Stupid sports questions that you should know but don't.

The Game Room
81

Offsides in soccer. Okay, I understand the need to make the attackers earn their goals and not turn every game into a long bomb-fest. Fine, good, okay, no problem. (Or “grood”, as Cheerleader would put it.) But why did soccer adopt a confusing, labyrynthine series of conditions for determinig offsides (okay, he can’t be past two defenders, but he can be equal, and it’s position, not possession, but it’s not a penalty if he isn’t in position to score, or making a move to be in a position to score, which is determined by…blagh)? DRAW A LINE! Y’know, like hockey has? The current offsides rule may be necessary folr the backlot (all you need is a ball!), but the serious leagues shouldn’t have to resort to this finagling.

The let rule in tennis. Serve hits the tape and it lands outside the box, fault. Lands inside…do-over. Still don’t get this.

Volleball, current scoring. Avoiding endless boring stalemates, good. Forcing the trailing team to make an effort to get back in it instead of just sideouting until the other team falls asleep, good. Why is the fifth set played to only 15, instead of 25 for the first four sets? I can see the rationale for some tennis events not having a 5th set tiebreaker or some motorsports leagues not allowing a race to end on a yellow flag. Volleyball’s truncated 5th seems to me to make the finish less meaningful, not more.

Boxing:

  1. Was the 3 knockdown rule actually codified into any state/sanctioning body’s book, or was it simply a provision to be adopted to individual fights as needed? (This was practically gospel in video games up to at least Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, but I don’t remember a single real-life bout that ended that way.)
  2. What was the purpose of the standing 8-count, and why was it done away with? What’s wrong with just calling the TKO when it happens?
  3. Is there anything that results in immediate disqualification? Even a vicious low blow needs to happen about 4 times these days.

Apocalypso - As an addendum: First off, the situation you describe is ONLY for punts. As mentioned earlier, anyone on the kicking team can gain possession of a kickoff after it goes 10 yards, so there’s no reason for the receivers to let it go.

Now, someone on the kicking team has to actually gain possession of the ball to end the play, not just touch it. The problem is if he advances the loose ball, that’s a penalty from the spot of the foul (10 yards IIRC), wasting all that good effort. So they have no choice but to let roll as far as possible under its own power before picking it up, or, if it’s about to trickle into the end zone, take it before it becomes a touchback.

That’s if the punter exercised good control. If he was too strong or didn’t get it high enough, what you’ll often see is one or more of his teammates racing to the ball, hoping to catch up to it in time to swat it backwards before it goes into the end zone, which is legal, and, if successful, allows someone else to down it in the field of play. It’ll typically end up somewhere around the 3-5 yard line, but that’s still much better than a touchback.

82

This is another difference between Canadian and American rules. In Canadian football, it’s enough simply to be the last man to touch the ball before it goes out of bounds. So if a player on the kicking team doing an onside kick reaches up and swats the ball out of bounds, the kicking team has recovered possession.

83

This never happens on a kickoff, only on a punt. On a kickoff (after a score or at the beginning of a half) the ball is live after it travels 10 yards, and either team can take possession and run with the ball.

On a punt (usually 4th down, the team with the ball punts it away) the ball cannot take possession unless the receiving team touches the ball first. But they can “down” the ball on the field, and that’s where the receiving team takes possession. Now, if the ball bounces into or through the end zone, the receiving team gets the ball on the 20 yard line. So they often let it bounce and hope it goes through the end zone rather than try to return the ball on a kick that lands near the end zone. The kicking team wants the ball to get as close to the end zone before touching the ball, so they hang around it until it’s in the most favorable location. The receiving team isn’t going to interfere because it’s too dangerous to try and pick up the ball with all those defenders around it. If they don’t pick up the ball cleanly the kicking team will recover it and have excellent field position.

84

While on training camp rosters players do receive a small stipend - veterans get $1,225 per week, plus $200 per preseason game, and rookies get $825 per week (no bonus for the preseason).

