Pull the goalie

[thailien8]

 

IMHO, there are some sports today that could be improved, 
with just a few simple tweaks.

 

For example Golf:  how about just make the hole bigger, maybe twice the traditional size.  Why is the cup so damn small anyhow?  Who decided that? Larger holes will make for lower scoring, less emphasis on putting, more on shotmaking, more happiness, less frustration like when you miss a 5-footer for birdie after a great shot, and faster rounds.  But making different size cups could be a bit too hi-tech?

 

How about something much simpler?  Let every kid play.
Stop making one kid stay out of the action, as he must guard his goal.  
Being the goal keeper is tough enough in Football / Soccer, where ten kids get to run around while one kid gets the ball kicked at him.  That's no fun, and it's worse in Ice Hockey where you gotta wear a mask and pads.
The most exciting part of a Hockey game is with a minute to go and your team down by a goal, you pull the goalie and add a sixth skater.  Do or die.

So how about we just pull the luckless goaltenders, permanently?
Why are they even needed?  Add a skater, add a forward.
There would be more goals, higher scores, more success, less failure.
No more 0-0 results, more cheering ops for the fans.

There's no goalie in Basketball.   Goal tending is against the rules, penalty 2 points.  With keeper-free Football, any player could put his body in front of the net to block shots, but any handball penalty in the box would count as a goal.   No penalty shots, no silly penalty shootout at the end to decide a tie game.

 

Basketball has the opposite problem.  Scoring is too easy.  Dunk shots, tho popular, are not in the original spirit of the sport.  James Naismith raised up his peach baskets in 1891 to try and force his rowdy boys in the gym to settle down and try to loft the ball softly up there into the basket.  They must pass the ball, not run with it.  

Naismith's Basketball proved popular.
Nowadays the rowdy boys have grown bigger and taller and some of them shoot down more than up.   The basket is still  just ten feet up, where Naismith put it, back when 6-footers were rare.   So how about raising the rim by a foot for college ball, and maybe two feet for the pros?  Shooting is more difficult, layups are not automatic, nobody can dunk, scores come down.   No hanging on the rim.
But that's another hi-tech problem.

 

Simpler could be a fix for Bowling, another sport suffering from inflated scores due to to hi-tech equipment, especially the balls.   
Not so long ago even the best bowlers used only ball.  They actually shot spares with their strike ball, unlike today when good bowlers must lug around big bags full of heavy balls, as each is needed for a specific type of shot.  
It's all very complex and expensive now.
How about a rule that a bowler is only allowed to use one ball per game?
He can choose any one from his arsenal;  should he go with his strike ball that has a big hook and pray he doesn't leave 10-pins; or use his spare ball that rolls straight but has less striking power?
He could change balls only after a game.

 

For Baseball, maybe flatten or remove the pitcher's mound.  All I know of 21st century baseball is watching my Giants on tv.  Not a lot of hitting recently;  Too many strikeouts, attendance dwindling.  Pitchers seem to be dominating the action.  How about killing their hill?  That would be easy, and scoring might go up a little if pitchers were brought down to the same level as the hitters.  MLB would benefit with more offense in their games.  Situations with runners on base add much interest.  Strikeouts are boring.  Walks are ok.
Extra innings need to go away. The longest game in World Series history was just played , 18 innings of little offense.  Too long, too boring.  If the game is tied after nine innings, just call it a draw, as in football.  Ice hockey used to do that.  Silly shootouts suck.

 

Tennis needs to get with the net sports program.  Table tennis players get only one serve per point.  Why do tennis players need two tries?  BORING to watch all that serving, faulting, double-faulting, aceing, letting, and not enough playing points.  How about speeding things up by allowing only one serve? More ground stroking, less serving, quicker shorter matches?  Reduce the importance of the big serve, as in all other net sports: Badminton, Pickleball, Table Tennis, Takraw,  Volleyball...
While they're at it, they could eliminate the interminable ad-deuce sequences that waste time and players' energy.  Just play no-ad rules, so no game can last longer than 7 points.  Aces and deuces aren't all that exciting.
Playing one-serve and no-ad could shorten match times by 20%.

 

Snooker is the ultimate cue sports game, and I love watching great players work their magic, making the difficult look easy, at least on TV.  
But there is one rule that causes problems.  When a player cannot escape from a snooker, thereby fouling and coughing up at least 4 points, his opponent then has a choice.  He could take on the shot and play would proceed;  or he could have the previous position reconstructed.  This means that each ball that moved on the previous shot must be replaced in its original position, so that the snookeree's second shot be exactly the same as his previous attempt.  If he misses a second time, the balls are put back again, and he gets to try again, etc.  This can get very slow.  Special cameras are used in top tournaments to show the match referee exactly where to replace the balls.  
How about just forgetting about all this ball replacement, and just carrying on after a successful snooker?  This is the rule in American snooker, a little-known game.

 

Then there is American Football.
This is what Naismith successfully sought to avoid by inventing Basketball.

Problem with American sports is too few players get to have fun.
In Baseball it's pitcher, catcher and batter, while 7 teammates stand around in the field with many more on benches in the dugouts.
In Football it's quarterback, runners and receivers having fun with the ball.
The Big Guys on the lines don't get to touch the football or score points.  Their part of the game is more like Sumo wrestling.
In Football and Hockey it's fun for all but one.
In Basketball everybody gets to have fun.

 

Table Tennis is what Chinese youngsters were allowed to play while they suffered their long Cultural war.  Now some surviving seniors have a great time every day in an American senior center , blasting away with excellent skill and getting wonderful exercise.  I envy them.  If only I were good enough to hit with them....  

This is the best sport for a lifetime.

 

Pool combines thought with action on every shot.
Wonderful game;  if only it were as much fun and exercise as Table Tennis.

 

Chess could benefit from Bobby Fischer's Random (960) Chess.
Less memorisation, more intuition, less burnout
Now available on lichess.org. Needs more players.

[Can samui]

And dont forget cricket! All players should do crystal meth, might make the game watchable.


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[StreetCowboy]

Back in the day Roy Aitken went South to Newcastle for the money.

At his first match,the manager said “Listen Roy, I’m not sure how you’re going to cope in this new league, so I’m going to pull you off at half time”

”That’s great, boss, at Celtic we just got an orange”