Comments on: Sports are Broken

By: Alex J.

Alex J. — Mon, 06 Oct 2014 12:45:50 +0000

If you want a game without an offsides rule, there’s Australian rules football. Of course, the field can be over 200 yards long.

By: Bill

Bill — Sun, 05 Oct 2014 16:11:44 +0000

The most boring part of professional basketball is the waiting… Waiting until the end of the game when it becomes more critical to have more points on the board. Get rid of the tedious 30 second rule, which is intended to get rid of the waiting. (You might remember the NCAA games of the 1970′s which often devolved into games of keep-away.)

Instead, a pro or college game of basketball would consist of five games to 21 by twos, fouls are one point, first to 21 wins. Winning three minigames out of five wins that contest, but league standings could be influenced by total minigames won.

By: Footy

Footy — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 18:47:03 +0000

Soccer would be far more dangerous if headers were banned. Every corner kick into the box would result in a bunch of players kicking high at the ball spiking each other in the face.

Americans always have brilliant ideas to improve soccer but they know nothing about the game so those ideas are always terrible.

Also, the idea of eliminating the offside rule in hockey makes me want to henceforth call the zone demarcation as “Chesterton’s blue line”.

By: Toddy Cat

Toddy Cat — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 15:02:45 +0000

I pretty much agree with what you say, Eli, but how do you figure that football is “dying”? It’s a religion where I live…

By: Eli

Eli — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 13:50:13 +0000

Gamers see rules as a line to challenge. Game strategies are like fads in that they rise in popularity, then fall as new strategies are developed to counter them. Hence, “game”. Sometimes, a unique talent changes the game for a while.

Sports such as football are dying because the institutions built around them are too brittle to adapt to new consumption mediums and patterns.

Americans are fortunate that indigent kids can engage in the American dream and then make a social issue out of the risks inherent in the endeavor. They might otherwise grow up to engage in safe occupations, like welding, diving, construction, public safety, trucking, soldiering, etc.

By: Toddy Cat

Toddy Cat — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 13:17:19 +0000

Perhaps Adams should stick to video games…

By: Bob Sykes

Bob Sykes — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 12:01:30 +0000

I would eliminate the off side and icing nonsense in hockey, too.

As to football, you could solve the injury problems by eliminating the pads and helmets. This would force a more tentative tackling and blocking styles and would really open up the game.

By: With the thoughts you'd be thinkin

With the thoughts you'd be thinkin — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 11:41:42 +0000

Cricket should be your go-to example for modifications to make a game more interesting. It has been shortened from a multi-day occurrence (the test match), to a one-day occurrence (the one-day), and then to a match that takes 3–4 hours (the Twenty20). The compression has been for obvious reasons and has occurred primarily by limiting the amount of overs (6 balls bowled) from no limit, to 50 a side, and then to 20 a side, in the test, one day, and Twenty20 respectively.

By: James James

James James — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 08:05:23 +0000

And quidditch needs to lose the snitch.

“Buy… a… clock. It would be a lot fairer than having the game sometimes end after ten minutes and sometimes not end for hours, and the schedule would be a lot more predictable for the spectators, too.”

By: Bruce

Bruce — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 05:32:19 +0000

If we had a 10-point shot from half-court and a 20-point shot from 3/4-court in basketball the game would speed up. But, if it was all the same speed, that might get dull. Sports tend to have a lot of accumulated experience of what would make the game better or worse. Scott just had a column to write.