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Weird things you noticed in sports


johnnysama

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On another note regarding Canadian football, for quite a while, they marked their yard markers every 5 yards (in the USA, it is still seen at only LSU's Tiger Stadium); this was phased out in the late 1970s/early 1980s and now all nine stadiums mark it by the standard 10 yards.

As an aside, I always wondered why the CFL still used yards instead of switching to Meters...

I would imagine it is because gridiron has yards as the generally accepted convention. Just like in rugby it is metres for the markings.

Also, 110 yards is just about 100 metres

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I have always found it weird that even though pro sporting events usually start at :05 or :10 past the hour or half-hour (at least in America), only baseball seems to list their start times on schedules at the exact time the game starts.

For example, on baseball schedules, you'll see times like 7:05pm, or 1:10pm, or 7:40pm, etc. for start times, and that is when the game actually starts.

But for NBA and most other leagues, the schedule lists the nearest hour or half-hour as the game time. For example, an NBA game will be listed as a 7:00pm game on the schedule, but the game doesn't start until 7:10pm.

Anyone know why baseball does things differently with regard to start times? Is it a tradition thing? Or just one of those "that's just how the leagues choose do to it" things?

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I was talking to a good friend of mine just this morning about sports, and we agreed with one thing that's a bit weird.

Each of the four major American sports has certain fundamental flaws that are just inherent characteristics of each sport. They're problems, but they're somewhat unfixable because they're just what the sport is, and changing that would change the whole product.

For example:

The NFL has terrible problems with officiating, like most sports. But even worse, they have such a large and convoluted rulebook that it actually hurts the ability to bring in casual fans and even properly run a game. And even worse than that, the very sport itself is fundamentally flawed because of the potential health risks. The numbers are so shockingly bad when it comes to potential for CTE that the NFL is basically the Phillip Morris of professional sports.

Hockey as a TON of off the ice problems, but the biggest issue is the absolute inability to find a truly fair way to end tie games. You can end in a tie, go to a shootout, make teams play endless overtimes till their legs fall off, or even flip a coin. None of it is really going to fix the fundamental issue that hockey has when it comes to ending games where the score is even. There really isn't a naturally efficient way to do that, unlike just about every other sport.

Basketball has their own issues when it comes to officiating and parody, definitely. But basketball's biggest flaw is the fact that the final two minutes of any game are strategically set up to bring the entire thing to a screeching halt. It definitely makes the end of games exciting, but it sort of marginalizes the rest of the game a bit IMO.

Baseball. There are a lot of issues with baseball too, but I'd say the biggest one is how much down time there is during games. And again, it sets up for some extremely exciting times (And I enjoy baseball the most specifically because of the lack of action), but the majority of the three to four hours spent playing baseball consists of doing nothing but sitting or standing around doing nothing.

It's funny because sports are inherently chaotic, and sports leagues (pro sports leagues in particular) are an attempt to compartmentalize that chaos. That doesn't always work out because the very nature of each of those things are somewhat contradictory.

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Basketball has their own issues when it comes to officiating and parody, definitely. But basketball's biggest flaw is the fact that the final two minutes of any game are strategically set up to bring the entire thing to a screeching halt. It definitely makes the end of games exciting, but it sort of marginalizes the rest of the game a bit IMO.

Yup, the officiating has definitely become a parody of itself.

The last 2 minutes of close NBA games lasting 30 minutes really is a problem. I'm not sure it makes it more exciting. Longer doesn't necessarily mean better. Teams have way too many timeouts. I'd like to see actual basketball being played instead of the inevitable foul/free throw-fest.

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I have always found it weird that even though pro sporting events usually start at :05 or :10 past the hour or half-hour (at least in America), only baseball seems to list their start times on schedules at the exact time the game starts.

For example, on baseball schedules, you'll see times like 7:05pm, or 1:10pm, or 7:40pm, etc. for start times, and that is when the game actually starts.

But for NBA and most other leagues, the schedule lists the nearest hour or half-hour as the game time. For example, an NBA game will be listed as a 7:00pm game on the schedule, but the game doesn't start until 7:10pm.

Anyone know why baseball does things differently with regard to start times? Is it a tradition thing? Or just one of those "that's just how the leagues choose do to it" things?

The Yankees always list their start times as 7:05 or 1:05 (unless it's a national broadcast) but they never start until 7:08 or 1:08 because they are dicks.

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Basketball has their own issues when it comes to officiating and parody, definitely. But basketball's biggest flaw is the fact that the final two minutes of any game are strategically set up to bring the entire thing to a screeching halt. It definitely makes the end of games exciting, but it sort of marginalizes the rest of the game a bit IMO.

