I’ve been feeling dissatisfied with sports recently. Every game I watch—whether it’s professional or college, football or basketball—seems tainted by bad officiating or senseless rule changes. No matter who ultimately ends up on top, I’m still confused or upset by something.
If my team wins, I have to listen to some guy talk about how that one penalty or call before halftime shifted the momentum of the game, despite the fact that the instant replay clearly showed that it should have been overturned. If the other team wins, I’m that guy.
From what I’ve seen and heard from friends, family and faceless internet trolls, I’m not the only one facing this dilemma.
It’s important to note that I’m not one of those people who is opposed to change just for the sake of it, or because making a rule that says something along the lines of “please don’t run head-first into someone while they’re already being dragged down, out-of-bounds by three of your teammates” is “soft.”
Rules that reasonably make a sport safer without compromising the integrity of the game are great. However, the operative word is “reasonably.” Obviously it’s subjective, but the court of public opinion has made it clear that some of the more recent rule changes are completely absurd.
The NFL Competition Committee (the body in charge of NFL rule changes) has repeatedly proven that it is the most prolific offender when it comes to making—or not making— reasonable changes to their rulebook.
There is no place in football for a 15-yard penalty that results after a defensive player makes any “contact to the head or neck area” of the quarterback. I understand that quarterbacks need to be protected somewhat differently than other players, but you can sack them!
How is it that a defensive end can run 15 mph into the quarterback, shoulder to stomach, send him to the hospital and end up with a sack on the stat sheet, but a tap on the helmet is a personal foul?
That’s not making the game safer, it’s ruining it for everyone involved.
The other major problem that has been exacerbated by nonsensical rules in every league I can think of is the use of instant replay. Instant replay is the most valuable thing officials have ever been given, and somehow they’re still allowed to get calls wrong all the time.
Nothing is more frustrating as a fan than watching a replay and seeing a player step out-of-bounds, or seeing that the defensive player was clearly in the restricted area, but a charge was called and that’s that because it’s non-reviewable.
Why? Why on Earth is any play in any sport non-reviewable? I can’t think of a single legitimate reason. Those who support the “non-reviewable play” argue that reviewing everything would slow down the game, but that’s just not true. These are multi-billion dollar companies; they can afford to pay five or six people up in a booth to review something in 30 seconds before the game resumes.
Some people would say that I’m lacking perspective, that every young fan feels like the sport is changing and that they’re witnessing terrible decisions being made about the future of the sport that they love. I don’t think so, though.
The rivalry between fans and poor officiating is older than time itself, but something about the last few years makes this moment in sports history feel like a watershed: Will fans’ disappointment make leagues reconsider drastic rule changes or will sports continue to change as we know them in the coming years?
I don’t know, but I sure hope it’s the former.
Photo by Brian Cantoni/Flickr.
