Sports rules you just don't get OR would like changed

[rsvman]

I'll start.

A rule I don't get: In baseball, I don't get that you can still run to first base AFTER your third strike provided the catcher doesn't catch the ball. I'm not a baseball fan, have never really like baseball, and don't really follow baseball, so I'm sure the baseball guys will laugh at me, but hear me out. If a batter is really "out" after three strikes, it seems to me that as soon as you have swung the bat hard and hit nothing but air for the third time, you should be OUT! And anything that happens AFTER you are out shouldn't matter. It's kind of like imaging a guy making a baseline drive in basketball, stepping out of bounds, but then going on to make the layup. Why should the layup count? Anything that happens after he goes out of bounds is irrelevant, because play stops when you're out of bounds. So, that's my thinking. Third strike should be out regardless of whether the catcher corrals the ball. What, exactly, does the catcher have to do with whether you whiffed the ball or not? I just don't get it.


A rule I'd like to see changed: OB (and lost ball) in golf. I know why it was done the way it was done. If you don't know, the penalty is stroke AND distance. So, suppose you hit the ball out of bounds off the tee box. You're supposed to hit your third shot from the tee box, and take a one-stroke penalty. The best way to do it is to hit what they call a provisional whenever you think your first ball might be out of bounds. If you do that, it's pretty easy. Find the first ball; if it is IN bounds, play it. If it is OUT, play the second ball, hitting your fourth shot. But a lot of people don't hit a provisional or forget to hit a provisional. In that case you're supposed to go all the way back to the tee box to play your third shot. Nobody wants to do that!
An alternative might be to allow a person to drop a ball and take a TWO-STROKE penalty, hitting 4 from the dropped position.
Lost ball is actually an even more ridiculous rule, IMO, and I don't even know why it originated that way. Sometimes you lose a ball when from the tee it seems the ball would be easily findable. So you have no reason to hit a provisional. The rules require you to go back to the tee for lost ball, as well. This one should allow a drop at the location closest to where you think the ball should be, with either a 1 or a 2-stroke penalty. (Not sure why you should be penalized two strokes just because the rough is so long that you can't find your ball.)


Your turn. Any rules you don't get or would like to see changed in any sport?

[Wander]

Good offseason thread. My list of complaints:

1. Advancing the ball after a timeout in the NBA. Lame attempt to artificially make the game more exciting. It's like saying shots beyond the arc are worth 5 points in the last minute of a game... yes, it would make the game more exciting and increase the number of comeback wins, but there's no real justification for it.

2. This is probably against the spirit of the question because it is too big a change, but I'd like to see football allow linemen to catch passes, advance the ball, etc. It's ridiculous to me that the current system encourages unhealthy weight for a subset of players, and I don't like how needlessly complex football rules are to begin with.

In the non-professional, intramural-y sports categories...

3. Most adult kickball leagues I've seen only do 5 innings per game. Lame. With that short a game, you can realistically play an entire game only getting 1 at-bat and having no balls come to your area in the field (depending on position). Needs to go up to 7...

4. Frisbee having no refs is by far the worst "rule" in all of sports.

[cato]

I'll start.

A rule I don't get: In baseball, I don't get that you can still run to first base AFTER your third strike provided the catcher doesn't catch the ball. I'm not a baseball fan, have never really like baseball, and don't really follow baseball, so I'm sure the baseball guys will laugh at me, but hear me out. If a batter is really "out" after three strikes, it seems to me that as soon as you have swung the bat hard and hit nothing but air for the third time, you should be OUT! And anything that happens AFTER you are out shouldn't matter. It's kind of like imaging a guy making a baseline drive in basketball, stepping out of bounds, but then going on to make the layup. Why should the layup count? Anything that happens after he goes out of bounds is irrelevant, because play stops when you're out of bounds. So, that's my thinking. Third strike should be out regardless of whether the catcher corrals the ball. What, exactly, does the catcher have to do with whether you whiffed the ball or not? I just don't get it.

Excellent subject!

I don't follow baseball anymore, but it was my sport as a kid. When we were young, this rule made sense to me. Lots of people struck out swinging on junk in the dirt. If the catcher can't catch it cleanly, let the batter run it out.

9 times out of 10 (most certainly more, but rounding down for discussion), the catcher throws the runner out. But every now and then you get a free base runner on a crazy pitch.

Everyone knows the rule from the earliest stage of baseball and acts accordingly. I'm totally fine with it.