Yup, the officiating has definitely become a parody of itself.

The last 2 minutes of close NBA games lasting 30 minutes really is a problem. I'm not sure it makes it more exciting. Longer doesn't necessarily mean better. Teams have way too many timeouts. I'd like to see actual basketball being played instead of the inevitable foul/free throw-fest.

You should be able to decline the foul and take an inbound.

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If a 20 second timeout was actually a 20 second timeout in the NBA and a full was actually 60 like it should be it wouldn't be so bad.

IMHO, the strangest North American sport by far in format is college football.

Also, it drives me nuts that for lower-level college basketball teams, their non-conference season is meaningless except for preparation for conference season. For example, the Ohio Valley Conference usually only gets one team into the tournament. So you could go 0-30 theoretically, win the conference tournament, and make the NCAA tournament.

"I did absolutely nothing and it was everything I thought it could be." -Peter Gibbons

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I think the rules for a football catch are really strange. I remember a play about 5 years ago when Calvin Johnson caught the ball, landed on 2 feet in the end zone, landed on his ass, and then placed the ball next to him. it was called no catch.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d81a77070/Controversial-call-on-Megatron-non-TD

Bizarre rule although they have become more lenient about it since then.

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I think the rules for a football catch are really strange. I remember a play about 5 years ago when Calvin Johnson caught the ball, landed on 2 feet in the end zone, landed on his ass, and then placed the ball next to him. it was called no catch.

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d81a77070/Controversial-call-on-Megatron-non-TD

Bizarre rule although they have become more lenient about it since then.

All I'm gonna say is hold the ball high and tight, no matter what...

"And those who know Your Name put their trust in You, for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You." Psalms 9:10

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I was talking to a good friend of mine just this morning about sports, and we agreed with one thing that's a bit weird.

Each of the four major American sports has certain fundamental flaws that are just inherent characteristics of each sport. They're problems, but they're somewhat unfixable because they're just what the sport is, and changing that would change the whole product.

For example:

The NFL has terrible problems with officiating, like most sports. But even worse, they have such a large and convoluted rulebook that it actually hurts the ability to bring in casual fans and even properly run a game. And even worse than that, the very sport itself is fundamentally flawed because of the potential health risks. The numbers are so shockingly bad when it comes to potential for CTE that the NFL is basically the Phillip Morris of professional sports.

Hockey as a TON of off the ice problems, but the biggest issue is the absolute inability to find a truly fair way to end tie games. You can end in a tie, go to a shootout, make teams play endless overtimes till their legs fall off, or even flip a coin. None of it is really going to fix the fundamental issue that hockey has when it comes to ending games where the score is even. There really isn't a naturally efficient way to do that, unlike just about every other sport.

Basketball has their own issues when it comes to officiating and parody, definitely. But basketball's biggest flaw is the fact that the final two minutes of any game are strategically set up to bring the entire thing to a screeching halt. It definitely makes the end of games exciting, but it sort of marginalizes the rest of the game a bit IMO.

Baseball. There are a lot of issues with baseball too, but I'd say the biggest one is how much down time there is during games. And again, it sets up for some extremely exciting times (And I enjoy baseball the most specifically because of the lack of action), but the majority of the three to four hours spent playing baseball consists of doing nothing but sitting or standing around doing nothing.

It's funny because sports are inherently chaotic, and sports leagues (pro sports leagues in particular) are an attempt to compartmentalize that chaos. That doesn't always work out because the very nature of each of those things are somewhat contradictory.

re.

NFL - they get a very slight pass on the health issue, considering the average pro career is about 3.3yrs last I checked- & not just because of injury or health concern. It isn't pro wrestling where guys are doing stunts 300 days a year for 30yrs. The game isn't broken, the game is not demanding players go helmet to helmet to succeed.

Keep in mind also- rules, for most all leagues I'm certain, go through Players' Associations. Sure the owners might introduce some things like PAT yardage or whatever, but don't players unions make recommendations & sign off before play? I laugh when a guy gets flagged for something he whines about... something that was probably voted on by his peers to introduce into the league.

NHL - should re-adopt tie games. 21st century fans are fickle for time, & more accepting of traditional rules like soccer ties. Besides, the NHL's playoff sudden death OT re-validates them. The fact that it's not unusual for a random hockey playoff game to last 5 periods moots their regular season rules. Not even soccer does that- they're the ones who go to shootouts even if it's the World Cup Final.

NBA - star driven league, star driven officiating. It is what it is.

