Fix a sport

Sports
61

They already do this. James Harden, notoriously. It sucks to watch and defend, but is effective.

I don’t think this is quite right. You get 5 (6 in the NBA) per game.

One way to use them is as a buffer for playing aggressive D. If you never foul, you’re not playing hard enough.

The other way is a desperation strategy. Dude going up for a dunk? Rake him across the arms, 75% X 2 shots is better than 99% X dunk.

I wouldn’t call either unfair, just attempting to maximize your chances on any given possession.

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62

Get rid of the snitch in general it can invalidate so much good play for one bit of luck.

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64

True, but at least he has to make 3 uncontested shots to get the same number of points instead of just one uncontested shot.

65

Meanwhile, in the NFL…

66
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67

I thought of this in the context of the NBA, but it would apply equally to any of the pro sports.

Kickstarter, but for pro athletes. Fans (or whoever) pledge X dollars for their guy to play for Team Y. It only kicks in if they play for that team. Pay them directly, cut out the billionaires. Think of it like a fan sponsorship.

It has the added benefit of reverse collusion. Imagine Raptors fans paying to have LeBron go to the western conference.

What could possibly go wrong.

68

Green Bay Packers are a fan-owned team.

Make all teams collectively owned, and things are starting to look really good in sportsland.

3 Likes
69

I’d agree, but the chip Kraft has installed in the head of every Foxboro resident just started beeping.

70

#1 owner in all of sports. I know the NBA has a rule capping the number of owners for any team, and I’m sure the other leagues do too. The owners don’t want to have their monopoly busted. Packers were just the one that got away with it before everyone else figured it out.

71

Yes. I think every major pro sports league, at least in the US, has rules that prevent another Green Bay. There can be only one unless there is some sort of government action.

72

Major sports are a big enough part of the collective culture and economy of the US that I would like to see them more heavily regulated.

73

Well, get ready for gambling, just like AUS and UK and such.

74

Five championships and keeping the team from being moved to St. Louis will do that.

75

Fair. I have complex feelings about Kraft. On the one hand, he’s a slimy, evil prick, like basically any business type person. On the other hand, the existence of the stadium pays for a toooooon of services in Foxboro, and he does a lot to be likeable when it’s convenient for him that’s useful to the town.

76

Just to show how out of touch I am with sportsball of any kind, I thought you meant Kraft as in macaroni and cheese because Packers = fans with cheese hats and assumed there was some kind of connection. I’m not even sure if it’s the Packers who have the cheese hat fans if I’m being honest.

1 Like
77

It is. Side question: what kind of cheese is that??

image

78

Wisconsin cheddar.

79

A very interesting development:

When the clock hits 4;00 in the 4th quarter, leading team’s score +7 becomes the target. First team to that score wins.

Totally solves the intentional fouling. It does come at the cost of crazy sequences under time pressure, but how often do you actually see that anyway?

I’d take it in the NBA.

80

Genius. Makes it so the clock is there only to keep games a relatively consistent length, which is good for broadcast reasons, but makes it so the game doesn’t become about clock management.

81

I’m not so sure. I think there other ways to eliminate intentional fouls. This eliminates buzzer-beating wins entirely, especially with a 30 second shot clock.

Again, I think there should be way more opportunities for interesting clock-winding-down moments, not fewer. Just get rid of the fouls!