every now and then I see a sport with a rule (or absence of a rule) that I think is a detriment to the sport. bad rules usually provide incorrect incentives or fail to achieve maximum utility.

two I thought of:

1) regarding fouling at end of basketball game.

fouling is a penalty. usually, in sports, we try to make committing a penalty -EV (eg. everyone was pissed when the guy handball-blocked that goal in the world cup this year... eg. we don't allow NFL defenses to commit offsides to stop the clock at the end of games, etc.)

In basketball, committing a foul is obviously +EV for the trailing (and sometimes leading) team at times. shouldn't fouling be a detriment? one solution might be to allow the team that is fouled the option of inbounding the ball instead of shooting free throws (maybe even resetting the shot clock).


2) preseason AP polls in college football

the preseason polls in college football have a too significant of an impact for what they are. the fact that a team like OSU starts arbitrarily in the top 5 allows them a lot more leeway than a team equally as talented that starts at #25. not sound like a homer, but if Wisconsin and OSU were to win out, OSU would likely jump Wisconsin in the polls, largely due to their preseason status.

one fairer solution would be making the preseson polls 100% merit based (based on the final BCS standings based on the previous year). obviously teams change a lot year to year, but at least we'd be ranking teams based on merit (and not pure public perception)


obviously a lot of the rules posted in this thread will be logically shot down by those who know the sport well, but it would be cool if we could come up with a few consensus changes

NFL overtime changed to college rules

Lose the offside rule in soccer.

2 wouldn't change the scenario you cited at all. The obvious solution is to do away with them all together, and not start rankings until ~week 7 or so. But the team that won the rose bowl would most certainly still have been way ahead of the team that won the Champ Sports Bowl.

Move the college bball three point line back plz.

Well, that didn't take long.

Please lets not let this post derail the thread.

They did last year I think. Or this year. But it's happened.

Guess I shoulda clarified. Move it back to the NBA 3.

In hockey:

If there's less than 2 minutes remaining in the game, and someone takes a 2-minute penalty, thus having a 1-man-advantage for the fouled team, the game should continue until the penalty is served/expires

eliminate refs from football

In Football, When a team A commits a 5 yard penalty that results in half the distance to the goal line, if team B later commits a 5 yard penalty on the same drive it should be reduced to the same distance assessed to team A.

NFL: Defensive pass interference is a 15 yard penalty or spot foul whichever is less and still an auto-1st down.

College: Eliminate overtimes except in conference title and bowl games.

please get rid of the "calling TO right before a FG."

edit: actually, just get rid of FG's period (or make them worth less). I can't believe a FG is worth 50% of a TD. Ridiculous.

so if a team is losing they should just keep commiting penalties so the game keeps going forever?

haven't we done this thread before? feels like it...

yup, it's brilliant!

/out b4 he amends the rule to say that teams can decline penalties (which will then lead to an even worse 2-minute free-for-all where teams keep committing penalties to extend a game, but keep getting declined)

The game would end if you were on a Power Play and normal time expired while you had the lead, I assume.

at least things would have a basis in merit. if your school won the championship, then it's reasonable for them to be ranked number one to start the year

I'd like to see soccer and hockey changed to "you gotta win by 2."

yeah, sweet 1-way freeroll i guess...

anyway i think it's a pretty unnecessary rule, and kinda dumb to extend regular season games any longer than they currently are. but i'm sure the league would love the idea, anything to create more powerplay time and goals is great.

anyone with the last name of Childress should not be allowed near a football team


We'd get at least one more good football game a week

Awful idea.
NFL DBs would drag down WRs on deep routes frequently.

just get rid of nfl overtime

this would reduce scoring

Eliminate the punt in the NFL.
Eliminate traveling in the NBA since it is never called anyway. And what the heck is a "jump step"?

^ u srs

Tennis:

Net cords count on serve, dont play a let.