MLB - I agree with you somewhat. I say somewhat because whenever I'm at a Jays game live, 3hrs feels like 90mins... it flies by. Bizarre that. When watching that 3hr game on tv, feels like 5hrs.

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I find it odd that so much of the NFL depends on the spot of the ball - an inherently imperfect act. Then, to measure first downs, we trot dudes out holding poles connected by 10 feet of chain. There's just multiple degrees of freedom for things to go wrong.

Don't get me wrong - so much in football (and other sports) is subjective. Holding vs. not holding, pass interference or not, ball/strike calls, charge/block calls. But with ball spotting and the chain gang, it seems like you're taking something that's supposed to be objective and making it subjective.

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Baseball: the nonexistence of the left handed catcher. It's been said that a lefty catcher would have a harder time making the throw to second, though unless it's Jon Lester, the pitcher's handedness seems to matter far more in that regard. On another tangent, the Cubs using the third base dugout at home, as most other teams use the first base dugout.

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I find it odd that so much of the NFL depends on the spot of the ball - an inherently imperfect act. Then, to measure first downs, we trot dudes out holding poles connected by 10 feet of chain. There's just multiple degrees of freedom for things to go wrong.

Don't get me wrong - so much in football (and other sports) is subjective. Holding vs. not holding, pass interference or not, ball/strike calls, charge/block calls. But with ball spotting and the chain gang, it seems like you're taking something that's supposed to be objective and making it subjective.

TV tends to not show it, but the 10-yard chains have a sliding peg that's able to be placed at the nearest 5-yard marker. And it's actually pressed into the ground/turf, so that just in case a play heads towards the chains or the guys holding the markers....those can be dropped and the guys can protect themselves from being run into.

So in case anyone's ever wondered why it takes a minute for them to measure for first downs, it's not for dramatic effect....they're waiting for the one official to place the peg in the ground before they extend the chains.

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I find it odd that so much of the NFL depends on the spot of the ball - an inherently imperfect act. Then, to measure first downs, we trot dudes out holding poles connected by 10 feet of chain. There's just multiple degrees of freedom for things to go wrong.

Don't get me wrong - so much in football (and other sports) is subjective. Holding vs. not holding, pass interference or not, ball/strike calls, charge/block calls. But with ball spotting and the chain gang, it seems like you're taking something that's supposed to be objective and making it subjective.

This has always felt silly to me. Let's eyeball where we think the ball was. Okay got our spot. Now it's 4th and close so let's scientifically measure if our guess was a first down or not.

My dad is a spotter for Ohio State football games. He watches from the press box with binoculars and tells the PA announcer who makes the tackle/catch etc. He says the officials mess up the spot of the ball constantly.

I'm waiting for the day when they can figure out how to get the first down line and line of scrimmage line to appear on the field IRL. A ball tracker chip inside the ball would be a great idea too.

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I find it odd that so much of the NFL depends on the spot of the ball - an inherently imperfect act. Then, to measure first downs, we trot dudes out holding poles connected by 10 feet of chain. There's just multiple degrees of freedom for things to go wrong.

Don't get me wrong - so much in football (and other sports) is subjective. Holding vs. not holding, pass interference or not, ball/strike calls, charge/block calls. But with ball spotting and the chain gang, it seems like you're taking something that's supposed to be objective and making it subjective.

TV tends to not show it, but the 10-yard chains have a sliding peg that's able to be placed at the nearest 5-yard marker. And it's actually pressed into the ground/turf, so that just in case a play heads towards the chains or the guys holding the markers....those can be dropped and the guys can protect themselves from being run into.

So in case anyone's ever wondered why it takes a minute for them to measure for first downs, it's not for dramatic effect....they're waiting for the one official to place the peg in the ground before they extend the chains.

Yeah, that helps with making sure the chain gang doesn't lose their spot when walking 30 yards onto the field to take a measurement - but it doesn't mean that the ball spot itself is any more precise.

I find it odd that so much of the NFL depends on the spot of the ball - an inherently imperfect act. Then, to measure first downs, we trot dudes out holding poles connected by 10 feet of chain. There's just multiple degrees of freedom for things to go wrong.

Don't get me wrong - so much in football (and other sports) is subjective. Holding vs. not holding, pass interference or not, ball/strike calls, charge/block calls. But with ball spotting and the chain gang, it seems like you're taking something that's supposed to be objective and making it subjective.

This has always felt silly to me. Let's eyeball where we think the ball was. Okay got our spot. Now it's 4th and close so let's scientifically measure if our guess was a first down or not.

My dad is a spotter for Ohio State football games. He watches from the press box with binoculars and tells the PA announcer who makes the tackle/catch etc. He says the officials mess up the spot of the ball constantly.

