Lets Make Some Rule Changes

It is no secret: I love sports. However, there are some things in sports that frustrate me and I think that there are some rule changes and general changes that could amp up things and make certain aspects of certain sports better. Do I think all of my ideas are picture perfect? No. I realize that, though practical, some of these ideas would never be implemented or worked into the sports, however the discussion is happening and I want to throw in my two cents.

Baseball: My only issue with baseball is at times the pace of the game can really be slowed down. Sure, a lot of the times it typically has to do with strategy, such as having a mound visit or two to give the bullpen more time. But it can be frustrating. Solutions:

- At the home plate umpires digression, institute a pitch clock. The pitcher has 20 seconds to get the ball off of the rubber from the second he gets the ball back from the catcher if the home plate umpire feels like he is stalling the game. This means trying to hold a runner on the bag or making a pitch.

- At all times, the batter is not allowed to step out of the box and take a practice swing unless he swings at the previous pitch, or unless there is a ball that could have hit him and he needs a few seconds to get his head back. No more stepping out every pitch and adjusting your batting gloves three times on each hands, Nomar. Keep the game moving.

- Figure out the Designated Hitter rule. Either implement it to both leagues, or get rid of it all together, there is no reason the American League should have it while the National League doesn't. I don't care which way, make a decision.

- Have at least one day game per day. There are 30 teams in Major League Baseball, this does not seem unreasonable to do and more people than you would think own the MLB Package and would actually be interested in this. Teams could charge less money for a day game based on the fact that less people would be likely to attend, causing people to call in sick to work and bring their kids to a game, this could be especially nice during the summer months where the kids are out of school.

- As far as Little League Baseball, ban the curveball. LL did a great thing by implementing the pitch count rule a couple of years back, but it is not enough. 12 year olds should not be throwing curveballs, end of story.

- If one team chooses, they should be allowed to forgo their attempts at bat and just stay in the field, re-setting opposing base runners every three outs after the seventh inning. Think of it like this, if the home team is up seven runs in the bottom of the 8th inning, taking their at bats in the 8th could be potentially meaningless, and a waste of time. If the home team elects to, they should be allowed to just stay in the field, and forfeit their at bats, and finish the game. If the away team ends up scoring enough runs to capture a lead, that's the home teams problem, but it could make things interesting.

Professional Football: I don't think there is much wrong with the NFL, and the popularity of the sport speaks for itself, however there are a couple things that could be changed to make things better:

- Get rid of the annual game in London. This year, I was livid when I found out that my Patriots are playing the annual game over in London. It just is not fair to do that to teams. And to take a home game away from the Buccaneers isn't fair either. While I'm sure there is a system in play where the Buccaneers will make up for the gate that they will be losing, a game at Wembley Stadium is not a home game, and home field advantage in a sport where verbal communication is key and crowd noise is a big advantage. And not to mention the fact that being jet lagged and adjusting to the different time zones will be difficult, only to then return to the east coast and waste half of the bye week in simply re-adjusting your mental clock. If the NFL wants to make itself more international, try keeping the game in North America. Mexico City? Sure. Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver? Fine. Just keep regular season games out of Europe.

- Play the Pro Bowl during the Sunday of the week off break in between the AFC and NFC Championship games. Players that played in the playoffs have the option of not playing in the Pro Bowl, however are encouraged to make an appearance and be honored as a member of the two teams. The players that are going to play in the Super Bowl are the only players that are officially ineligible to play who have been voted to the team. This would stir even more interest for the Super Bowl and make the Pro Bowl that much more watched. Playing the Pro Bowl a week after the Super Bowl takes all of the hype out of the NFL's version of the All-Star game.

- Get rid of the post kickoff commercial break. Yeah, the NFL makes a lot of money off of these commercials, but it slows down the pace of the game. It cam be pretty brutal to sit through the 'touchdown, commercial, kickoff, commercial, start of possession' sequence multiple times each game. For the fans sake, get rid of these commercial breaks.

