The Most Memorable Ridiculous Sports Ideas

You know those drunken nights in college when you said something that was a little bit too far out there and then actually followed through on doing it?

Yeah, seeing how you ended up in jail for the night, it probably wasn't the best idea.

While the consequences aren't always that bad for people in sports, that doesn't mean they're not prone to making some absolutely ridiculous suggestions or saying something that leaves fans shaking their head in disbelief.

Since there have been more than a few of these instances, here are some of note that will, no doubt, leave you asking, "why?"

Charlie Strong's Motivational Techniques

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I know that head coaches do certain things that are untraditional when it comes to trying to motivate their players, so the fact that Texas Longhorns head football coach Charlie Strong did it isn't too shocking.

What is a bit unexpected is that Strong—who just finished his first season in Austin—tried to convince his players that to buy into the direction of the program, he was going to remove the Longhorn logo from practice helmets until guys earned them.

Naturally, this wasn't thought out, though.

While it may have worked for a short period of time during summer practices, there was no way the coach's plan would work into the season, as players would be going head-to-head in practice with separate helmets on.

Seeing that this sort of breaks the entire concept of a team and his players wouldn't think this to be too serious, Strong put the logos back on a mere three weeks later.

Ads on NBA Jerseys

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Like other examples I've given in this piece, money is the root of all evil, sometimes.

With leagues competing with one another for supremacy from sponsors, they are willing to do almost anything in order to make a buck—even if it whores out the product.

And, surprise, that's what the NBA seems to be doing with its new TV deal that was inked last fall, with the plan of ads being on actual, game-worn jerseys—though talks have stalled a bit.

I know, these leagues are multibillion dollar businesses that require as much money as possible, but doesn't this just deflate the overall product?

Of course, the idea isn't new, as soccer teams on the pro level have included sponsors' logos for years.

Neutral Sites for Snowed-out Games in MLB

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While it has only happened a few times, I just never understood the reasoning behind this.

As we all know, with the baseball season beginning in early April, cold-weather teams have a much larger chance of getting rained  or snowed out in early-season games.

And, when it happens, the protocol isn't what you might think, with MLB moving the series to a neutral location for the two teams to play one another.

Does this sound dumb to anyone else? I mean, what's the point of home-field advantage if a team is forced to physically play on the road?

Worse, what happens if one of those teams misses the playoffs by a game and that neutral-field location can be traced back as to the reason?

In all honesty, the league would be smarter to just shorten the season and start much later in the year than dealing with the logistics of getting two teams to a neutral spot for a two- or three-game series. If that got implemented, it might be the best thing for everyone.

Sleeved NBA Jerseys

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With the announcement that the NBA and sports apparel company Adidas aren't renewing their partnership following the 2016-17 season, players are hoping that the sleeved jersey experiment is a dead subject too.

Incorporating the tight-knit jerseys prior to the 2013 season, the league ignored player complaints and have stuck with the idea since, forcing them to play uncomfortably for the sake of a business partnership.

Not only were players unwelcoming to the sleeved jersey, but fans didn't like the look, either, with sales being pretty pathetic since their inception.

I'm all about expansion and progression, but, sometimes it's OK to just admit something doesn't work—and the NBA might finally be doing that once the Adidas deal expires in a couple of years.

The Glowing Puck

This one was an invention that really fell flat.

When Fox Sports introduced a glowing puck during its telecasts in the late '90s, it was supposed to be a convenient idea that would help fans enjoy the game better, allowing them to see the puck at all times.

It's too bad that fans didn't see it that way, instead complaining about the gimmick and writing it off as nothing more than a glamorized video game.

Really, who wants to watch a game where the puck has an extended tail during slap shots and hard passes?

The XFL

For some of the younger readers out there, the XFL might not be something that sticks out in your mind as a bad suggestion, but, rest assured, it absolutely was.

Hyping itself up as the anti-NFL, full of personality and extreme plays, the league had players customize the back of their jerseys and had cameramen inside the huddle during games.

Run by WWE mogul Vince McMahon and commencing in 2000, the games seemed a bit gimmicky and lacked intrigue, causing the league to fold after just one season.

While the league failed, it's interesting to see that some of the ideas it had actually resonated with major leagues, though, as the customized jersey with nicknames and all-access cameramen being incorporated in those leagues a decade later.