I'm waiting for the day when they can figure out how to get the first down line and line of scrimmage line to appear on the field IRL. A ball tracker chip inside the ball would be a great idea too.

Yeah, I'm sure I'm not the only one to have envisioned a system with lasers and a GPS chip inside the ball.

pic-2013-08-08-at-5.59.41-pm-2.png

"frickin' balls with frickin' lasers in their frickin' ends."

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Basketball has their own issues when it comes to officiating and parody, definitely. But basketball's biggest flaw is the fact that the final two minutes of any game are strategically set up to bring the entire thing to a screeching halt. It definitely makes the end of games exciting, but it sort of marginalizes the rest of the game a bit IMO.

Yup, the officiating has definitely become a parody of itself.

The last 2 minutes of close NBA games lasting 30 minutes really is a problem. I'm not sure it makes it more exciting. Longer doesn't necessarily mean better. Teams have way too many timeouts. I'd like to see actual basketball being played instead of the inevitable foul/free throw-fest.

I just watched the Clippers beat the T-Wolves and it was truly awful. I think the last minute and change took 20 minutes...at least 15...if I had to guess I'd say 18. And there was not really any question at the time of who was going to win the game. We had:

  • Timeouts
  • One out-of-bounds reply
  • BOTH team fouling. This was because the Clips continuously had a three-point lead. So they fouled the Wolves. Part of the "problem" was that both teams made every single free throw down the stretch, keeping the lead bouncing between three-and-one.
  • Getting DeAndre Jordan on the floor for defense and off the floor for offense.

But it was awful. Absolutely awful. And not just because the Wolves found yet another way to lose but it was nothing but dead time....the problem is, there is not much that I'd have told the teams/players to do differently. Doc was smart to foul with a 3-point lead. And to do all the switching he did. Teams in pro and college ball get too many time outs but for the most part, this stuff is hard to change in certain games/situations.

Disclaimer: If this comment is about an NBA uniform from 2017-2018 or later, do not constitute a lack of acknowledgement of the corporate logo to mean anything other than "the corporate logo is terrible and makes the uniform significantly worse."

 

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On another note regarding Canadian football, for quite a while, they marked their yard markers every 5 yards (in the USA, it is still seen at only LSU's Tiger Stadium); this was phased out in the late 1970s/early 1980s and now all nine stadiums mark it by the standard 10 yards.

As an aside, I always wondered why the CFL still used yards instead of switching to Meters...

I would imagine it is because gridiron has yards as the generally accepted convention. Just like in rugby it is metres for the markings.

Also, 110 yards is just about 100 metres

I wanted to respond but got all muddled up. The field divided into 10s is much easier for fans... & the only way to keep that would be wider intervals, since 1 metre is more than 1 yard.

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@2001mark

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I find it odd that so much of the NFL depends on the spot of the ball - an inherently imperfect act. Then, to measure first downs, we trot dudes out holding poles connected by 10 feet of chain. There's just multiple degrees of freedom for things to go wrong.

Don't get me wrong - so much in football (and other sports) is subjective. Holding vs. not holding, pass interference or not, ball/strike calls, charge/block calls. But with ball spotting and the chain gang, it seems like you're taking something that's supposed to be objective and making it subjective.

A wash.

It's like ppl complaining about prices at the grocery... for every 10mins someone makes everyone else wait for their 10 cent adjustment confirmation, we probably get wrongly priced stuff for less without noticing.

Of course, I've been team self checkout for 4yrs now... so I'm gone before the line beside me moves an inch... or is it a 3rd down?

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@2001mark

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I find it odd that so much of the NFL depends on the spot of the ball - an inherently imperfect act. Then, to measure first downs, we trot dudes out holding poles connected by 10 feet of chain. There's just multiple degrees of freedom for things to go wrong.

Don't get me wrong - so much in football (and other sports) is subjective. Holding vs. not holding, pass interference or not, ball/strike calls, charge/block calls. But with ball spotting and the chain gang, it seems like you're taking something that's supposed to be objective and making it subjective.

A wash.

It's like ppl complaining about prices at the grocery... for every 10mins someone makes everyone else wait for their 10 cent adjustment confirmation, we probably get wrongly priced stuff for less without noticing.

Of course, I've been team self checkout for 4yrs now... so I'm gone before the line beside me moves an inch... or is it a 3rd down?

It probably is a wash, but it doesn't make it any less odd - that we involve so much human element and subjectivity in something that's presented as precise.

It would be like if I didn't give exams or any other formal evaluations in class, but then tried to determine my students' grades down to a tenth of a percentage point.

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