  1. The 3-knockdown rule originated with some of the state athletic commissions. I think New Jersey was the first to adopt it.

  2. WAG - it gives the referee more time to make a determination about whether a fighter is able to continue a bout.

  3. Leaving the ring or using a foreign object.

85

This would never happen in the NFL. A kickoff is a live ball for either team to recover, regardless of who touches it or not (the exception being the kicking team cannot be the first to recover unless the ball has gone at least 10 yards).

The scenario you described often happens on a punt, for the reasons given by others above.

86

Well, at least in the NFL, the kicking team can’t advance it…but they certainly can recover it.

87

I think that’s actually not quite right. The “roll” part is the player who set the pick moving towards the basket afterwards.

The idea is that one of the ways to defend the pick is have the pick-setter’s defender move to the opposite side of the pick-setter, so they can temporarily stop the dribbler as they come around the pick-setter. Since usually this creates a mismatch with a little guy guarding a big guy and vice versa, the defenders will try and switch back: The dribbler’s defender will then come around the pick and resume guarding the dribbler while the pick-setter’s defender moves back to the pick-setter. But if the pick-setter moves towards the basket while this is happening, they can get open for a pass for an easy score near the basket. That movement is the “roll”.

Which is kind of the opposite of a ‘pick and pop’ where the pick setter moves away from the basket to an open area, where they’re open for a jump shot from farther away.



OK, illustration:  A has the ball, B is their teammate, and X and Y are guarding A and B.  The basket is to the bottom of the screen.

pick is set by B, and A starts dribbling around it
  <- A
B     X
Y 

player X is caught on the pick and Y moves out to cover A. 
   <-A  
  Y   BX

now as X tries to catch up to A, B rolls (the 'v' is an arrow here)

    A   <X
     Y    B
           v

Now A can pass to an open B because Y can't both stop A and and keep up with B.
    A
       X
    Y
        B
88

I am curious about this. In college ball, if the kicking team recovers the onside kick, they get the ball at the spot but are not allowed to advance it. Is the rule different in the NFL? I’m thinking it might be as I seem to recall some highlight of an NFL player picking up an onside kick on the fly and running for a TD. Of course it might have been called back–I was a kid when I saw it and my memory is hazy.

89

Ah, and I see **Kenobi 65 **answered already.

90

Could have been a member of the receiving team. Certainly it’s legal for the receiving team to run with the ball if they recover it, though, as a general rule, they don’t these days. Since the kicking team on an onside kick is usually desperate to get the ball back, such a returner would be likely to suffer attempts to strip the ball. Thus, members of the receiving team on an onside kick are usually coached to fall on the ball and cover up immediately upon catching it.

91

Some Cowboys scrub receiver caught an onside kick on the fly and returned it for a TD in an Eagles-Dallas game a few years back, but Dallas was receiving, not kicking.

A kickoff cannot be advanced by a member of the kicking team unless the receiving team has already touched it (which does happen on onside kicks, of course). It can be recovered by anyone at any time, though (er, except the kicking team within the first ten yards).

92

I have another question:

[ol]
[li]What is the difference between encroachment and offsides?[/li][li]How come the holder for a field goal or extra point kick never accidentally gets his hands kicked? I assume it’s because of the kickers’ skill and experience, but I never seen even a freak accident occur in the NFL where the holder got his hands kicked.[/li][li]Why are fake field goal attempts and fake punts so rare in the NFL? Yes, they’re risky, but I can only think of once or twice in my entire life that I’ve ever seen them happen. Are they too easy to read by the defense? What about laterals? They are extremely rare as well, but I can see a lot of merit in the RB or TE tossing the ball to a wideout when the defense reads a running play.[/li][/ol]

93

  1. Encroachment means you touched an offensive player, offsides means you were over the line but didn’t touch anyone. (I’m almost but not quite positive.)

