Worst ideas in sports history

[Fox]

Giving Albert Pujols a 10-year deal

[BigBubba]

Wearing protective gear in hockey is a bad idea?

Oh no, not at all. But wearing hard, enforced plastic pads that made shoulder and elbow collisions - especially to the head - even more damaging is just asinine. They cause more harm than they prevent.

Skip to the 2:30 mark:

[njmeadowlanders]

Cooperalls. Done & Done.

[zixin]

[removed]

[evanmaldonado]

Cooperalls. Done & Done.

Cooperalls were ing awesome. I want a pair so bad haha

[Magnus]

Giving Albert Pujols a 10-year deal

Is if fair to say a quarter billion just went down the "poo-hole"? (i.e. if he doesn't live up to expectations)

[AlMagz]

how is spiking the football allowed to stop the clock and not an intentional grounding penalty? and intentional grounding is the worst penalty in all of sports. let me take a sack for a 15 yard loss instead of throwing the ball away.. wait thats a penalty?!

[thespleenenator]

how is spiking the football allowed to stop the clock and not an intentional grounding penalty? and intentional grounding is the worst penalty in all of sports. let me take a sack for a 15 yard loss instead of throwing the ball away.. wait thats a penalty?!

Because then a sack would almost never happen. When a QB would see pressure, they would throw it at the ground, and the play would be over. It's a good rule.

[Gothamite]

I agree. You have to prevent the quarterback from throwing into the ground at will any time the defense gets a little pressure.

As for a spike, it's like when a player takes a deliberate knee or gives up and stops trying to advance the ball; there is strategy in choosing when not to run a play.

[The Six]

Wearing protective gear in hockey is a bad idea?

Oh no, not at all. But wearing hard, enforced plastic pads that made shoulder and elbow collisions - especially to the head - even more damaging is just asinine. They cause more harm than they prevent.

Skip to the 2:30 mark:

Yes, the more protection you give athletes, the more violent the collisions will be. You get a sense of invincibility wearing all that armor. I think there's a case to be made that less padding could actually lead to fewer injuries, or at least ones that are less severe.

[yangguang]

[Gone]

[yangguang]

[ugh.]

[raysox]

Astroturf, and Domed stadiums.

[See Red]

I agree. You have to prevent the quarterback from throwing into the ground at will any time the defense gets a little pressure.

As for a spike, it's like when a player takes a deliberate knee or gives up and stops trying to advance the ball; there is strategy in choosing when not to run a play.

Also, for it to be call an intentional grounding penalty, there has to be imminent pressure on the QB, which there usually isn't when a QB spikes the ball. There was an instance in the Broncos/Vikings game last weekend where Ponder, from the pocket, threw a ball nowhere near a WR and the ref ruled that since he wasn't under pressure and throwing the ball away to avoid a sack that it was not intentional grounding.

[Gothamite]

Yeah, but sometimes you have to take context into account. Ponder feels pressure from the defense when he's in the locker room.

[Raymie]

In re: the user who said the November World Series:

It really was a complete accident to Major League Baseball. The need to add a week to the 2001 season after 9/11 meant that everything just got pushed back. I remember "Mr. November" and the 2001 World Series (and was actually at games 2 and 7 in Phoenix, though I was six at the time ? the stealth bomber flyover in Game 7 was just stunning). But it just kept going on and on, and THAT is what made it bad. It was really too late and should only have happened when it HAD to, like in 2001.

Something similar happened the past few years in Arizona high school football, because the two highest classification title games were played in the first week of December (which just dragged on the season). This year every championship (except eight-man Div. VI, a shorter season) was played on one day in three venues. AZ actually had the first high school football game in the country this year, which was played in the middle of August (and turned out to feature the state champions!).

If you wanted weather in your football, this was the year for you ? games were delayed for extreme heat one week and canceled/delayed for dust, rain, and lightning two weeks later. There was yet more dust and rain as late as early November!

[SFGiants58]

Giving Albert Pujols a 10-year deal

A-bleeping-men.

[wdm1219inpenna]

After I post my editorial, I will go back and read over the 5 pages of replies. I read page 1 already. This is a sensational idea for a post, and I thank you!

