# What sports rules do you think could benefit other sports? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 27, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989 "2010-03-27T03:44:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/41 "2010-03-28T21:08:35Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Right, if it’s constant you can tune it out. Davis Cup matches are rowdy sometimes and players adjust to the conditions. And you don’t need to be able to hear the shot to know what’s being hit, although maybe it is helpful extra information. You can see what type of shot is being hit - the amount and type of spin. Where the sound helps is in determining how well the shot was hit. Something off-center sounds different and clues you in to the fact that the ball might drop short. ---
**Author:** ![Piker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@Piker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Piker)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/42 "2010-03-28T21:43:56Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > I have the opposite opinion. I think low-scoring games like hockey would benefit greatly from a “hail mary” type of play. You realize football has an offside rule too? If you got rid of offside in football, you would have a game where all the eligible recievers stood in the end zone waiting for the ball to come to them. If you got rid of offside in hockey, you would have a game where the forwards would stand around the goal waiting for the puck to be passed up to them. If you got rid of offside in soccer, you would have a game where the forwards would stand around the goal waiting for the ball to be booted up to them. There is a reason all these sports have an offside rule. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Medlo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hi\_Medlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Medlo)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/43 "2010-03-28T21:50:42Z")
I’d go for anything that would hasten the end of a basketball game. Last night’s WVU-Kentucky game took over 40 minutes to play the last 3:30. I’d be happier if they just set the clock at ten minutes at the beginning and played the whole damn thing like they do the last few now. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/44 "2010-03-28T22:13:16Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > It’s two separate situations, though: > > 1. back-chatting > 2. not retreating quickly enough. > > And while we are transferring rugby rules to football, let’s allow football referees rugby-like leeway in waiting to see if advantage results. Yes, indeed. Football refs can allow advantage, of course, but they have to decide at once, and can’t then whistle if advantage goes begging. The Rugby advantage law goes back to at least my schooldays, the 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/45 "2010-03-29T01:32:19Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > This comes up a lot by, presumably, people who don’t know much about golf. The spectators in golf are only a few feet away. Big difference. And there are a lot less of them, specifically because of the tight quarters. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/46 "2010-03-29T02:00:08Z")
Spectators, especially the most annoying ones, are closer than at many golf courses at the college level of golf. Shooting free throws is tough, but nobody gets quiet when the visiting point guard goes to the line. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/47 "2010-03-29T02:48:23Z")
Yes, if you are accustomed to the rugby codes, arguing with the officials in other sports can be quite irritating. e.g. the personal abuse of tennis umpires (if they still do that), and the rushing at and surrounding of soccer refs, the offenders should be frog marched off immediately. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/48 "2010-03-29T04:48:29Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I always thought it would be a good idea to just keep playing shortened OT periods until someone scored, but taking away a player for each successive OT, i.e. for hockey- 1st OT continue 5-on-5, 2nd OT 4-on-4, etc. until there is a winner. I do like what the rare 6th OT would look like…the goalies firing shots back and forth at each other from either end of the ice, hoping for a miracle. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/49 "2010-03-29T05:33:01Z")
MLB should have a NBA-style soft salary cap. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/50 "2010-03-29T10:03:02Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Football (the one they play with the feet) needs Rugby’s “backchat” rule: You argue with the ref’s decision, the free kick gets moved up ten yards. Rinse and repeat until you get the message, forcibly from your own side if necessary. This rule has been trialled in the premiership relatively recently, 01 - 05, and was found to be unsuccessful. No idea why, and I don’t recall seeing too many examples of it, but it has been given a run out. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/51 "2010-03-29T10:51:53Z")
