The Worst Rules in Sports

I hope you enjoy this list I made of what I believe are the worst rules in sports. I wrote this out pretty quickly so I apologize if I was too brief with each topic. I could have expanded on each one a lot more. Maybe I'll rewrite this thing and elaborate on this at a later date. In any event, here's the list:

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No Replay Review (MLB)- The recent Yankees-Angels series brought to light how no replay review can cause controversy. And how many legit homers have been overturned this season because the stupid Ump overturned the call? How hard is it to let the ump look at the replay and make the correct call like they do in other professional sports? I realize these games are taking way too long as it is and that there are 182 of them, but more often than not, a division is decided by one or two games, and these bad calls could ultimately cost a team a title down the road.

The MLB All-Star Game Winner Gets Homefield in the World Series (MLB) The All-Star Game had to end in a tie in 2002 because the game went on too long. So what does Bud Selig decide to do in order to stop this from happening again? He made the winning league of the MLB all-star game get home field advantage in the World Series. Are you kidding me? How is this a good idea? Who cares if the all-star game isn't competitive? They never are. The team with the best regular season record always deserves home field/court/ice/whatever. The American League has one every all-star game since this rule was adopted by the way.

A Coin Flip Deciding Possession in OT (NFL) It hasn't happened yet, but one day, a Superbowl will go to overtime and the team that wins the coin toss is going to march down the field and win the game on the first possession. All sorts of debates will be waged over the fairness of this rule, and many will say this is the reason overtime in the playoffs should be more like college. Both offenses deserve a chance on the field. I understand why they do it in the regular season- so games don't drag on for so long players start getting hurt- but in the playoffs- especially the Superbowl- a team should never lose a game because they lost a coin flip.

The Bench Clearing Auto Suspension Rule (NBA) This is a rule that I really hate. Nash and the Suns got robbed in '07 when Robert Horry hip checked him into the scorer's table. Amare and Boris Diaw came inches off the bench and were suspended. They lost the series in six and the Spurs went on to win another championship. Now, I understand that sports has always been a "no excuses" battle, but this rule shouldn't be blindly set in stone; it should come down to league judgment. If a guy hops off the bench out of instinct and then restrains himself, it shouldn't be an automatic suspension. When Marvin Williams and Kendrick Perkins slightly came off the bench during a scuffle in their 2008 epic first round Hawks-Celtics series, the league let them slide. While this is a point in the right direction, the inconsistency of the decision is unfair to Nash and co. The league needs to modify this rule so playoffs series aren't decided by a momentary lapse off the bench.

PGA Tour Players Responsible for Their Scorecard (Golf)- You needn’t look any further than the 1968 Masters debacle which birthed one of the saddest sound bites in sports history when Robert Di Vicenzo said in his Argentine accent afterwards “what a stupid I am.” Per Wikipedia:

Bob Goalby birdied the 13th and 14th and eagled the 15th to record a final round of 66. At first it appeared that he and Roberto DeVicenzo would play in a playoff, but DeVicenzo returned an incorrect scorecard showing a 4 on the 17th instead of a birdie 3. Tommy Aaron incorrectly marked the 4 and DeVicenzo failed to catch the mistake and signed the scorecard. Professional Golfers' Association rules stated that the higher written score signed by a golfer on his card must stand. As such, the error gave Goalby the championship.

Yet to this day, players are responsible for their own cards. Why? The PGA Tour can’t afford to hire official score keepers for every player? Mistakes happen. In the heat of the moment- the delirium and drain of pro golf- players can sometimes be so focused on the golf that they miss little things like this on score cards.

And what about Jaxon Brigman? He is one of Q-School’s many sob stories when his playing partner mistakenly wrote the wrong score for him and Brigman signed it in his delirium that he had finally made the pro tour. He signed for it incorrectly of course, and it cost him two strokes putting him one stroke outside the cut-line, and he never got his tour card. His career never blossomed after that and he is now one of golf’s famous cautionary tales. Change the rule. It's archaic.

The Blackout Rule (NFL)- Isn't it a little screwed up that Detroit doesn't get to watch football this year because they can ever sell out games? I’m not sure how many games have been blacked out this year, but it seems like it’s been a few. Their economy is in the toilet and the people of Michigan can't even watch their favorite team on Sunday's after the work week. There's something very wrong with that. Just to catch people up who don’t know this rule: If a game doesn’t sell out, the NFL black outs the game on television so no one can watch.

Now it could easily be argued that the NFL is actually helping the fans of Detroit by not forcing them to watch their awful team, but that joke aside, it’s fundamentally wrong to deny the fans a chance to watch a football game considering all the money the NFL makes. It’s a rough economy and Detroit needs the help. Let the people watch football.

College Basketball Doesnt have a Restricted Area (NCAA Basketball)- How many times are we going to have to watch Duke players take BS charges right under the basket and get rewarded for it? This needs to stop ASAP. I’m tired of seeing these called over and over every single season. Do the right thing and put a restricted area on the court. Whether you love or hate flopping in basketball ( I do actually think its part of the strategy of the game), there should not under any circumstances be any flopping underneath the basket. Duke and the other major programs get enough calls as it is.