  2. The kicker stops short and doesn’t kick if the holder’s hand is in the way.

  3. They happen all the time compared to the frequency you describe. The Jets have run multiple fake punts this season, at least two but possibly as many as four. The Redskins ran a (successful) fake field goal against the Giants in the season opener. I also remember seeing a fake field goal highlight from a game a couple weeks ago.

Laterals are much more common on defense; I see several each season on interception returns. With the advent of the wildcat, planned laterals are pretty darn common in the form of the option play. Regular offensive plays, though? Super rare except for end-of-game desperation efforts. I remember Randy Moss doing an amazing lateral as his body was flipping backwards over the defender back when he was still a Viking.

I think the basic reason for so few laterals is that offense is all about consistent minimal gains, as opposed to defense which is about making the big play. Once you’ve gotten a first down, it’s counterproductive to risk losing possession by lateraling.

94

  1. Encroachment is when the defender makes contact with an opponent pre-snap. Offsides is being on the wrong side of the line at the time of the snap.

  2. Practice & skill, I guess.

  3. Probably because the holder/punter is 8 yards or so behind the line of scrimmage and punters and holders are generally slow runners and inaccurate passers.

95

I’m not sure that there is a difference. AFAIK (though I’m happy to be shown otherwise), they’re just two different terms for the same infraction.

Because they’re good at their jobs? :slight_smile:

But, seriously, the biggest reason is that the holder’s hand is nowhere near the kicker’s foot. As the ball is being kicked, the holder’s left* hand is holding the ball, right on the top. His right* hand, which was used to help guide the ball into place, has already been pulled back.

But, most importantly, the kicker is hitting the ball near the bottom. That’s a span of about 6-8" between where the kicker’s foot hits the ball, and where the holder’s hand is.

About the only reason a holder would have his left hand kicked is if the kicker slipped on his approach (or, more likely, plant), and swung his leg far higher than normal. About the only reason that a holder would have his right hand kicked is if the snap or hold was botched, and he hadn’t had time to pull his other hand away – and, even then, it’s more likely that his right hand would be hit by the ball itself, rather than the kicker’s foot.

    • Assuming a right-footed kicker.

You’ve hit on it; they’re rare because they’re risky.

If you’ve got a decent kicker, a field goal is at least 75% likely to succeed (giving you 3 points)…so, running a fake field goal is likely to be, effectively, taking points off of the board. Thus, you had better be pretty confident that it’ll work.

Fake punts are similarly risky. Generally speaking, punts in the NFL net about 38 to 40 yards these days; that’s how many yards, roughly, you’re going to be giving up to the other team if the fake doesn’t work.

All teams will have fake punts and fake field-goals in their playbooks. I suspect that they run them primarily when they’ve seen something in the game tapes that they think they can exploit. (Running a surprise onside kick likely falls into the same camp.)

I do think that fakes happen more often than you think; it seems to me that there are several in the NFL every year. I believe that the Redskins have run two fake field goals this year alone.

96

Here’s that crazy Randy Moss lateral on youtube.

97

A kickoff can’t be advanced by the kickers unless it has been possessed by the receiving team.

98

I assume that in baseball once a pitcher is pulled and replaced he can not return to the game correct?
Does this apply to football QBs? Once the starter is pulled and the back-up is put in then the starter is out for the game? Or can he return whenever he wants?
What was Philly doing earlier this season with both McNabb and Vick on the field at the same time?

99

  1. What different qualities do you look for among offensive linemen?

  2. Why can’t any offensive lineman play center? Hiking the ball doesn’t look to be much of an additional burden. I know that the center also usually calls out coverages but given that the OL’men are usually among the smartest on the team, couldn’t they all be trained to do that?

  3. Why don’t teams carry an extra punter or train one of their other amazing athletes to punt the ball? This would come in handy when you want a shorter punt.

100

Why not just have your regular punter train to kick both long and short? Your normal punter, when punting short, will also want to ensure proper accuracy and hangtime, which you could lose going with a part-time punter.