Changes to sports

[hbelkins]

College basketball, IMHO.

- The jump ball should at least start the second half.  They have been doing this for 30 years and it still seems unnatural.

- It is patronizing that women's basketball has quarters rather than halves like the men do.  Like they need an extra break.

- The play in games for the NCAA tournament are stupid.  The original deal was they took the bottom four conferences and made them play off for 2 spots, because there was this supposed limit on the number of automatic bids.  No one watched, so they broke it up to two nights and added two more games where four big conference losers play for two spots.  Just go with 64.  That eliminates four big conference losers (two of the teams playing for the 11 seed, and two teams that get bumped because every conference gets a full equal place).  Too bad.  Win more games next time.

- Bring back the regional to the regionals.  Yes, they have to move a few teams to balance things out, but do that with the big teams.  Smaller conference champions need to be placed near to their locations.

- Ideas about expanding to 96 and such are just greed.  The idea that they will take more "mid-majors" is a load of crap.  They will always take another loser from a big name conference.  Heck, they are talking about taking the entire Big 12 conference this year.  Teams barely with a .500 record.  A joke.  Reminds me of the old Louisville coach Denny Crum who would always moan about all the great teams he lost too.  Billy Packer finally had enough and said that he could get the worst team in the country and lose to the very same teams Crum lost to. 

- All of the "bracketology" nonsense should not be taken seriously.  Most of these guys just fill out brackets based on past results.  None of them could tell you one thing about more than the top 30 of so teams.

- Baseball should go back to Opening Day being on the Monday the final game of the NCAA tournament was played.  It had symmetry.

In 1984, Morehead State won the OVC regular season and tournament championship, but had to play the play-in game in Dayton. The Eagles beat NC A&T on a last-second dunk by Guy Minnifield (a cousin to UK's Dirk Minniefield, although the names are spelled different, and a brother to Frank Minnifield who played for the first-generation Cleveland Browns). That won them the right to play Louisville, which had drilled them during the regular season but won only by 13 in the tournament. There were 53 teams selected and for some reason, although MSU had dominated the OVC in the regular season and the conference championship, Morehead had to play in the play-in game.

(Note: I had to use Wikipedia to confirm some of my memories, and some of the pages I saw are riddled with mistakes. For instance, one page states that the 1984 OVC tournament was played at Diddle Arena in Bowling Green, and Middle Tennessee won the conference championship. Neither is true. I attended both nights of the tournament in Morehead, and Morehead won the tournament.)

The expectation this year is that if MSU wins the OVC tournament from its position as the regular season champ, it will have to play a play-in game in Dayton. That's not a bad thing, because Dayton is only like a 2.5-hour drive from Morehead and there should be a good fan turnout.

As for rule differences, I remember when women's basketball didn't have an over-and-back rule. I watched in amazement one game when Morehead's point guard dribbled around the center circle several times running out the clock without being called for a backcourt violation. I had no idea that rule didn't exist in women's college basketball.

There are all sorts of rules now about where teams can go. Back in 1984, Rupp Arena was the host of the Mideast Regional (as it was known then instead of Southeast as it is now) and UK played the regional semis and finals on the home floor. The PA announcer had to play it like it was a neutral floor but it was widely thought that UK got a home-court advantage. Now, if Rupp hosts a tournament round, not only can UK not play there, but the Wildcats can't play on one of the days that Rupp hosts a tournament round.

At least they have changed things to allow smaller conferences to play games closer to home and don't have the first two rounds tightly grouped into geographic areas. A first-round site can theoretically host one game from each of the four regional brackets.

[Poiponen13]

NBA should have 2 development leagues.

[SP Cook]

In 1984, Morehead State won the OVC regular season and tournament championship, but had to play the play-in game in Dayton. The Eagles beat NC A&T on a last-second dunk by Guy Minnifield (a cousin to UK's Dirk Minniefield, although the names are spelled different, and a brother to Frank Minnifield who played for the first-generation Cleveland Browns). That won them the right to play Louisville, which had drilled them during the regular season but won only by 13 in the tournament. There were 53 teams selected and for some reason, although MSU had dominated the OVC in the regular season and the conference championship, Morehead had to play in the play-in game.

You are correct.  Although they really didn't call them "play in games" back then. 