Celebration Penalties and Fines (NFL)- Sure, no props should be allowed. That’s fair. But when the NFL fines these guys for having some fun and then makes highlight reel film of the very thing they are penalizing, it’s hypocritical. All I ask for is consistency here. Chris Johnson’s 2008 highlight reel on NFL.com for example has clips of him playing the bongos after that big 70 yard TD he had on KC. Of course, they fined him 20K for that, but that still didn’t stop them from further profiting off it by making highlight videos of it with required commercials attached to the clip that we all have to watch. What a joke.

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What other rules do you loathe in sports? Add ‘em to the list! Disagree with something I wrote about? Let's hear it!

Lowest score in Golf wins. Despise that rule.

For me it is offside in soccer (or football for the non-Americans). I don't watch much soccer, I don't know all the rules so I might be misinterpreting this rule. From what I have seen, it is against the rules for the offense to pass the ball to another offensive player if that second player is behind the last line of defense. So the defense can determine what the offense can do. I have seen games where the commentators mentioned that 'the defense pushed forward to get them offsides'. Does this game want zero offense and excitement? Heaven forbid there is a one-on-one with the goalie because a team has faster players and executed better. We can't have any offense in this game? If their isn't 3 defenders around the ball there must be something wrong I guess.

I think it's a matter of changing the OT rules all together. I don't like sudden death at all. I think the NFL should use something similar to NCAA OT

Im perfectly fine keeping my score in golf. The last thing I want is one of these "scoring officials" making a mistake on my behalf.

Celebrations are out of hand. I agree some of them are pretty funny. But, these guys are professionals and are paid to get into the endzone. I don't think any of us stand up and make a scene when we complete a task at our place of work, do we? They get paid to get into the endzone and they should act like they've been there before.

The one rule I hate is the "Ball hit in fairway and comes to rest in a divot" If some events allow pick, clean and place on rainy days, why shouldn't relief be allowed from a divot in the fairway?

Absolutely! This goes hand in hand with the history of golf as a game of honorable players. You keep track of your own score, you discuss any differences between that and your official card with your marker before either of you signs that card, then you return it to the committee. The onus is on the player to attest to an accurate score. It isn't that hard to take two minutes to go through hole by hole and double check those scores. You don't even have to be able to add, just verify the hole scores. I've been doing it for 21 penalty free years now in club tournaments. It just ain't that hard to do. Most of these guys are college grads.... they ought to be able to perform this simple task.

I think the ones you mention that are more "tradition" issues are fine. I don't like the idea of tricks to change the game after decades or more of doing it the same way. It corrupts the record book. For that reason, I'm ok with no replay in baseball, coin flips in football and golfers keeping their own score. Here in Canada we have the goofy overtime and not one in ten fans understands it.

The blackout issue is a financial one, and I don't understand the economics of tv well enough to say whether blackouts are justified or not. I suspect it would be hard on ticket sales. I think pay per view is a fair compromise.

I think the NBA is hardly alone in interpreting their rules to suit the situation. That was crap when Amare and Boris got suspended, I've seen many other games where a similar very minor infraction was NOT suspended. It was worse because it affected the playoffs. The Suns might have won the title that year if they had a full team for that game. David Stern, have you no shame?

The one rule that bothers me the most is the 3 point game in the NHL. A win is worth 2 points in the standings, but with the advent of 4 on 4 overtime and shootouts, at the end of a tied game, each team gets a single point and the extra time is worth an additional point. It rewards teams for losing games and adds to the total number of points that can be won in a total season. I think the only solution would be to make a regulation win worth 3 points, but that still makes the record book somewhat meaningless.

And Ken Venturi got cheated at the Masters! No way Arnie should've gotten relief behind the 12th green.

The worst rules are those that don't get enforced or don't get enforced equally.
The NBA rarely calls over-the-back, carrying, or travelling.
The NBA is notorious for giving "star treatment"

NFL-the tuck rule

Golf-not consistently enforcing rules to prohibit slow play.

The reason they have this rule is so that you dont have a couple of the forwards hang out by the opponents goal. In fact without his rule there would be less scoring because if there were hangers the defense would need to commit extra defenders to just sit back around their own goal, which would detract from the offense.

