get a medal. You finish in the top three of an event requiring a bunch of old guys with scorecards, you get something besides a medal. A coin, a pendant, a ring, I don’t care, but if we have to have purely subjective sports, at least acknowledge that they’re different. (I’d also recommend another award for team sports, but subjective/objective is the big one.)

60

Oh, almost forgot…

Boxing - Okay, I understand that throwing dozens of punches is tiring, and I’m not advocating taking off points for something as minor (and necessary) as clinching. But if that’s all they’re doing, over and over and over, round after round, just declare the fight over and go to the cards. Save everyone a lot of time, and it’s no more “unfair” to the fans than all those first-round knockouts they paid $50 to see.

Golf - Any and all incredibly petty, chimpsy, skimpy infractions (the world I’m actually looking for his “chicken****”, but I’m not about to use it on this board) that have no bearing on the golfer’s play or performance should have a monetary fine instead of a stroke penalty. I’m sorry, but a sport’s crediblity is hurt when draping a towel on the ground or kicking a bunch of debris three feet in front of the ball results in disqualification. Hey, Bill Elliott was once docked $25,000 because one part of his car was a little higher than it should’ve been after the race. The rules were enforced, the win stood up, and nobody grumbled too much about it. It works, I tell you!