Baseball season is upon us, as are the NBA and NHL playoffs, and perhaps most importantly the NFL Draft. And maybe it's just me, but ...
Baseball needs to do something soon to save the game. Some of these contests are lasting as long as a soccer match, and if Bud Selig does not get his overpaid behind out of the arse groove in the plush leather chair in his office and do something, ratings are going to continue to plummet. The sport has almost completely lost its stature as our national pastime already.
Why don't we limit the number of timeouts each team or player can use, like they do in every other sport? It would certainly add more intrigue and force general mangers to think about when they need to make a pitching change or force batters to decide when to use a timeout in the batter's box.
You could also limit the amount of time a batter takes out of the batter's box, similar to the amount of time a basketball player takes at the free throw line. Every time he steps out he gets five or 10 seconds and can only step out once every at bat (not counting stepping out after a pitch).
You could also advance a runner one base when there is an ejection, similar to a penalty in another sport. That way, when a pitcher wastes time beaning three guys, the opposing team gets something out of it. I am sick of pitchers that look like twigs trying to be tough guys by throwing "chin music." Disgusting.
I have already heard all the problems with such an idea, but I am going to present it anyway. Anyone who has watched the first game of a college double-header might understand. If the league can't shorten games in all the ways they say they have attempted, maybe they need to do something drastic. How about changing the game from nine innings to seven? I know, I know. What about tradition, statistics, etc. Put an asterisk next to the stats. As for tradition, there may not be one soon if baseball stays on the beaten path. The seven-inning game is relatively quick, I just watched one Sunday afternoon that took about two hours, and is still every bit as exciting as the pro game.
The NBA has become a shell of its former self when players like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Isiah Thomas were ruling the league. Even the young Michael Jordan made the game exciting and fast-paced but still played it the way it was meant to be played, as a team game.
Now the NBA has become something more akin to a two-on-two tournament, the "team's" top player scores 35 or 40, and the next best player scores 25, and that's it. The only team that still plays team ball seems to be Sacramento and sometimes New Jersey.
I've also figured out why nobody plays defense anymore in the NBA. It is because it is "illegal." The first time I heard a referee call the infraction I thought it was a joke; in a way, I guess it is. These players have such enormous egos that nobody cares about defense anymore.
As a former player and a coach of over four years, when I watch a college team play a suffocating man-to-man, a sneaky 1-3-1 zone trap, or even the hectic scramble defense, it is more exciting than seeing players jog up and down the court to dunk or shoot the three.
I love the game of basketball, but the NBA makes me sick. Thank God for throwback players like Yao Ming.
If you wasted time watching any part of the game between the New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins in the first round of the NHL playoffs (as I did), you can easily see what's wrong with hockey. Of course I do not think we need to do anything with the red line (who came up with that idea, anyway?) but an intriguing idea is the elimination of the two-line pass violation, unless it is offsides.
I think that the NHL might even benefit from - hold on now - enforcing the rules of the game. That's right, penalties such as holding, boarding and interference. Let's not kid ourselves; the trap and the left-wing lock did not ruin the fast-paced high-scoring hockey. Allowing teams to clutch, grab, hold, elbow and hit players both before and after they actually have the puck did, though.
Simply enforcing these rules every time may actually do the trick and return hockey to its glory days. Here's hoping.
I can't help but get excited about football season when the NFL Draft is approaching. Especially when my team, the Bills, have done as much as they have to help get them back in contention. They should, at the very least, challenge for the AFC East crown and should make the playoffs. Of course these are just expectations, every one knows what can happen when you actually strap on the pads and head out the tunnel on Sunday. Just ask the Dolphins.
What makes the draft even more interesting is the new head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals. I cannot wait until he makes his selection. I know this is not groundbreaking, but I am betting on them taking Carson Palmer. If the fact that he won the Heisman was not enough to scare the Bengals away, the fact that Rob Johnson's father coached him at USC should be. The elder Johnson is know for producing such dynamic quarterbacks as, you guessed it, Rob Johnson. I'm predicting full and complete collapse - Ryan Leaf style.
I'm also interested in seeing how Marshall's quarterback Byron Leftwich will do in the NFL. He was, in my opinion, the best college quarterback, even with his broken shin. If he plays at a school like Miami and Florida, he makes Rex Grossman and Ken Dorsey look like high school freshmen. Of course we all know that college greatness does not equate to NFL stardom, but I still think that he has a better chance than one-year wonder-boy Palmer.
Then again, maybe it's just me.