- Fix the scheduling. While I think that the NFL has a pretty solid scheduling system, at the same time there is definitely something messed up. 2007 season, Patriots played in Indianapolis. 2008, Patriots played in Indianapolis. This season, what do you know, the Patriots are scheduled to play in Indianapolis. Now I understand the Patriots vs. Colt rivalry, and how the NFL wants it to happen due to pure ratings, however something here isn't right. I'm not complaining that we are playing the Colts every year, (the Patriots actually hosted the Colts three straight seasons from 2004 to 2007), and have played them at least since the 2003 season every year, but bounce it back and fourth each year, there is no reason that two teams that are not in the same division should play each other back to back seasons at the same site. Play one at one teams stadium, then alternate the next year, it's only fair. I am only using the Patriots vs. Colts as an example because I am directly familiar with it, however it would not surprise me if the same is going on to other teams out there.

- Change the overtime rules. There are two ideas, both of which would be better than the current system. One idea would be to make overtime not sudden death, and make it a full length 15 minute period, whoever is winning at the end will be declared the winner, and if the teams have the same score, the game will be ruled a tie. In a playoff game that goes to overtime, if the two teams have the same score at the end of the 15 minutes, then play another one. The other idea here would be changing the system to the system that college football uses, only with different rules. Rather than starting at the 25, start the ball at the 35, as most NFL kickers should easily be able to kick a 37 yard field goal. Keep the rule where after the third overtime the teams are forced to attempt a two point conversion after a touchdown, and starting in the fourth overtime move the ball back 5 yards, and then five more yards for each overtime until the ball is placed on the 50 and keep it there. Moving the ball back makes it harder for kickers and offenses in general. We can't have anymore situations where a team wins the game because they won the coin toss, got a good return, and moved the ball 35 yards to kick a field goal.

College Football: I'm going to not really say anything in this particular post, and save college football for its own because there is so much wrong with it. It will probably be soon after this post and will mainly feature how the BCS needs to go along with Pre-Season rankings.

Hockey: I, for one, actually agree with the rule changes in the NHL from a few seasons ago. The fact that they made rules that appeal to the non-fan was a good move, even though the NHL is the least viewed of the four major sports in North America. And personally, I would not be able to stand another season of watching teams play "Trap Hockey." There is room for improvement, however:

- Less is more; Contract teams. This is a lot easier said than done (based on what to do with the players, their salaries, the owners of the teams, and a plethora of other issues), but get rid of at least four teams. Try to figure out which teams the League can do without, probably based on fan-base, revenues, actual abilities, and contract them.

Basketball:

- Get new referees. The NBA is the worst officiated of the four major sports in this country. Let them all go.

- I personally like the fairly new rule that keeps players jumping from high school into the pro's, but I know that there is a very mixed reaction over this issue. I like it because all it takes is a freak accident for a player to injure themselves for their career and then they do not have a degree or education to fall back on. However, what if there was a rule installed where high school players could enter the draft if they earn a certain score on the SAT test, or some other standardized test? Due to the change in the SAT scoring over the past 3 or 4 years, I don't really know what is a good score if someone tells me what they earned. But if a score is set that the kids can get grade of or higher, then it proves that they are indeed smart enough to get into college based purely on their brains, and then allow them to enter into the draft.

- In college basketball, change the shot clock from 35 seconds to 28 seconds. There is no need for the shot clock to be 35 seconds long.

Soccer:

- Install a back court violation, just like in basketball. Put in a rule where you have 20 seconds to clear the ball to mid-field, and once the ball gets past mid-field you cannot return the ball to the defensive part of the field, otherwise its a loss of possession. A big part of the game of soccer is stalling the game because you have a lead, and also waiting to pick your spot because the game is very long, however I feel like if there was a "Failure to Advance" violation(like in Basketball and Lacrosse), then late in games, "full court press" defenses could be used and cause turnovers in the defensive end to make more scoring occur. The installation of the back field violation could also cut back on stalling.


That's it for now. I realize that some of these are unrealistic, however these are just some suggestions.

Do YOU think that you have a better idea for a sport, or that my idea is completely unreasonable? Let me know! Send me an instant message on AIM at 'i3rian 87' or Follow me on Twitter! and send me a tweet! I will be sure to give you credit for your idea/comment!