Unpopular Sports Opinions

[The_Admiral]

Corked bats are a lesser transgression than both steroids (illegal drugs) and betting on baseball (inviting the possibility that the outcomes are predetermined and illegitimate).

[LMU]

Eh, I’d think cheating specifically to break a hallowed record would be up there.

 

#UnpopularOpinion

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Someone else said it, but steroids and other PEDs should be legal in pro sports. If they're good enough for Hollywood, they're good enough for athletes.

[SFGiants58]

6 hours ago, the admiral said:

Corked bats are a lesser transgression than both steroids (illegal drugs) and betting on baseball (inviting the possibility that the outcomes are predetermined and illegitimate).

 

Plus, corked bats are scientifically proven to have the same hitting prowess as regular bats. Therefore, it isn't advantageous.

 

 

If only the black (despite "rejuvenation therapy" that one could point to as an outgrowth of colonialism in Latin America and the Casta System of New Spain) sheep of the Cubs' history knew. 

 

Speaking of unpopular opinions, the Cubs really should lift their Sosa ban, despite his transgressions.

[The_Admiral]

I agree. He had to be kept away for a long time but he should have been welcomed back as soon the Cubs won the World Series. Forgive everyone!

[ShutUpLutz!]

On 9/17/2018 at 4:34 PM, Lights Out said:

And on the opposite side, I'm anti-DH and wish the AL would get rid of the position.

 

Something the union will NEVER agree to, not for a billion dollars.

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

12 hours ago, ShutUpLutz! said:

On 9/17/2018 at 4:34 PM, Lights Out said:

And on the opposite side, I'm anti-DH and wish the AL would get rid of the position.

 

Something the union will NEVER agree to, not for a billion dollars.

 

That's not true.  A billion dollars would certainly persuade the union to agree to the elimination of the DH.

More realisitically, so would a shortening of the time to free agency, the creation of additional roster spots, or many other possible concessions on the part of the owners — if the owners for some reason wanted to get rid of the DH, as there is nothing that is beyond discussion in bargaining.  Of course, the elimination of the DH would not benefit the owners in the least; so there's no reason for them to offer anything in return for it.  (And I am glad about that; I will reiterate my contention that having one league with the DH and one league without the DH is a state worth preserving.)

It's true that the presence in the lineup of an incompetent hitter forces managers into making moves.  He might opt to remove a pitcher earlier than he otherwise would do, because the pitcher's spot is coming up.  And the appearance at the plate of what is assumed to be an easy out can, paradoxically, put a lot of pressure on the opposing pitcher. I am sure that we have all seen a pitcher on the mound go to pieces after having walked a pitcher at the plate.

But having the DH creates its own kind of inducement for strategic moves. The DH allows managers to pinch-hit for players other than the pitcher and to pinch-run.  (I read that these things rarely happen nowadays, with bloated pitching staffs.  I don't know from all that; I retired after the 1996 season.)

When I was a Yankee fan, I was very glad that the American League had the DH.  Having it makes sense, considering that pitching, unlike any other position, is such a specialty.  For this reason, the idea that the DH is a first step to offensive and defensive platoons (a favourite straw man of anti-DH types) does not hold water.

The DH has been around for nearly 50 years.  To understand how long that is, realise that, if you look backwards 50 years from the introduction of the DH, the Yankees had yet to win their first World Series.  The DH is firmly established; it has stood the test of time, and is not going anywhere.

[ShutUpLutz!]

All college football games must be played using the official NCAA football, which is manufactured by Wilson. Currently I've seen college games played using Wilson, Noike, Adidas and Under Armor marked footballs.

 

To prevent any dicking around with game balls all NFL game used balls are to be purchased on the day of the game by one of the game day officials from a local sports store. This means no more soaking the balls in water for weeks on end. Kids play with footballs straight out of the box and they have ZERO problems throwing or gripping them so NFL players who GET PAID to do so and have been doing so their entire lives should damn well be able to.

 

Every foul and penalty committed by players in basketball and football games in addition to change of possession or free throws or yardage or whatever, the offending player must leave the playing field and go stand in a penalty box a certain duration, thus leaving his team shorthanded. If a goalie commits a penalty in hockey, the goalie must serve the penalty in the box instead of another player.

 

If a football team commits multiple penalties they will ALL be marked off in terms of yardage, not just one.

[Cosmic]

3 hours ago, ShutUpLutz! said:

If a goalie commits a penalty in hockey, the goalie must serve the penalty in the box instead of another player.

I'm almost afraid to ask, but would the backup goalie be allowed in? And if so, would the goalie be eligible to carry the puck past center ice when coming out of the penalty box?

[goalieboy82]

On 9/11/2018 at 10:42 PM, Discrimihater said:

Football:

Tom Brady's NFL career is basically a figurative monument to the marriage of overachievement, luck, and Bill Belichick.

The NFL should consider holding one of the international games in Nigeria.

Of all the sports that use a clock, football is the one that's most poorly suited for it, IMO.  A fixed amount of drives, akin to baseball innings, would be an improvement.

 

Basketball and Hockey: both the NBA and NHL could stand to hold an in-season knockout cup, or a concurrent mini-league competition of some kind (maybe a BIG3 kind of thing for the NBA), which would necessarily trim the regular season.  I'd also do away with best of 7 series in both leagues. 

 

As far as @DG_Now's question about NBA parity...honestly, you'll never see it.  The short supply of tall people, as Dave Berri would put it, kinda thwarts any attempts at parity (for quick reference, how many people do you personally know, who are 6'2" or taller?  Probably not too many.  7-footers?  Unless you happen to be related to @LMU , that number's probably a big fat goose egg.)

maybe a FA Cup thing for them (with non League teams being able to play, have a small entry fee like the FA Cup)

 

[ShutUpLutz!]

