Monday, July 25, 2005

The Dumbest Rules in Sports

From Page 2.

Some of these are great, some of these are really really really dumb. A few of these the authors just barely touched, like the ground can't cause a fumble. To me, this is one of the dumbest rules ever. Here's all they put down:
The Ground Can't Cause a Fumble in Football
Bull! Did the guy hold onto the ball or not?


That's all, though I agree in principle, explain it a little more, like do you really have possession if he loses it when he hits the ground? What if a hit from an opponent caused him to hit the ground really hard? Is it still 'ground caused'?

They seemed to rag on the NBA the most, including this brilliant idea:

The NBA's 10-Foot Rim and 94-Foot Floor
The court never changes. It's the same size we played on as YBA punks, baggy socks flapping about our ankles. Heck, it's the same size played on by James Naismith's kids.

This makes no sense.

The game has evolved. Like the Six Million Dollar Man, players are bigger, stronger, faster … and worth a heck of a lot more than $6 million. So expand the surface, raise the rim, restore flow to a game stuck in the mud. Make a dunk something special again.


First of all, this is just wrong. High School and Junior High courts are different sizes than NBA courts. Some colleges even have a shorter floor. Not to mention the 3-point line changes also. And changing the basket height is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of.

They also touch on the NBA's timeout policy, their jersey restrictions (it has to be tucked in, and honestly, if you're going to be bitching about a sports fashion restrictions, start with the NFL), and the traveling and carrying rules (they say get rid of them and embrace AND1 basketball- oiy).

There is some good stuff in there too, about college amatures and stuff like that. But it's half and half; for every 'ground should be able to cause a fumble' argument, they make a 'boxers should be able to punch each other in the nuts' argument.

2 comments:

The Portable Basketball said...

I think changing the basket height would be a dumb idea unless it is for youth learning how to shoot which they do lower the basket for them.

Competitive Edge said...

I don't like how in recreation basketball they let the little kids run up and down the court without dribbling the ball. It seems like they penalize players who have good dribbling and ball skills. There are a lot of great dribbling aids to teach these kids to dribble properly at a young age. So they shouldn't be rewarded for running up and down the court traveling and getting lots of cheers when they score traveling violation.