I realize that this thread is mostly tongue-in-cheek, but my perfectly serious suggestion would be: Speed up the goddamn games!
In baseball:
[ul]
[li]no visits to the mound by pitching coaches or managers. Either let the guy pitch, or pull him out.[/li][li]reduce the number of allowable visits to the mound by the catcher/infielders.[/li][li]adjust the rules to promote faster play. Pitchers should work reasonably quickly, and batters should only be allowed to step out and call “time” in exceptional circumstances.[/li][/ul]
In football:
[ul]
[li]radically reduce, perhaps even eliminate, the number of time-outs. Three time-outs per team, plus the two minute warning, for each half (!!!) of football, is absolutely ludicrous. Actually, any sport in which time-outs can be used strategically to affect the outcome is in need of radical reform, IMO.[/li][/ul]
In basketball:
[ul]
[li]institute a rule that dramatically increases the penalty for strategic fouls at the end of the game. One of the reasons that i absolutely refuse to watch basketball is the way that the last three minutes can end up taking half an hour. Yes, yes, i know that if the leading team can just hit its free-throws, they are in no danger of losing to this strategy, but it still flies in the face of everything i consider to be sport.[/li][li]call traveling, ferchrissakes![/li][/ul]
In hockey:
[ul]
[li]i admit that i haven’t watched a lot of hockey over the past few years, but when i last watched, i was struck by how much holding and interference-type play there was, which dramatically reduced the effectiveness of talented stick-handlers, and benefited the stronger but less skillful players.[/li][/ul]
Baseball – one simple change: Each batter may run the bases in either direction. He chooses after he makes contact with the ball. Of course, once his direction is chosen he must maintain that direction for the rest of the innning. This leads to the situation whereby two runners may be on the same base, if they have arrived there from different directions. Also, if both runners are heading to the same base from opposite directions, and the ball is thrown to the baseman in time, both are out – double play. A grand slam would be really grand – seven runs scored.
Something else I’d like to see in American football: the field has a plateau from one 20 yard line to the other 20-yard line. There is a steep drop at each 20 yard line–one so steep that the average player can barely climb it. Obviously, you’d never want to be stuck inside your own 20. On the other hand, if you’re on the opponents’ 21 yard line, you have a good chance to gain some good yardage on the next play. Here is a diagram of my field, from the sideline:
. _______________
. /
. /
._____/ _____
[QUOTE=mhendo]
In football:
[list]
[li]radically reduce, perhaps even eliminate, the number of time-outs. Three time-outs per team, plus the two minute warning, for each half (!!!) of football, is absolutely ludicrous. Actually, any sport in which time-outs can be used strategically to affect the outcome is in need of radical reform, IMO.[/li][/QUOTE]
Agreed. Imagine if a game of American football actually took an hour to play (an hour and fifteen minutes, actually, if you include, say, three, 5-minute quarter-breaks). Perhaps we’d then spend more time come February watching the game than the commercials.