4 hours ago, Cosmic said:

I'm almost afraid to ask, but would the backup goalie be allowed in? And if so, would the goalie be eligible to carry the puck past center ice when coming out of the penalty box?

Nope, no goalie. of course you can stick one of the other players back there in goal if you want, but they don't get to wear any of the goalie gear.

 

Is that harsh? Sure, why not.

Is it a dumb rule? Uh, not really. Why should the goalie be allowed to stay on the ice if they spear someone while one of his teammates has to go sit in the BOX OF HUMILIATION? 

 

Screw that.

 

And if the other team scores a bazillion goals during the penalty time, too bad. the goalies would know the rules, right? You break them, you take the penalty.

[The_Admiral]

If you're all about fairly penalizing the goalie, why not just make his fouls result in penalty shots instead of power plays? Also, a power-play goal cancels the balance of a minor penalty, so you wouldn't score a bazillion goals on the empty net, just one. You know the rules, right?

[ShutUpLutz!]

8 minutes ago, the admiral said:

If you're all about fairly penalizing the goalie, why not just make his fouls result in penalty shots instead of power plays? Also, a power-play goal cancels the balance of a minor penalty, so you wouldn't score a bazillion goals on the empty net, just one. You know the rules, right?

But with my change, scoring a goal doesn't cancel out the balance of the penalty. And why should it? As for penalty shots instead of power plays, that's still even strength 1 on 1, which negates the entire incentive for a goalie NOT to commit a penalty, they still get to stay out on the ice and penalty shots are no sure thing. 

 

Uh, uh, I'll have none of your guff, it's off to the BOX OF HUMILIATION with you, where you will feel sad and think about what you've done.

[Red Wolf]

On 9/17/2018 at 2:04 PM, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

Well played.  While I am generally not a defender of markets as a means of distributing goods and services in society, I am indeed an advocate of a market as the means of determining where the members of this class of workers find employment. 

Please realise that scouting is not an exact science.  No one can predict for sure which players are going to become great.  History is littered with first-round draft picks who became busts, and with big stars who had been unheralded. 

Furthermore, there are only so many slots on any team.  The prestige teams cannot possibly lock up all the worthy talent.  Even if we assume that every player would prefer to play in New York or Los Angeles as opposed to Pittsburgh or Cleveland (an assumption that is patently false), the Pittsburghs and Clevelands of the world would still have ample chance to stock their teams not with "scraps" but with championship-calibre players.
 

Even the NBA can't maintain competitive balance with a draft and salary cap. Guys constantly go out of their way to make sure they avoid Milwaukee, Memphis, New Orleans, etc. as it is. Of course scouting isn't an exact science, but having way more money and the allure of a big market can quickly fix those mistakes for a team like the Lakers. You're basically talking about the type of system that leads to Juventus winning seven straight Serie A championships.

 

I have no problem with the idea of players making the money they're actually worth and being true free agents, but pretending that there would be any sort of competitive balance is absurd.

[The_Admiral]

"I'm a tankie except for sports."

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

4 hours ago, Red Wolf said:

Even the NBA can't maintain competitive balance with a draft and salary cap. Guys constantly go out of their way to make sure they avoid Milwaukee, Memphis, New Orleans, etc. as it is

 

There are ways to deal with this without limiting a player's earning potential, for example, NFL-style revenue sharing.  

 

 

3 hours ago, the admiral said:

"I'm a tankie except for sports."

 

Poorly played.

 

First of all, I am no "tankie", as I lament the ultimate destruction of my beloved workers' state at the hands of a megalomaniac who refused to distinguish between actual enemies of the people and his own personal grudges and prejudices. To give one highly illustrative example: in the mid-1920s, Esperanto was celebrated in the Soviet Union, even appearing on postage stamps; by the late 1930s, Esperantists were being killed en masse for speaking a language that had been created by a Jew. (Still, one must nevertheless acknowledge the worthwhile role that the post-proletarian Soviet Union played on the global scale as a counterweight to American imperialism. And there was also the little matter of its having saved the world by defeating Hitler.)

 

Secondly, not necessarily just for sports. If you want to replace markets with something more equitable, I'm certainly down with that in principle. But please don't start on the workers' side. When wealthy capitalists (and their apologists) notice the flaws inherent in markets only in the case where market forces work to set high values on workers' services, the only appropriate response is GTFO.

 

Other than that, great comment.

[OnWis97]

7 hours ago, Red Wolf said:

 You're basically talking about the type of system that leads to Juventus winning seven straight Serie A championships.

As a non-follower of world football, my first thought was NCAA.  The Lakers would be 1960s UCLA.  Teams like the Heat and Knicks woul be like Duke and Kentucky.  Milwaukee and Minnesota would be, I don’t know, Northern Illinois and Ball State.

 

It might not be quite as bad in other sports.  I think what would happen is that great players would go to top teams but there may be some opportunity for franchises to turn things around given roster size and the increased number of key contributors.

[Kaz]

On 9/18/2018 at 1:07 PM, SFGiants58 said:

The un-merger/de-merger should be the canonical origin story of the Sharks, not that they were a 1991 expansion team. Yes, I wouldn’t mind the Sharks selling “EST. 1967” gear, provided it also had the Seals’ logos on it.

The Sharks will always be the Zombie Seals to me, dammit!

[Sport]

17 hours ago, ShutUpLutz! said:

But with my change, scoring a goal doesn't cancel out the balance of the penalty. And why should it?

Multiple reasons, but the biggest ones being that it sets a cap on how much damage the incompetency of the officials can inflict and prevents the power play from becoming such a huge advantage that 5-on-5 play is no longer the most important focus of the game.

[The_Admiral]

Was it the '70s Canadiens who were murdering everyone on full power plays such that the league had to change the rule?