A rule I'd like to see changed: OB (and lost ball) in golf. I know why it was done the way it was done. If you don't know, the penalty is stroke AND distance. So, suppose you hit the ball out of bounds off the tee box. You're supposed to hit your third shot from the tee box, and take a one-stroke penalty. The best way to do it is to hit what they call a provisional whenever you think your first ball might be out of bounds. If you do that, it's pretty easy. Find the first ball; if it is IN bounds, play it. If it is OUT, play the second ball, hitting your fourth shot. But a lot of people don't hit a provisional or forget to hit a provisional. In that case you're supposed to go all the way back to the tee box to play your third shot. Nobody wants to do that!
An alternative might be to allow a person to drop a ball and take a TWO-STROKE penalty, hitting 4 from the dropped position.
Lost ball is actually an even more ridiculous rule, IMO, and I don't even know why it originated that way. Sometimes you lose a ball when from the tee it seems the ball would be easily findable. So you have no reason to hit a provisional. The rules require you to go back to the tee for lost ball, as well. This one should allow a drop at the location closest to where you think the ball should be, with either a 1 or a 2-stroke penalty. (Not sure why you should be penalized two strokes just because the rough is so long that you can't find your ball.)

Yes!

No one plays by these rules during a casual weekend round (well, some people hit provisionals, but no one goes back and hits from the tee if their ball is OB or they can't find it. It wouldn't work).

Side note: I've lost lots of balls that I would have found if I had had a caddy, let alone a gallery.

[pfrduke]

This is a very small change, but defensive holding in football shouldn't be an automatic first down. It should just be 5 yards and replay the down.

[burnspbesq]

In women's lax, 30-second penalties instead of free-position sttempts, and no defensive three seconds.

If you go to extra time in soccer, a fourth substitution for each team.

[JNort]

Good offseason thread. My list of complaints:

1. Advancing the ball after a timeout in the NBA. Lame attempt to artificially make the game more exciting. It's like saying shots beyond the arc are worth 5 points in the last minute of a game... yes, it would make the game more exciting and increase the number of comeback wins, but there's no real justification for it.

2. This is probably against the spirit of the question because it is too big a change, but I'd like to see football allow linemen to catch passes, advance the ball, etc. It's ridiculous to me that the current system encourages unhealthy weight for a subset of players, and I don't like how needlessly complex football rules are to begin with.

In the non-professional, intramural-y sports categories...

3. Most adult kickball leagues I've seen only do 5 innings per game. Lame. With that short a game, you can realistically play an entire game only getting 1 at-bat and having no balls come to your area in the field (depending on position). Needs to go up to 7...

4. Frisbee having no refs is by far the worst "rule" in all of sports.

Omg I hope 1 and 2 never happen! Those are great rules imo.

[Tripping William]

(1) Rules allowing Joe Couchpotato to email/text golf tournament officials about a perceived violation of the Rules that he thought he saw on the teevee.

(2) NCAA transfer rules.

{ducks & runs away quickly}

[JNort]

Basketball

1. Refs should give 1 warning per player not to touch a ref or argue a call. That's a coaches job, if the player violates this rule it's a tech. Apply to all levels of basketball

2. If a player passes to a teammate who then gets fouled and the player makes both free throws then the passer should get an assist. Apply to all levels of basketball

3. I wanna see the constant fouling of bad free throw shooters at the end of games come to an end. Give an option to take the ball out of bounds perhaps? NBA only

4. Probably my most desired one I want at the moment... Change the 3 second rule on offense to something longer or eliminate entirely. I understand why the rule used to be needed but now I feel like we should encourage more paint play to balance out the insane amount of 3 point shots we are seeing. Apply to all levels of basketball


Football

1. Regarding defensive holding. It should be an automatic first down for any holding further than 10 yards down the field but 5 yards and replay the down for anything under 10 yards.

2. Allow extra points in the NFL to be returned for an extra point or 2 when blocked.

3. This is for college. In overtime, change the way the scoring is done so we don't get these super inflated scores. TDs = 3pts FGs = 2pts (extra point and 2 point conversion can remain the same)

4. Allow celebrations unless they are crude or offensive (NFL only).

5. College should relax on the anti celebration rules. The rule is fine but penalizing a player who scored a seemingly game winning touchdown for tossing the ball up is ludicrous.

NASCAR

1. All drivers should have to drive the same car with the same tires and same everything in them. Otherwise NASCAR will never be about real talent but instead about who ever has the best car.



Baseball

1. Give teams like 2 timouts for an entire game. No more managers walking to the mound to talk with pitchers and slowing the game. Either call one of your 2 timeouts or wait till the inning is over.

2. Expand the roster to allow more players by a just a couple and make a rule that only allows you to take 3 (or whatever number is appropriate) pitchers to a game. Even after pulling 1 you can be allowed to bring them back in. This would create more strategy in how you use your pitchers and which combos to use for every game.