As for football overtime, i would give each team a possession, that is, i would make each team kick off to the other once .The possession would end if a) you score, or b) you turn the ball over. If you do turn it over, that would be the beginning of the next team's possession. For golf, i dont particularly like the rule because of all the bad things that have come from it, but i dont see a viable alternative. Just like anything you sign, you need to read and re-read everything. Once example of this is from a couple years ago when Sergio Garcia was playing with Boo Weekly. Boo wrote one of Sergio's scores wrong, and Sergio signed for it. I remember him saying that he was frustrated and was going quickly, but thats his mistake. He should have compared the card he kept to the card Boo kept to the card the walking scorer kept. What I dont like is Instant replay in college football . I'm not much of a college football fan but i do follow it and in october i went to a FSU BC game. It seemed like every play had a review, and it gone ridiculous. Speaking of ridiculous... The BCS. I mean, come on. First of all, the computer uses winning margin in its computation which is a terrible measure of wins. A win should be a win. Florida can be a D2 school by 5 and they get less credit then if they were to lose to USC by 5. Also, they include several polls in the computations. This is stupid for one reason and here is an example. Florida was top ranked at the beginning of the season, and they haven't lost. Texas hasn't lost either, but they cant be #1 unless Florida losses. Now, who is to say that Florida is better than Texas, but because Florida was top ranked at the beginning, they are top ranked now. My solution, a playoff. Giver teams like Utah from last year that went undefeated and won their bowl game a chance. Also, just name the various playoff games after the bowls they already have, use the same sponsors and same names so no one's feeling get hurt and everyone gets their money.

Yeah it's a terrible rule. Every all-star game in sports is meant to be entertainment and fun for the players. It shouldn't mean anything. Why would a great player on a crap team even try anymore?

How else would you do it? College rules would take a bit too long IMO in the NFL.

First off, Nash and the Suns knew the rule. It wasn't a surprise for them at all. They didn't get robbed. They did it to themselves. Amare and Diaw went on to the court and shouldn't have. It may be a dumb rule for other reasons (like inconsistencies in enforcement), but to say that rules shouldn't decide games (and series) is confusing.

I don't understand your gripe here. Regardless of where you are on the court, you need to do certain things to take a charge: plant your feet, stop moving (in general anyway...there are some exceptions), beat the guy to the spot before he jumps. So, if you do that, why should it matter where you are on the court. If a guy goes for a dunk and you try to take a charge, but you plant after he's off the ground, call a blocking foul. But, if he's there before you jump, you should get the charge called. I don't like what the NBA has done, and the restricted area rule has led to controversies in the NBA.

They should act like they've done it before. Chad Ochocinco should act like he's scored a touchdown before. He doesn't need to show off all the time for routine (for someone as good as him, it's routine) plays that he should make. Save it for game winners and really important plays. Showing off after everything kills the point of showing off. If I wanted to see some idiot dance and show off, I wouldn't watch the NFL.

Away Goals Rule (soccer): The knockout rounds of many major soccer competitions (World Cup qualifying, UEFA Champions & Europa Leagues, MLS Playoffs, etc.) hold two-legged fixtures, where two teams play a home-and-home series against each other; the aggregate score of both matches determines the winner. Essentially, the fixture is an elongated match, with one half played on each team's pitch. If the two teams are tied upon the completion of both matches, though, the team who scored the most goals as the away team advances.

Example: Russia and Slovenia held a playoff for one of the final UEFA qualifying slots for next year's World Cup. In the first leg, played in Moscow, Russia jumped to a 2-1 lead. However, they were shut out, 1-0, in the second leg in Slovenia. While the two teams were tied 2-2 in the aggregate, because Slovenia scored a goal on Russia's home pitch (and Russia didn't on Slovenia's), Slovenia qualified without having to break the tie.

I think that the away goals rule is an arbitrary method to settle ties in a format that provides too much of an allowance for them (unlike best-of series in American sports leagues, for instance). If a fixture ends in a tie, let the two teams settle the outcome on the playing field.

True. But for every offensive player that is cherry picking, a defender will have to go with him. It will still be 10 on 10 or 9 on 9 at the other end. The defenders don't do anything with the offense anyway. It isn't really even about having someone hang out at the goalie box. If my team has better, faster athletes than the opposition, I can't use that to my advantage by beating the other team down the field with speed. There isn't any offense as it is, this just hinders it even more. Every game I have watched (not very many) this comes up when a guy makes a move to get behind a defender and he will be one-on-one with the goalie becuase someone made a great pass. But the play is whistled dead because he is a better athlete and a better player than the other guy and we wouldn't want to make the goalie actually try stop an uncontested shot.

I do agree with you here. Each team gets a possession, after that, if it is still tied, sudden death.

Are you serious? It's esentially the same as college, but they get the ball on the opposition's 35 yard line and are limited to two possesions each and I don't think there are time outs (could be wrong there). That's why there are more tie games in the CFL (even though they're still rare).

Hmm i see what you mean. To be honest, i dont think it would better or worse either way, just different, though it does lessen the advantage of a speedy team.

How does a "hail mary" type breakout pass work? Does the ball just have to be struck before you break past the defender?

Fun to read through your thoughts, guys.

One thing I'd like to edit is that I just realized that the MLB added replay review on homeruns midway through this past season. I'd like to edit what I wrote and say that I believe each manager should be allowed to challenge at least one call in a game. It would make these games longer unfortunately, but at least they would get the call right.