To me:

MLB - Interleague play (hate it), opening day in Japan or outside of the U.S., lack of using instant replay technology, retractable roofs that are closed when the weather is nice and not 600 degrees or 10 degrees outside (those temps are in Farenheit, not Celcius, so I apologize), the Designated Hitter, no more scheduled double-headers, 1993 & 1998 expansion (especially 1998), the way the wild card was implemented from 1995 - 2010 (an inordinate amount of wild card teams not only qualified for the World Series, but won it, de-emphasizing the regular season, which is why surprisingly I embrace the idea of a 2nd wildcard team, a 1 game play-in playoff. I have more ideas on that, but they would not be popular and I don't want to go any farther off tangent that I already have here...), All-Star Game determining World Series home field, lack of a salary cap thus leading still to some competitive imbalances, moving the Houston Astros to the American League West (let alone to the A.L. at all!), imbalanced schedules (sick & tired of Yankees/Red Sox constantly), World Series games not ending until the following day, after midnight, sometimes 1:30 in the blessed a.m.

NBA - 3 point shot (I'd like to see them have it, but only have it apply for like the last 3 minutes of each half), the fact that more than 50% of all teams qualifies for post-season play, all rounds being the best of 7 series, Seattle losing a team, the Hornets leaving Charlotte. I don't really watch much basketball, and next to no NBA, so my take on this is quite limited.

NHL - Shootouts to break ties. 4 rounds of 7 game series in the playoffs. Expanding to too many non-hockey cities (I don't associate Miami, Tampa Bay, Atlanta-who relocated I know, Phoenix, San Jose or Nashville with ice hockey). Stanley Cup Final games being played on Flag Day (June 14th here in the states, who the heck wants to watch ICE hockey in mid JUNE?!?!?!)

NFL - Playing 2 regular season games outside of the United States (Buffalo hosting one game per year in Toronto, and London, England hosting one game per year). Regular season bye weeks (not just for those who play fantasy football, but just the way it is currently done sucks), the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl (whether it's played the week before or the week after the Super Bowl, just don't play it anymore!), new overtime rules that only apply in post-season, rule changes that no longer allow defensive players to play defense, allowing quarterbacks to spike the ball rather than burn a time out, allowing a team to take a knee to win the game, bringing the 2 point conversion rule from college (hate it!), a bye week between the conference championship games & the Super Bowl, playing the Super Bowl in cold climate areas or in domes (except the Louisiana Superdome). Also 1pm start times no longer work for the early games. They need to start at 12:30pm EST due to endless and repetetive commercials for cars, beer, and dopey reality shows, and the use of time outs for injuries, scoring reviews and coaches challenges. Also, using a time out to "ice the kicker", that needs to stop. The only time I saw it work was last week, when Jason Garrett of the Cowboys did it.....to his own kicker no less!!! The Lions & Cowboys being allowed to play each and every Thanksgiving, too many Thursday night regular season games, Monday Night Football going from ABC to ESPN. I'm sure I'll think of more after I hit "submit"...Oh yes!!! Sideline reporters!!!

NCAA Men's Basketball - Having a regular season that seems totally irrelevant. Over-expanding from a field of 64, to 65 (1 play in game), to 68 (4 play in games).

NCAA Football - Not utilizing the BCS and its tools properly. The lack of a legitimate playoff system. 10,000 bowl games. Rose, Cotton, Orange & Sugar Bowls not always being played on January 1st anymore (if ever). While I like college's overtime rules a bit better than the NFL, I dislike that they start on the opponents' 25 yard line. The constant shifting of teams. Having 11 teams in the Big TEN conference.

USFL - Trying to compete head-to-head in 1986 with the National Football League. The USFL had a good thing going, and to me hit its peak in 1984, when they had 18 clubs. It was a rather enjoyable alternative to baseball. Didn't mind the 2 point conversion in this league, or in college, but I hate it in the NFL.

[dfwabel]

After I post my editorial, I will go back and read over the 5 pages of replies. I read page 1 already. This is a sensational idea for a post, and I thank you!

