12 Most Polarizing Sports Issues of the Past Year
Are superteams the most polarizing issue in sports right now? What about the ongoing old school vs. new school debate about bat flips, dabs and the like?
Sports are wonderful for many reasons, not the least of which is the opportunity they provide for discussion. Not everyone agrees, but man, do people love to talk.
These 12 issues have been some of the most hotly debated topics in the last year. Some are flashy new issues, while others are old standbys with a contemporary twist. But all inspire opinions on opposite ends of the spectrum.
All are also sports-specific. Certainly, there are many social issues affecting sports right now; but frankly, many of those are too important for this forum.
So, did Tom Brady do it, or what?
Honorable Mentions
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Of course, there are virtually infinite polarizing topics in sports—the 12 that made the cut are merely the timeliest and most divisive. Here are a few honorable mentions from the second tier to get your debate juices goin':
- Should the MLB All-Star Game decide home-field advantage in the World Series?
- Should there be unanimous MLB Hall of Famers?
- Similarly, did Stephen Curry deserve to be the first unanimous NBA MVP?
- Should golf be an Olympic sport?
- Should college football satellite camps be allowed?
- Who is the real baseball hit king? Pete Rose or Ichiro Suzuki?
Hack-a-Shaq
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Hack-a-Shaq—intentionally fouling poor free-throw shooters—has long been a debated strategy in basketball.
Some think, hey, if those are the rules, why not use them to my advantage? For instance, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said, "If someone can't shoot free-throws, that's their problem," per Jimmy Traina of Fox Sports.
Others think the practice hinders basketball's entertainment value. Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers said, "It's bad for the league. It looks bad and we're going to have to adopt something here, I think," per the Associated Press (via USA Today).
The issue has been back in the spotlight recently due to an actual rule change.
In July, the NBA announced it would tweak an existing rule that awards one free throw and the ball for off-the-ball fouls in the final two minutes of the game and extend that principle to the final two minutes of each quarter. And yet, did the league go far enough?
Eric Freeman of Ball Don't Lie wrote, "Many fans would have liked to see this rule extended to the entire game, but it's not meaningless that one-sixth of all NBA games will now feature no intentional fouls of terrible free-throw shooters."
Pain Management
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The issue of pain management—particularly in high-contact sports such as football—has come to the forefront in the past year, along with the continuing discussion about concussions across sports.
Former Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson told ESPN's Michael Smith that painkillers were handed out "like candy" early in his NFL career (h/t Des Bieler of the Washington Post).
There is disagreement over what to do, however.
Recently retired lineman Eugene Monroe has advocated strongly for the use of marijuana for pain management.
Meanwhile, marijuana continues to appear on the NFL's banned substances list.
Several prominent college football coaches have called marijuana use "an epidemic," according to Edgar Thompson, Brendan Sonnone and Shannon Green of the Orlando Sentinel.
Retirement Tours
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It all started with Chipper Jones in 2012. But retirement tours have only gained steam since then—Mariano Rivera in 2013, Derek Jeter in 2014 and in 2016, Kobe Bryant and David Ortiz.
In regard to Bryant, some felt the Los Angeles Lakers legend's season-long goodbye was a bit, well, self-serving. Adi Joseph of Sporting News called it "one big brand advertisement."
Scott Davis of Business Insider called it a "mess" and suggested the festivities were hindering the Lakers' ability to develop younger players.
And yet, fans paid exorbitant amounts of money to attend Bryant's final games, and many NBA teams joined in the tradition of giving the Mamba gifts.
As for Ortiz, even he experienced different opinions about announcing his retirement early. In June, he expressed regret over the decision and said in an interview with ESPN Deportes, "If I had even imagined that it would be so difficult, I wouldn't have announced anything" (h/t Marly Rivera of ESPN.com).
Officiating and Instant Replay
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Officiating and instant replay—which, in many ways, go hand-in-hand—have been polarizing issues for years. That hasn't changed in 2016.
NFL officiating had a particularly bad year. This prompted the league to alter instant-replay rules, allowing more in-game assistance from replay officials in New York.
Meanwhile, folks still disagree vehemently about baseball. For one thing, some think baseball's replay system takes too long. Others disagree about how much technology should be incorporated into officiating.
In July, several major leaguers spoke out against the use of robotic umpires. Cleveland Indians pitcher Corey Kluber said, per Jesse Spector of Sporting News, "I think that there is some human element to baseball that's always been there; that, to me personally, is part of the game with the umpires."