American sports would benefit from the concept of relegation, (although it would be hard to implement.) ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/52 "2010-03-29T13:12:45Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > American sports would benefit from the concept of relegation, (although it would be hard to implement.) For pro sports, it’s not easy: Baseball has something like that, but on an individual rather than team level (players move up and down leagues within the same farm-team system), and the NBA is trying to move in that direction. I think American football is too expensive and intensive to have viable lower leagues that have a prayer of being competitive. But relegation/promotion would be especially good for college sports (and most especially football). That way, the best teams are always automatically in the same top-tier conference and play the other best teams. The small-program academic schools get to play each other in a competitive game, rather than spending their Saturdays being pasted by a Florida State. Best of all, a school that thinks it’s better than its reputation gets to prove it, and move up if it is. Never happen, given the amount of money in the system the way it is, and how your average Miami (Florida) alumni feels better about having the Miami football team beat an outclassed small teacher’s college by three touchdowns than they would about a thrilling one-point loss to the eventual national champion. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/53 "2010-03-29T16:46:25Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Soccer could use hockey’s offside rules, with lines that the ball has to cross before any attacking players. I must admit I don’t know the hockey offside rule, but I don’t think this proposal would work at all. It seems to me this would result in a “kick and rush” long-ball game, taking a lot of variety away. Why do you think football (soccer) needs this rule? > [@amarone](#): > > And while we are transferring rugby rules to football, let’s allow football referees rugby-like leeway in waiting to see if advantage results. Agreed. The current advantage rule in football makes very little sense to me, as very often no advantage results and the offending team gets away with a foul. > [@Busy\_Scissors](#): > > This rule has been trialled in the premiership relatively recently, 01 - 05, and was found to be unsuccessful. No idea why, and I don’t recall seeing too many examples of it, but it has been given a run out. One of my friends suggested at the time that it was because rugby is predominantly a territorial game, and it can take 5 minutes of sustained, error-free pressure to gain 10 yards on the pitch. In football, territory counts for much less, because you can gain 80 yards on the pitch in a single kick. So moving a free-kick 10 yards forwards only really works as a threat in a fairly small area of pitch, namely the central third of the field about 30-40 yards from goal. Anywhere else on the pitch, a difference on 10 yards makes very little difference and so is no deterrent. I think the consistent use of bookings for dissent that we have now is much more effective, though it could no doubt be more strictly enforced. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/54 "2010-03-29T16:49:39Z")
Soccer could use some more serious rules, or at least enforcement of them, against faking injuries. That’s one of the most unattractive parts, at least to an American eye: All a guy has to do is get breathed on, and he drops to the field, writhing in agony. If there’s no call, he just hops right back up. How about at least a free kick as a penalty for wasting the refs’ time? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/55 "2010-03-29T16:52:08Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Why the hell are tennis and golf fans, well, any individual sport fans really, supposed to stay quiet? Are the players so weakminded that they couldn’t focus on their performances if they had a few thousand people screaming at them about how much they suck? Team athletes can do it, why can’t you? What’s the problem with welcoming Tiger back to the links _properly_? > > Come on, people, don’t be such wimps. Let the crowds be crowds, willya? They’ve paid enough money to watch you. That was Tommy LaSorda’s classic rant. “Mark McGwire can hit a 99 mile an hour Nolan Ryan fastball while 50,000 people are screaming and stomping, but a golfer can’t hit a ball that’s just lying there because one guy coughed?” ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/56 "2010-03-29T16:58:18Z")
Soccer should adopt the rule they have in dog fighting whereby it’s banned in the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/57 "2010-03-29T17:32:03Z")
I’d like to see some version of the [McIntyre Final Eight](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McIntyre_Final_Eight_System) be applied to other sports, but I realize there may be some confusion with the “highest-ranked loser advances” philosophy. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/58 "2010-03-29T17:38:23Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Amen to that. I cannot stand the idea that intentionally commiting a foul is set up to be the smart play. Fouls should never be the smart play. Agreed. Speaking as primarily a baseball fan, intentional fouling and clock management (stalling) are infuriating, and guarantee I could never love basketball the way I do baseball. I can’t imagine that that’s what whoever came up with fouling penalties had in mind. As for delays in baseball, there is a 12-second rule ([8.04](http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/official_rules/pitcher_8.jsp)), which is unfortunately never enforced. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/59 "2010-03-29T17:43:39Z")
Then how about a one stepout per AB rule? It would be harder for the umps to blow off. But yeah, stand in there and take yer cuts like a man, dammit. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989/60 "2010-03-29T17:52:43Z")
MLB needs the NFL’s salary cap. The disparity between what large and small market teams can spend violates the cardinal rule of sports, a fair playing field. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sports-rules-do-you-think-could-benefit-other-sports/533989.md?page=4)