To me:

MLB - Interleague play (hate it), opening day in Japan or outside of the U.S., lack of using instant replay technology, retractable roofs that are closed when the weather is nice and not 600 degrees or 10 degrees outside (those temps are in Farenheit, not Celcius, so I apologize), the Designated Hitter, no more scheduled double-headers, 1993 & 1998 expansion (especially 1998), the way the wild card was implemented from 1995 - 2010 (an inordinate amount of wild card teams not only qualified for the World Series, but won it, de-emphasizing the regular season, which is why surprisingly I embrace the idea of a 2nd wildcard team, a 1 game play-in playoff. I have more ideas on that, but they would not be popular and I don't want to go any farther off tangent that I already have here...), All-Star Game determining World Series home field, lack of a salary cap thus leading still to some competitive imbalances, moving the Houston Astros to the American League West (let alone to the A.L. at all!), imbalanced schedules (sick & tired of Yankees/Red Sox constantly), World Series games not ending until the following day, after midnight, sometimes 1:30 in the blessed a.m.

NBA - 3 point shot (I'd like to see them have it, but only have it apply for like the last 3 minutes of each half), the fact that more than 50% of all teams qualifies for post-season play, all rounds being the best of 7 series, Seattle losing a team, the Hornets leaving Charlotte. I don't really watch much basketball, and next to no NBA, so my take on this is quite limited.

NHL - Shootouts to break ties. 4 rounds of 7 game series in the playoffs. Expanding to too many non-hockey cities (I don't associate Miami, Tampa Bay, Atlanta-who relocated I know, Phoenix, San Jose or Nashville with ice hockey). Stanley Cup Final games being played on Flag Day (June 14th here in the states, who the heck wants to watch ICE hockey in mid JUNE?!?!?!)

NFL - Playing 2 regular season games outside of the United States (Buffalo hosting one game per year in Toronto, and London, England hosting one game per year). Regular season bye weeks (not just for those who play fantasy football, but just the way it is currently done sucks), the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl (whether it's played the week before or the week after the Super Bowl, just don't play it anymore!), new overtime rules that only apply in post-season, rule changes that no longer allow defensive players to play defense, allowing quarterbacks to spike the ball rather than burn a time out, allowing a team to take a knee to win the game, bringing the 2 point conversion rule from college (hate it!), a bye week between the conference championship games & the Super Bowl, playing the Super Bowl in cold climate areas or in domes (except the Louisiana Superdome). Also 1pm start times no longer work for the early games. They need to start at 12:30pm EST due to endless and repetetive commercials for cars, beer, and dopey reality shows, and the use of time outs for injuries, scoring reviews and coaches challenges. Also, using a time out to "ice the kicker", that needs to stop. The only time I saw it work was last week, when Jason Garrett of the Cowboys did it.....to his own kicker no less!!! The Lions & Cowboys being allowed to play each and every Thanksgiving, too many Thursday night regular season games, Monday Night Football going from ABC to ESPN. I'm sure I'll think of more after I hit "submit"...Oh yes!!! Sideline reporters!!!

NCAA Men's Basketball - Having a regular season that seems totally irrelevant. Over-expanding from a field of 64, to 65 (1 play in game), to 68 (4 play in games).

NCAA Football - Not utilizing the BCS and its tools properly. The lack of a legitimate playoff system. 10,000 bowl games. Rose, Cotton, Orange & Sugar Bowls not always being played on January 1st anymore (if ever). While I like college's overtime rules a bit better than the NFL, I dislike that they start on the opponents' 25 yard line. The constant shifting of teams. Having 11 teams in the Big TEN conference.

USFL - Trying to compete head-to-head in 1986 with the National Football League. The USFL had a good thing going, and to me hit its peak in 1984, when they had 18 clubs. It was a rather enjoyable alternative to baseball. Didn't mind the 2 point conversion in this league, or in college, but I hate it in the NFL.

Your quad-mester editorials are what we ALL look forward to every time you are here for 106 consecutive hours.

You complain about the FBS not having a playoff, yet you hate that the NCAA basketball regular season means nothing.

Honestly, outside of Opening Day, I don't watch MLB until Flag Day since that is about 60 games in and teams are contenders or are not.

Please go on, I like to share your "thoughts" with my friends.

[Saintsfan]

World Series games not ending until the following day, after midnight, sometimes 1:30 in the blessed a.m.

A lot of the post was mediocre at best, but this is spot on. I don't see why weekend games couldn't start earlier. I kind of get not starting evening games, but why couldn't a weekend World Series game not start at 6 or even earlier, and allow everyone to see a whole game.