It’s Thanksgiving, and while most will use this time to think about all the things in their lives they’re thankful for, For the Win is taking the opposite approach. Here are all the things we are definitely NOT thankful for in sports…
1. Commercial-kickoff-commercial
This might be the worst television viewing experience in all of sports. A team scores a touchdown or a field goal, the network cuts to commercial, we see a kickoff that is usually just a touchback and then we get another commercial break. The commercial-kickoff-commercial sequence is how we gets stats like this:
2. The possession arrow in college basketball
Far too often a defender makes a great play and doesn’t get rewarded for it, because … reasons. Does anyone really get why we don’t go to a jump ball after a tie up? Apparently, it’s to avoid chaos.
Via The New York Times:
“The rules committee got rid of the jump ball because of the chaos,” said Hank Nichols, who worked several Final Fours as an official and now serves as the N.C.A.A.’s coordinator of men’s basketball officials.
“The jump ball was chaos, especially at one end of the floor or the other,” he said. “Then, when you did have a bad toss, the whole thing just looked like a circus.”
Bring back the circus!
3. The NFL’s social media policy
With NFL teams no longer able to post their own highlights — they can still use video that the main NFL Twitter account posts — we are getting far less officially sanctioned highlights on Sundays, especially from teams that aren’t in the spotlight. We demand more Browns highlights.
4. Slow-working pitchers
We’re looking at you, Pedro Baez. MLB games are long as it is. We don’t need pitchers taking their time in between pitches, stretching games past the four-hour mark.
5. The Jaguars’ Color Rush uniforms
Who would’ve thought mustard would make for a bad uniform color?
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
6. College coaches complaining about transfers
And then months later ditch their teams for a more attractive job. Don’t fault a kid for looking for a better opportunity.
7. Head injuries
It’s getting really hard to watch the NFL with all that we know about concussions. Those big hits that used to be naively celebrated are just cringeworthy now. Injuries in general are easily the worst thing about sports. Actually, fans who cheer injuries are the worst thing about sports.
8. The NFL’s catch rule
The more Dean Blandino tries to explain it, the more confusing it gets. There was a time when the rule was pretty cut-and-dry. At least that’s how it seemed. Can we just go back to whatever the rule was back then?
9. People telling you about their fantasy teams
Seriously we don’t care … but, now that we’re on the subject, can you take a look at my lineup? Who should I start this week?
10. MLB award voters
(AP Photo)
Not all of them are bad, but how does Mike Trout have only two MVP awards? How did Justin Verlander receive the most first-place votes and get left off two voters’ ballots? And how did Derek Jeter win so many Gold Glove awards? We want answers.
11. That James Harden wasn’t playing point guard this whole time
Harden is putting up ridiculous numbers during his first season playing the point guard position. He could be the first player since Nate “Tiny” Archibald to lead the league in both points and assists. And, more importantly, it has been entertaining as hell to watch. What took so long?
12. Overzealous college basketball refs
Have you watched a college basketball game this season? There are so many ticky-tack fouls being called. The NCAA’s attempt to boost scoring and make the game more entertaining has had the opposite effect. Now we’re stuck watching glorified free throw shooting contests that stop and start every 30 seconds.
13. NBA teams tanking
(AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Sometimes tanking works. But most of the time it doesn’t, and it’s just brutal for fans — especially late in the season when teams out of contention start resting their best players due to “injuries.”
14. Thursday Night Football
Football is a brutal sport. It’s also a complex one that requires game-planning and practice time. Thursday Night Football reduces both a player’s recovery time and a team’s practice time, which inevitably leads to unwatchable, sloppy games. We were content with Sundays and Monday nights, NFL.
15. Four-hour college football games
College football games are excruciatingly long. The average game lasts about three hours and 30 minutes, according to the Wall Street Journal. And there’s a simple fix for shortening the games: Don’t stop the clock after every first down. NFL refs manage to move the chains without a problem. Why can’t college refs do it?
16. The NHL’s new all-star voting rule
The “John Scott rule,” as it’s being called, allows NHL teams to essentially prevent any player they want from making the All-star game, even if they were voted in by the fans, by briefly sending them down to the minors. The rule was put into place after John Scott was voted by fans to the all-star team after being demoted to the AHL.
All-star games are for the fans. Let them have what they want; otherwise, what’s the point of fan voting?
17. Celebration penalties
Who doesn’t like a good touchdown celebration? The NFL, that’s who.
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
18. An 82-game NBA schedule
The NBA season is too long. Back-to-back games are the worst and just lead to players not trying and coaches resting stars. We don’t need more than 80 games to figure out who the best eight teams in a conference are.
19. Dumb and obviously fake reaction videos to sports losses
Videos like this are either (a) pathetic cries for attention or (b) completely unhealthy.
Stop taking sports so seriously.
20. Sleeved basketball uniforms
David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Who asked for this? Certainly not the players. And the fans don’t seem to like them either.