3. Have a "pitch clock" like other sports have shot clocks and play clocks. After the current play ends start the clock on when the pitcher has to have made another throw. Baseballs biggest problem (other than too many games) right now is it's slow pace and it's brutal.

4. A pitcher can't "check" (throw to) a base to keep the runner close to the bag more than twice or it's a free base to the runner. This should increase steals and action overall.

5. All parks should be the same size... hate that they are different and it makes no sense.

6. Umpires should no longer make the calls for balls and strikes. Leave it to technology cause the umpires are awful at it.

[chris13]

Defensive pass interference in NFL football should be 15 yards and automatic first down like college

In Soccer tournament knockout rounds a 0-0 tie after overtime means both teams fail to advance to the next round

[JNort]

Defensive pass interference in NFL football should be 15 yards and automatic first down like college

In Soccer tournament knockout rounds a 0-0 tie after overtime means both teams fail to advance to the next round

How about just do a shootout?

[Olympic Fan]

I hate most of the suggestions in this thread, especially when it comes to baseball. I think there are too many changes made to entice fans who don't like baseball ... at the expense of those who love the game.

The beauty of baseball is that it is a relic from the early days of the 20th century. It's the only sport where we can really compare players from 100 years ago with players from today. It's beautiful the way it is -- leave it alone ...

... except to roll the game back -- get rid of interleague play!

[mkirsh]

These are great lists. Here are my additions

Golf - free drop from divots in fairway. I want to reward skill not dumb luck or course maintenance

Basketball - allow the fouled team to pick the shooter on any off-ball foul. This should eliminate the hack-a strategy

Change the NBA continuation rule to match the college rule. It's too hard to tell when players get the and-one or not (especially when players throw the ball at the basket right after being fouled)

Change college hoops to 4 quarters vs 2 halves to match every other level of hoops

Change the rule that it's automatic goaltending if a ball is touched after it hits the backboard. Never understood this one - if it's still going up you should be able to block it

Move both the college and NBA 3 point line back one foot to improve spacing and restore balance to the value of the 2

Widen the NBA floor - players are way bigger and faster today yet the court dimensions haven't changed

Change the charge rule that you have to be in place before the player leaves the ground to get a charge called. Too much ambiguity on what "begins the shooting motion" means

College should allow jersey digits > 5. Every other league in the world has figured this out

Football - adopt the college OT rule. NFL overtime is the most anti-climatic OT in sports. OT stats would not count for records (or fantasy)

[JNort]

I hate most of the suggestions in this thread, especially when it comes to baseball. I think there are too many changes made to entice fans who don't like baseball ... at the expense of those who love the game.

The beauty of baseball is that it is a relic from the early days of the 20th century. It's the only sport where we can really compare players from 100 years ago with players from today. It's beautiful the way it is -- leave it alone ...

... except to roll the game back -- get rid of interleague play!

Gotta disagree, baseball is such a flawed sport and painful to watch for an entire game.very few people sit and watch am entire game on tv let alone all their teams games. No other sport seems to have near this problem for a reason.

[mkirsh]

These are great lists. Here are my additions

Golf - free drop from divots in fairway. I want to reward skill not dumb luck or course maintenance

Basketball - allow the fouled team to pick the shooter on any off-ball foul. This should eliminate the hack-a strategy

Change the NBA continuation rule to match the college rule. It's too hard to tell when players get the and-one or not (especially when players throw the ball at the basket right after being fouled)

Change college hoops to 4 quarters vs 2 halves to match every other level of hoops

Change the rule that it's automatic goaltending if a ball is touched after it hits the backboard. Never understood this one - if it's still going up you should be able to block it

Move both the college and NBA 3 point line back one foot to improve spacing and restore balance to the value of the 2

Widen the NBA floor - players are way bigger and faster today yet the court dimensions haven't changed

Change the charge rule that you have to be in place before the player leaves the ground to get a charge called. Too much ambiguity on what "begins the shooting motion" means

College should allow jersey digits > 5. Every other league in the world has figured this out

Football - adopt the college OT rule. NFL overtime is the most anti-climatic OT in sports. OT stats would not count for records (or fantasy)

One more I forgot - for both NBA and college hoops change the jump ball rule to award the ball to the defense (determined based on which side of half court the jump ball occurs)

[left_hook_lacey]

Basketball

1. Refs should give 1 warning per player not to touch a ref or argue a call. That's a coaches job, if the player violates this rule it's a tech. Apply to all levels of basketball

2. If a player passes to a teammate who then gets fouled and the player makes both free throws then the passer should get an assist. Apply to all levels of basketball

3. I wanna see the constant fouling of bad free throw shooters at the end of games come to an end. Give an option to take the ball out of bounds perhaps? NBA only

4. Probably my most desired one I want at the moment... Change the 3 second rule on offense to something longer or eliminate entirely. I understand why the rule used to be needed but now I feel like we should encourage more paint play to balance out the insane amount of 3 point shots we are seeing. Apply to all levels of basketball


Football

1. Regarding defensive holding. It should be an automatic first down for any holding further than 10 yards down the field but 5 yards and replay the down for anything under 10 yards.

