The 50 worst sports ideas ever

Washington Times ^ | April 25, 2002 | Patrick Hruby

[anncoulteriscool]

Like leisure suits and the Ford Pinto, it was an idea to suit its era.

Which is to say, surpassingly ill-conceived. On a warm summer evening in 1974, the attendance-starved Cleveland Indians held their first

[anncoulteriscool]

I would add the Designated Hitter, the Stlouis Browns and getting rid of the jump ball.

[Rightwing Canuck]

Posted here.

Quite a lively discussion going on.

[dighton]

51) Extreme Curling.

[medved]

The Ravens getting rid of Dilfer, the quarterback who took them to the superbowl.

[Dan from Michigan]

Hey! Arena football is cool.

[SamAdams76]

I would add the Designated Hitter rule in AL baseball - which is basically a ruse to extend the careers of washed-up, overweight sluggers. Let the pitchers get their at-bats and retire the Jose Cansecos of the world.

Also the neutral zone trap in NHL hockey, which has turned NHL hockey into a snorefest of players slapping each other in the knees at mid-ice and dumping the puck endlessly into the opposing zone. This used to be a very exciting game. I say go even a step further and eliminate the blue lines (offsides) altogether.

Actually I liked the "Disco Sucks" night at Comiskey Park. That was a riot.

[Psycho_Bunny]

"Golf is not a metaphor for life. Or for business. It doesn't involve Zen, magical caddies or any sort of Tao. It's not sacred. It's just a couple of schlubs with clubs, throwing back beers and knocking a little white ball around a glorified city park. That's all. Get over it, already."

Sounds like Patty's sore about his drive slice and fat irons.

[lexington minuteman 1775]

How about the late Howard Cossell?BWAHAHAHAHHA

[HP8753]

The Minnesota Vikings getting Hershel Walker.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Assuming the author is good enough to be an olympic ice dancer, I'll have to diagree on aluminum bats. Get rid of the wood. Too dangerous. Especially in the hands of a pitcher like Roger Clemens.

[Willie Green]

Football needs to put the goal posts back on the goal-line where they belong.

[Balata]

The Denver Broncos had vertically striped socks back in the sixties.

Pete Rose or any professional ballplayer charging for his autograph to kids.

[Illbay]

You must have missed:

Basketball's Possession Arrow

Jump it. Every time. Are we not men?

OTOH, he should have included the Canadian Football League "invasion" of the U.S. in the mid-90s, which lasted about as long south of the 42nd parallel as Lee's Army of Northern Virginia did above the Mason-Dixon line.

Who can forget the San Antonio Texans, the Baltimore Stallions and the Birmingham Bolts?

[Big Guy and Rusty 99]

wait . . . there was a WFL?

[eddie willers]

The 50 worst sports ideas ever

Ice Hockey
Repeat 49 more times.

[SamAdams76]

I liked Howard Cosell as a sportscaster and wish there were more like him today. I'm not a big fan of jocks being in the booth. They are more often than not ill-suited for broadcasting and end up spouting cliches and catch phrases all night ("Turnovers will kill ya").

[Migraine]

Remember "three-to-make-two"?

Remember the "force-out" (should have been called the "bail-out", because it enabled the official to shirk the foul call).

Remember the timeouts called in midair to prevent a turnover? Oh, yeah -- they still allow that garbage!

Remember the fouls every two seconds in the last three minutes of every basketball game which change the outcome of maybe 1 game out of 100 but prolong the final buzzer by a good 30 minutes? Oh yeah -- that's still the teeth-grinding strategy.

No wonder I watch less and less basketball.

[cardinal4]

I would have to offer Heath Schuler,the 19,000,000 kid out of Tennesee that a crack addled Charley Casserly wheeled and dealed for. After Heath's first home game against Dallas,a game in which Charles Haley just killed him down after down,he never played a complete game again.