If I were in charge of sports...

[Jason]

See the article. What would you do if you were in charge of sports?

[quote][b][size=3]If I were in charge of sports . . .[/size][/b]
Dan Bickley
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 21, 2007 10:29 PM

Link: [url="http://www.azcentral.com/sports/columns/articles/0621bickley-ON.html"]http://www.azcentral.com/sports/columns/ar...bickley-ON.html[/url]

As commissioner of all sports:

I would cut the NBA postseason by 30 percent, and teams would occasionally play on back-to-back nights, especially in the first round. Nobody likes long movies anymore.

I would eliminate the designated hitter and the television timeout.

I would give three hockey teams back to Canada.

I would make everyone in Major League Baseball come clean about steroids. I would bind all the testimony, put it online and place the original document in the Hall of Fame. Then, I would have a Healing Week at ballpark across America, where everyone gets in free, including Pete Rose.

I would make Carl Edwards lose the back flip from his race car. It was only palatable when he wasn't winning so much.

I would reseed the NBA playoffs, reinstate Joey Crawford and ban Pacman Jones for life. Before he does something really stupid.

I would stop all teams from moving the press out of prime arena locations, halting a terrible trend of marginalized media. The more information you get from the franchise - i.e., team Web sites, player Web sites and sellout announcers - the more your news is laundered and spun. Not that I have a vested interest or anything.

I would rebuild the sport of boxing from scratch, with one organization, mandatory fights and full financial disclosure. I would put Teddy Atlas in charge.

I would make John McEnroe the commissioner of tennis.

I would burn the book of unwritten rules.

I would cut a week from spring training, trim the Major League Baseball season to 154 games and make sure the World Series is over by the middle of October.

I would make Michelle Wie go spend some time in college.

I would allow batters to step out of the box only once each at-bat.

I would allow pitchers to step off the mound only once each at-bat. And I would play Game 1 of every World Series in daylight.

I would make golfers show some personality, rather than expressing themselves through pink shoes and wacky pants.

I would make overzealous public address announcers listen to Bob Sheppard.

I would decree that all forms of football feature sudden-death overtime, but both teams are guaranteed at least one possession of the football.

I would fine any golf announcer who uses the words "courageous," "dangerous" or "heroic."

I would make the NBA pump down the volume inside its arenas. And no dancing granddads.

I would reel in the signing bonuses for NFL rookies, and give that huge pot of money to the beaten-down, penniless players from yesteryear.

I would command that once a stadium sells naming rights, it must not change for 10 years.

I would make Johnny Miller and David Feherty work every PGA tournament. Someone has to hold up the sport when Tiger isn't playing, and it surely isn't the rest of the field.

I would make college coaches sit out a year if they break a contract.

I would cut the NFL preseason to two games, and put sensors in footballs to determine first downs and touchdowns. Oh, and no more Super Bowls in cold-weather cities.

I would KO the BCS and DQ the WPT from ESPN because, sorry, poker isn't a sport.

I would make Sammy Sosa teach English as a second language because his has gotten so much better since those hearings on Capitol Hill.[/quote]

Here are my first couple:

- Pete Rose would immediately be made eligible for the Hall of Fame
- Baseball would have profit sharing and a salary cap.
- The DH would be gone.
- There would be mandatory regular steroid testing at all levels of all sports. Any pro athlete caught taking steroids that is not for a legitimate medical reason, with a prescription as evidence, would be banned for life after the first offense.
- NFL head coaches would be allowed to cut players for disciplinary reasons.

and from the pig in me

- female tennis players and fugure skaters (over 18) would compete in the buff

[sois]

If I was in charge of sports, admission tickets would be linked to your ID (state drivers license for example). The purchaser of the ticket would have to be the person who attended the game or else the ticket must be returned to the ticket office. I hate ticket brokers.

[natifanatic]

[quote]- Pete Rose would immediately be made eligible for the Hall of Fame
- Baseball would have profit sharing and a salary cap.[/quote]



Both good ones.

This guy has some pretty decent ideas. I especially like...

[quote]and put sensors in footballs to determine first downs and touchdowns.[/quote]

I can't believe they haven't already done the sensors in footballs thing. It's not like it's going to affect the players. Lets just say if this was implemented Big Jen would have been ruled down in the Super Bowl last year.

[|Bengal Migration|]

[quote name='Jason' post='504616' date='Jun 26 2007, 09:28 PM']See the article. What would you do if you were in charge of sports?
Here are my first couple:

- Pete Rose would immediately be made eligible for the Hall of Fame
- Baseball would have profit sharing and a salary cap.
- The DH would be gone.
- There would be mandatory regular steroid testing at all levels of all sports. Any pro athlete caught taking steroids that is not for a legitimate medical reason, with a prescription as evidence, would be banned for life after the first offense.
- NFL head coaches would be allowed to cut players for disciplinary reasons.

and from the pig in me

- female tennis players and fugure skaters (over 18) would compete in the buff[/quote]


I agree with all of yours. Except making Pete Rose eligible for the HOF. Just fucking put him in, dammit.

As for the tennis thing, thanks for reminding me that I've missed Wimbledon so far this week. Watching some of those ladies from 20 feet away is nothing short of amazing.

My favs from the author's list:
[quote]I would make college coaches sit out a year if they break a contract.

I would cut the NFL preseason to two games, and put sensors in footballs to determine first downs and touchdowns. Oh, and no more Super Bowls in cold-weather cities.[/quote]
I want a SB in the snow. Green Bay, PBS, hell, even Buffalo. Just once I wanna see those fuckers play in some real Feb conditions.

[|Bunghole|]

The sensor thing would be real easy, too. They already use the Cyclops in tennis. All they would need is a couple proximity sensors or photocells (an electric eye) in the pylons that would project a beam of invisible light across the goalline, and he beam would react to a sensor in the football, and once the beam is broken by the ball, a signal of some kind (visual, audible or both) would come on to signal touchdown.
That would be pretty cool.

[|Bengal Migration|]

[quote name='Bunghole' post='505489' date='Jun 28 2007, 11:04 PM']The sensor thing would be real easy, too. They already use the Cyclops in tennis. All they would need is a couple proximity sensors or photocells (an electric eye) in the pylons that would project a beam of invisible light across the goalline, and he beam would react to a sensor in the football, and once the beam is broken by the ball, a signal of some kind (visual, audible or both) would come on to signal touchdown.
That would be pretty cool.[/quote]
You're right. This could not be any more difficult than the "blue" hockey puck crap that Faux Sports used when they started to broadcast hockey about a decade ago...

Of course, this would just make it easier to fix games. I can only imagine that pissburgh would be able to overrule any digital verdict they didn't like in any playoff game. And the fan on TV would just think, well dayum, it didn't look like a TD, but if the sensor said it was....