2. Allow extra points in the NFL to be returned for an extra point or 2 when blocked.

3. This is for college. In overtime, change the way the scoring is done so we don't get these super inflated scores. TDs = 3pts FGs = 2pts (extra point and 2 point conversion can remain the same)

4. Allow celebrations unless they are crude or offensive (NFL only).

5. College should relax on the anti celebration rules. The rule is fine but penalizing a player who scored a seemingly game winning touchdown for tossing the ball up is ludicrous.

NASCAR

1. All drivers should have to drive the same car with the same tires and same everything in them. Otherwise NASCAR will never be about real talent but instead about who ever has the best car.



Baseball

1. Give teams like 2 timouts for an entire game. No more managers walking to the mound to talk with pitchers and slowing the game. Either call one of your 2 timeouts or wait till the inning is over.

2. Expand the roster to allow more players by a just a couple and make a rule that only allows you to take 3 (or whatever number is appropriate) pitchers to a game. Even after pulling 1 you can be allowed to bring them back in. This would create more strategy in how you use your pitchers and which combos to use for every game.

3. Have a "pitch clock" like other sports have shot clocks and play clocks. After the current play ends start the clock on when the pitcher has to have made another throw. Baseballs biggest problem (other than too many games) right now is it's slow pace and it's brutal.

4. A pitcher can't "check" (throw to) a base to keep the runner close to the bag more than twice or it's a free base to the runner. This should increase steals and action overall.

5. All parks should be the same size... hate that they are different and it makes no sense.

6. Umpires should no longer make the calls for balls and strikes. Leave it to technology cause the umpires are awful at it.

That is basically where Nascar is today. With restrictor plates and Nascar officials checking dimensions before and after races down to the last millimeter, there is very little room for "creativity" anymore. In my opinion, Nascar has lost some of its true die hard fans because of this. Nascar is a "team" sport, and being a mechanic or engineer used to be just as, or even more, important than the driver.

Carry on.

[Blue in the Face]

2. Allow extra points in the NFL to be returned for an extra point or 2 when blocked.

This has been the rule since the 2015 season. All defensive returns of extra points, whether kicks or 2 pt attempts, are 2 points for the defense.

[gus]

Basketball - allow the fouled team to pick the shooter on any off-ball foul. This should eliminate the hack-a strategy

A better way for teams to avoid the hack-a-[ ] strategy is to learn how to shoot free throws. No need to reward teams for bad fundamentals.

[KnightDevil]

Quote Originally Posted by Olympic Fan View Post

I hate most of the suggestions in this thread, especially when it comes to baseball. I think there are too many changes made to entice fans who don't like baseball ... at the expense of those who love the game.

The beauty of baseball is that it is a relic from the early days of the 20th century. It's the only sport where we can really compare players from 100 years ago with players from today. It's beautiful the way it is -- leave it alone ...

... except to roll the game back -- get rid of interleague play!

Gotta disagree, baseball is such a flawed sport and painful to watch for an entire game.very few people sit and watch am entire game on tv let alone all their teams games. No other sport seems to have near this problem for a reason.

I'm firmly in Olympic Fan's camp on this one. Also, get rid of the designated hitter rule. And, get off my lawn.

[nmduke2001]

Golf - free drop from divots in fairway. I want to reward skill not dumb luck or course maintenance

Exactly. Why should a player be penalized for a great drive in the middle of the fairway? Never understood it.

[nmduke2001]

Quote Originally Posted by Olympic Fan View Post

I hate most of the suggestions in this thread, especially when it comes to baseball. I think there are too many changes made to entice fans who don't like baseball ... at the expense of those who love the game.

The beauty of baseball is that it is a relic from the early days of the 20th century. It's the only sport where we can really compare players from 100 years ago with players from today. It's beautiful the way it is -- leave it alone ...

... except to roll the game back -- get rid of interleague play!



I'm firmly in Olympic Fan's camp on this one. Also, get rid of the designated hitter rule. And, get off my lawn.

I'm on the side of changing baseball. Heck, I'd do something radical. How about before each game a team gets to designate one player as their "double" player? If that player hits a homerun, his run counts twice. However, if he strikes out, it counts as 2 outs. If there were already 2 outs in the inning, one of those outs carries over to the next inning.

Moats for warning tracks or better yet trampolines.

Sorry, I just think baseball is really boring and needs to be spiced up.