The tournament had a weird system in 1983 and 1984.   It was basically a 48 team tournament, as it had been since 1980, teams seeded 1-2 in four regions.  So two teams played for the right to play a ranked team.  Then for greed reasons they made the bottom 8 conference champions play each other for the 12th seed in 83 and then added yet another game, with two more champions playing for one of the 11 seeds in 84.

In 1985 they went to a full 64 team field, which lasted until 2001, when the long forgotten Great Midwest conference was formed.  They added one "play in game" in Dayton, where the bottom two conference champions played off to be the 16th seed in the best region, because they didn't want to cut out a major conference loser to give the GMC an automatic bid.  It was unfair, and unpopular.  In 2011, they went to the current system of two #16 play in games, where the bottom four conference champions play for two 16 seeds, and then two #11 play in games, where losers from "major" conferences play off for an 11th seed.

Its silly.  Show me the fifth or sixth or now even the seventh or eight team in a conference and I will show you a loser.   Enjoy the NIT, and try to in more games next year.

There are all sorts of rules now about where teams can go. Back in 1984, Rupp Arena was the host of the Mideast Regional (as it was known then instead of Southeast as it is now) and UK played the regional semis and finals on the home floor. The PA announcer had to play it like it was a neutral floor but it was widely thought that UK got a home-court advantage. Now, if Rupp hosts a tournament round, not only can UK not play there, but the Wildcats can't play on one of the days that Rupp hosts a tournament round.

I remember when they brought that in.  I have no real problem with that one.  It is supposed to be a tournament.  Should not be on a home floor.  As to UK, if they perform they are usually sent to a nearby location, they almost always being games in some combination of Columbus, Louisville, and Nashville.

[NWI_Irish96]

This would be my NCAA tournament proposal:

32 automatic bids to conference tournament winners
32 automatic bids to conference regular season winners [2nd place if regular season winner also wins tournament]
32 at-large bids

Tournament winners seeded 1-32
All other teams seeded 33-96

Seeds 1-32 [tournament winners] get a bye and host a 3-team pod, with #1 playing the winner of #64 vs #65, #2 playing the winner of #63 vs #66, etc.

Then the 32 remaining teams get bracketed and play down to a winner.

[thspfc]

This would be my NCAA tournament proposal:

32 automatic bids to conference tournament winners
32 automatic bids to conference regular season winners [2nd place if regular season winner also wins tournament]
32 at-large bids

Tournament winners seeded 1-32
All other teams seeded 33-96

Seeds 1-32 [tournament winners] get a bye and host a 3-team pod, with #1 playing the winner of #64 vs #65, #2 playing the winner of #63 vs #66, etc.

Then the 32 remaining teams get bracketed and play down to a winner.

Small-conference tournament winners are usually seeded low, and more often than not, they lose in the first round. Seeding a bunch of superior teams below them would ruin the excitement of upsets, which are the main appeal of the tournament to begin with.

[NWI_Irish96]

This would be my NCAA tournament proposal:

32 automatic bids to conference tournament winners
32 automatic bids to conference regular season winners [2nd place if regular season winner also wins tournament]
32 at-large bids

Tournament winners seeded 1-32
All other teams seeded 33-96

Seeds 1-32 [tournament winners] get a bye and host a 3-team pod, with #1 playing the winner of #64 vs #65, #2 playing the winner of #63 vs #66, etc.

Then the 32 remaining teams get bracketed and play down to a winner.

Small-conference tournament winners are usually seeded low, and more often than not, they lose in the first round. Seeding a bunch of superior teams below them would ruin the excitement of upsets, which are the main appeal of the tournament to begin with.

The idea is to give the conference tournament winners 1) a bye and 2) home court advantage. If the third place team in the Big Ten wants to beat the Horizon tournament champion, they're going to have to win a game first and then beat the Horizon champ on their home floor. Making it easier for the small conference guys to advance.

[thspfc]

This would be my NCAA tournament proposal:

32 automatic bids to conference tournament winners
32 automatic bids to conference regular season winners [2nd place if regular season winner also wins tournament]
32 at-large bids

Tournament winners seeded 1-32
All other teams seeded 33-96

Seeds 1-32 [tournament winners] get a bye and host a 3-team pod, with #1 playing the winner of #64 vs #65, #2 playing the winner of #63 vs #66, etc.

Then the 32 remaining teams get bracketed and play down to a winner.