Still, there's no denying the product on the field, and the XFL was pathetic in that regard.

NBA Expansion Overseas

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For all those readers who have taken a trip to Europe, I'm sure you've experienced the dreaded jet lag that comes with such a long trip.

Now imagine that groggy feeling you get and think what it would be like to play a meaningful NBA game just a few hours after landing? Yeah, that probably wouldn't be too much fun.

Unfortunately, NBA commissioner Adam Silver doesn't care too much, as he has talked about adding teams in Europe and saying, "I believe it's our (the league's) manifest destiny to expand."

Expansion into Europe isn't a new topic of conversation, as both the NBA and NFL have toyed with, and executed, the idea over the past few years.

Still, that doesn't mean that having a full-time franchise overseas is going to work, with logistics and enough interest being the biggest factors as to why this just can't work.

Hell, if the NBA struggled with two teams in Canada, how on earth are they going to succeed in Europe?

Bruce Pearl Doesn't Think His Team Can Beat Kentucky

Here's an idea on how to motivate your team...

With the Kentucky Wildcats men's hoops team currently sitting with a perfect 35-0 record and expected to win the national title in a few weeks, experts don't believe that there aren't too many teams who can even compete with the Cats, let alone beat them.

One of those people? Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl.

Back in February during a press conference, Pearl actually admitted this—in public—saying, "With the exception of Kentucky, I have said there isn't a team on our schedule we can't beat."

Maybe Bruce was just trying to really play the us-versus-the-world mentality that teams often incorporate before a big game? Either way, his words weren't exactly encouraging—even if his Tigers did end up losing to UK twice by an average of 29.5 points.

Narrower Goal Posts at NFL's Pro Bowl

For those football fans who actually tuned into the NFL's Pro Bowl this year, you probably noticed that the goal posts were on a little bit of a slimming diet.

That's because the league actually experimented with narrower goal posts during this year's contest, with kickers forced to kick between 14 feet across as opposed to the current 18-feet—which didn't receive a warm reception from one of the league's best kickers.

If the league wants the Pro Bowl to be taken seriously by fans and sponsors, what better way than to incorporate a gimmick like this, where the league can test out crazy ideas as if it were just a backyard, pickup game—which, sadly, the Pro Bowl has suddenly become.

Yes, that's sarcasm, people.

Larry Brown Thinks Kentucky Could Make NBA Playoffs

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Maybe Kentucky should turn pro?

As the only man to have won both an NCAA and NBA championship, I've got nothing but respect for current SMU Mustangs head coach Larry Brown.

But hearing Brown say last week that he thinks the Kentucky Wildcats team could make the NBA playoffs makes me think Brown was drinking something funky before stepping in front of a microphone.

Earlier this year, there was debate around the currently undefeated Wildcats' chance of beating the Philadelphia 76ers in a game, with many laughing off the suggestion.

So seeing Brown mentioning that the Cats could survive an entire 82-game regular season and still make the postseason is just absurd to me, even if the team were playing in the pathetically laughable Eastern Conference where 30-plus wins could earn the eighth spot.

MLB Changes Up the Pace of Play

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Anytime there's a new sheriff in town, there are often going to be changes.

So when Rob Manfred took over for incumbent commissioner Bud Selig after the 2014 season, it was expected that Manfred would toy with the idea of mixing things up.

But adding a pace-of-play rule, really?

That's the major suggestion and enforcement for MLB this season, with batters and pitchers now having a stopwatch timing them between pitches to help speed up games.

Manfred might think this to be best for the viewing experience, but players haven't exactly warmed up to the idea, openly bashing the rule and welcoming any fine for the ridiculous idea.

Indianapolis Colts' 9-Point Play

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

I mentioned earlier how the NFL displayed narrower goal posts during this year's Pro Bowl as a prototype idea, so the Indianapolis Colts thought they should pitch an even stranger idea—a nine-point scoring play.

Proposing an idea to the league that would allow teams a chance at an additional field-goal attempt if a team is successful in a two-point conversion try after a touchdown, the Colts seem to really want to up the scoring in the NFL.

It's a strange and off-beat idea—and probably won't be taken too seriously by the competition committee—but props to the team for at least coming up with one way to change the entire game of football.