If I were king of the sports world
There would be a few rule changes
Tim Wilson
Some people wish they could rule the world. I’ll settle for ruling the sports world.
If I were king of the sports world, there would be a few rule changes.
Football
There’s a lot to work with on the gridiron but I’ll start with one of my pet peeves – killing the last two minutes of a game.
Football games are already short on actual action. Numerous sources have calculated that in 60-minute NFL games there are an average of 18 minutes of game action. This is less than a third of the time that ticks off the game clock from start to finish.
That’s why it really grinds my gears that in the last two minutes of a game, a team with the lead can simply let the play clock run before snapping the ball and effectively eliminate the need to “play” the last two minutes of the game. If you want to sit on your lead to win you should at least have to work for it, not just take a knee four times.
Here’s my proposal. In the final two minutes of the game, cut the play clock to 20 seconds and don’t start it until the official places the ball at the line of scrimmage. Make those final two minutes of play be actual playing time. And force a team with the lead to protect it while the ball is in play, not just standing still while a clock ticks down.
Basketball
I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that fouls in basketball are a joke. It’s not the officials. They have to be able to see through a practical forest of men built like trees, moving quickly, and decide what contact constitutes a foul. My problem is that the letter of the rules is horribly manipulated by the players so that the intent of the rules is lost.
Isn’t the point of fouls to penalize players who prevent an opponent from scoring by using excessive physical contact? Seeing guys fake a shot and then leaning in so a defender comes down on them to draw a foul is maddening. And having games decided from the free-throw line when a shooter’s arm is grazed by a defender’s fingertips is ridiculous.
Let’s focus on penalizing players who prevent a score by getting overly physical. I say don’t call a foul when a basket is scored. If there is egregious contact, you can still allow the ref to call a fragrant foul even if a hoop is scored. If the contact is enough to prevent a basked from being scored, then call a foul and award three shots. I would not apply this rule change to three-point shots where we see some of the worst cases of acting by shooters on shots that have little chance of going in.
About the author: Tim Wilson is a lifelong resident of Massachusetts. He is passionate about his family, Marquette University, bicycling and all Boston sports.
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