Small-conference tournament winners are usually seeded low, and more often than not, they lose in the first round. Seeding a bunch of superior teams below them would ruin the excitement of upsets, which are the main appeal of the tournament to begin with.

The idea is to give the conference tournament winners 1) a bye and 2) home court advantage. If the third place team in the Big Ten wants to beat the Horizon tournament champion, they're going to have to win a game first and then beat the Horizon champ on their home floor. Making it easier for the small conference guys to advance.

If it's easier for the underdogs to advance, are they really underdogs? A small conference team making a sweet 16 run is not interesting if they have to win fewer games than 90% of the big conference teams to make it that far. Not to mention that this is just blatantly unfair to the many big-conference teams that would be seeded below teams that they are clearly far better than. That by itself is not a deal-breaker as it's already kind of "unfair"  as is with small conferences getting autobids over better at-large teams, but that rule is good for the tournament and the sport. This seeding format would not be.

[Poiponen13]

I think that there should be indoor baseball and outdoor basketball, because there should be opportunity for baseball players to play in offseasons and to have more outdoor basketball.

[hotdogPi]

How does indoor baseball work with fly balls?

[Roadgeekteen]

How does indoor baseball work with fly balls?

There is an indoor baseball field. Tropicana Park in St. Petersburg.

[Takumi]

How does indoor baseball work with fly balls?

There is an indoor baseball field. Tropicana Park in St. Petersburg.

And look at its attendance figures.

[Flint1979]

How does indoor baseball work with fly balls?

There is an indoor baseball field. Tropicana Park in St. Petersburg.

And look at its attendance figures.

I would say some of that has to do with the location of the ballpark more than anything. The team has been pretty good the last 15 or so years so it's not the quality of the product on the field. I think if they had a stadium in Tampa it would be better.

[jp the roadgeek]

I always tried to imagine playing baseball on a 200 x 85 hockey rink.  You'd have to have 40-foot basepaths, and 70-foot plexiglass walls to keep fly balls in play.

[Takumi]

How does indoor baseball work with fly balls?

There is an indoor baseball field. Tropicana Park in St. Petersburg.

And look at its attendance figures.

I would say some of that has to do with the location of the ballpark more than anything. The team has been pretty good the last 15 or so years so it's not the quality of the product on the field. I think if they had a stadium in Tampa it would be better.

It is, but everyone I know that's been to the Trop has said it's a dump and they're one and done with it. (It's also one of the oldest stadiums in the league, being built well before the Rays were even a concept. Even New Comiskey and Camden are newer.)

[thspfc]

How does indoor baseball work with fly balls?

There is an indoor baseball field. Tropicana Park in St. Petersburg.

And look at its attendance figures.

I would say some of that has to do with the location of the ballpark more than anything. The team has been pretty good the last 15 or so years so it's not the quality of the product on the field. I think if they had a stadium in Tampa it would be better.

It is, but everyone I know that's been to the Trop has said it's a dump and they're one and done with it. (It's also one of the oldest stadiums in the league, being built well before the Rays were even a concept. Even New Comiskey and Camden are newer.)

It sure does look like a dump on TV.

[jeffandnicole]

How does indoor baseball work with fly balls?

There is an indoor baseball field. Tropicana Park in St. Petersburg.

There's also the Houston Astrodome, MinuteMaid Park, Toronto Skydome, Miami Marlin's domed ballpark, and others that have been used throughout the past 60 years

With fly balls, usually the roof is high enough to avoid most of them.  If something is hit, the park's ground rules apply, being either a dead ball or ground rule double.

...because there should be opportunity for baseball players to play in offseasons...

Some ballplayers will go to Japan and other countries where they play baseball opposite the MLB's regular season.

[Flint1979]

I personally don't mind the retractable domes, you can play outside at times and if there's inclement weather you can close the roof. I remember when the skydome opened in Toronto I think it was like in June it didn't open for the start of the 1989 season.

[triplemultiplex]

Baseball is the only sport where it's worthwhile to have a retractable roof.  There are enough games in the season where the team is bound to encounter both inclement weather and great weather, the sport is one where they don't play when it rains too hard, and the season begins early enough in spring to where some regions are stuck with cold temperatures.

I contrast that with football where the stadiums easily exceed a billion dollars now when they put in a retractable roof, and then they rarely play with the roof open.  Even in a sunny-ass place like Phoenix, that roof is still closed most of the time.  When the team only hosts 8 (or maybe 9 now) games per year, that's a tremendous waste of money if that stupid roof is only open for like one of those games.  Football stadiums should either be all indoor or all outdoor.  Some of these NFL retractable roofs are just ridiculous.  Just look at the Anus Dome in Georgia.  What's the point in having a tiny opening like that at all?  What a waste!

[Roadgeekteen]

I think that there should be indoor baseball and outdoor basketball, because there should be opportunity for baseball players to play in offseasons and to have more outdoor basketball.

Also for the offseason, MLB players have to play almost every day from April-September or October. I think that they probably want a break.

[jeffandnicole]

Baseball is the only sport where it's worthwhile to have a retractable roof.  There are enough games in the season where the team is bound to encounter both inclement weather and great weather, the sport is one where they don't play when it rains too hard, and the season begins early enough in spring to where some regions are stuck with cold temperatures.

I contrast that with football where the stadiums easily exceed a billion dollars now when they put in a retractable roof, and then they rarely play with the roof open.  Even in a sunny-ass place like Phoenix, that roof is still closed most of the time.  When the team only hosts 8 (or maybe 9 now) games per year, that's a tremendous waste of money if that stupid roof is only open for like one of those games.  Football stadiums should either be all indoor or all outdoor.  Some of these NFL retractable roofs are just ridiculous.  Just look at the Anus Dome in Georgia.  What's the point in having a tiny opening like that at all?  What a waste!

The last baseball ballpark to be built, Globe Life Field for the Texas Rangers, cost $1.2 Billion. It's a domed stadium.

[Flint1979]

I think Ford Field in Detroit was built right. Not only does it host Lions games but it has hosted college basketball games including the Final Four.  They say that Detroit is the only sports city in America that has all of its sports stadiums downtown.

[SP Cook]

Tampa Bay.  IMHO, it was a mistake to expand MLB to Arizona and Florida.  Much of the population is retires who have loyalties to their lifelong home teams, and even people who move there earlier in life often follow teams from "back home".  And the stadium is not only generic, it is misplaced within the metro area.  But both of those things aside, it is possible to watch 1000s of spring training games for far less money, picking and choosing what teams you watch. 

Retractable domes.  I get baseball doing this.  Watching a game indoors when its beautiful outside is bad.  Watching a game outdoors when it is cold or rainy is bad.  So, best of both worlds.  Football I don't understand.  Its 8 games a year. Its generally a sell out every time. Either have a dome or don't.  Don't understand spending extra to have a retractable one in the NFL.

Globe Life.  A new stadium to replace a new stadium.  Stadiums should last multiple generations.

[Roadgeekteen]

Tampa Bay.  IMHO, it was a mistake to expand MLB to Arizona and Florida.  Much of the population is retires who have loyalties to their lifelong home teams, and even people who move there earlier in life often follow teams from "back home".  And the stadium is not only generic, it is misplaced within the metro area.  But both of those things aside, it is possible to watch 1000s of spring training games for far less money, picking and choosing what teams you watch. 

Retractable domes.  I get baseball doing this.  Watching a game indoors when its beautiful outside is bad.  Watching a game outdoors when it is cold or rainy is bad.  So, best of both worlds.  Football I don't understand.  Its 8 games a year. Its generally a sell out every time. Either have a dome or don't.  Don't understand spending extra to have a retractable one in the NFL.

Globe Life.  A new stadium to replace a new stadium.  Stadiums should last multiple generations.

The NFL and NBA have been able to thrive in those markets, especially when the teams are good. Even the Tampa Bay Lighning have a rabid fanbase in the area.

[SP Cook]

The economics of arena sports (half the number of home games, half the number of seats in the venue, hard salary cap) are totally different from MLB. 

[Bruce]

Baseball is the only sport where it's worthwhile to have a retractable roof.

Soccer as well, though some of the newer megabuilds/renovations have opted for a field that retracts instead. It can be played in heavy rain or snow, but it's far from comfortable and sometimes can be unsafe for players.

I think Ford Field in Detroit was built right. Not only does it host Lions games but it has hosted college basketball games including the Final Four.  They say that Detroit is the only sports city in America that has all of its sports stadiums downtown.

Seattle's 3 major league stadiums are all in the greater downtown area. The only pro team that doesn't play in downtown now is the Seawolves of MLR.