And yet, Dan Szymborski of ESPN.com advocated for automated strike zones. He wrote, "One of the most important aspects of any sport is that everybody plays by the same rules. And one thing that's clear is that in baseball, not everybody has the same strike zone."
Expansion
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In June, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight wrote an article titled, "Las Vegas Is A Terrible Place For An NHL Team." He cited the need for more teams in Canada, the comparatively small number of hockey fans in Las Vegas and the city's poor history of supporting sports franchises.
And yet, the city was awarded an expansion franchise, and Vegas will have hockey as soon as 2017-18.
Expansion is a timely issue in baseball as well. According to Jordan Heck of Sporting News, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred spoke in favor of expansion, saying, "Baseball's a growth sport, a growth business, [and] sooner or later growth businesses expand."
And yet, former big leaguer Mark McGwire advocated for dropping two teams and told Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "If they ever did expansion, again, oh, my God, this game would be so thin. It really would be the worst thing we could do in baseball."
How Titles Impact Legacy
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Does Lionel Messi's legacy suffer because he hasn't won a major international tournament with Argentina? Did Cristiano Ronaldo cement his with Portugal's Euro 2016 win? Are rings a good enough reason for Kevin Durant to join the Golden State Warriors?
Just how important are major championships to legacy? Opinions vary, obviously.
In June, Rik Sharma of Mail Online wrote of Messi and the Copa America, "For his legend to be unassailable, he needs to win a tournament with Argentina."
Conversely, Ty Duffy of the Big Lead wrote, "He's the greatest player of all time, regardless of what he does with Argentina."
NBA great Charles Barkley said Durant is trying to "cheat" his way to a ring, but Reggie Miller said, "The media only cares about rings, and rightfully so," per Nick Schwartz of Fox Sports.
Do titles affect legacy? And if so, to what lengths are athletes allowed to go to get them?
eSports
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eSports are on the rise, folks. Turner Sports Network launched its own ELEAGUE, and ESPN has invested in more digital content. In January, Dean Takahashi of VentureBeat reported, citing a report from Newzoo, "The global eports market is expected to grow 43 percent from $325 million in 2015 to $463 million in 2016."
With the emergence of eSports in full swing, the debate continues: Are eSports "real sports?"
No incident exemplifies this debate better than the back-and-forth between Fox Sports personality Colin Cowherd and Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward in the fall of 2015.
Cowherd criticized gaming on his show, The Herd, saying eSports are for "booger eaters," per Fox Sports.
Hayward, an avid gamer, fought back against Cowherd and later wrote in a piece for the Players' Tribune:
"There's a bizarre logic that if you're willing to put in the time to become good at a video game, you won't be willing to put in the time to become good at anything else. This complete nonsense regresses the conversation surrounding these thoughtful, challenging, advanced games that are consistently pushing barriers.
"
And around it goes.
LeBron vs. Steph
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Who is the best player in basketball? This was a tough question throughout 2015-16.
On one hand, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry scored a league-leading 30.1 points per game, obliterated his own record for three-pointers in a season by over 100 and took home his second consecutive MVP Award (this time unanimously).
On the other hand, he was ultimately outshined by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Curry averaged 22.6 points and 3.7 assists per game in the Finals, while James became the first person ever to lead all players in a playoff series in points (29.7), rebounds (11.3), assists (8.9), blocks (2.3) and steals (2.6).
James proved, once again, that he is an athletic force capable of taking over in the biggest moments.
Frank Isola of the New York Daily News wrote, "LeBron James is still best player in NBA despite Steph Curry winning MVP."
Deflategate
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Deflategate—an NFL scandal about the alleged underinflation of footballs used in the 2015 AFC Championship Game—raged on for an astonishing 18 months. Many questions arose during that time, including:
- Did New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady intentionally try to tamper with footballs?
- Why did Brady destroy his cell phone?
- Was NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's decision to suspend Brady for four games excessive?
- Does the commissioner have too much power in terms of player punishments, and if so, whose fault is it?
Patriots fans have long trumpeted their QB's innocence while others alleged he was guilty of at least some degree of wrongdoing. And all the while, there has been more than one issue at hand.
Cork Gaines of Business Insider pointed out, "The Deflategate case is no longer about deflated footballs and Brady's involvement. Rather, it is about Roger Goodell's power and, according to the appeals court, the players' association gave him all the power he needed to suspend Brady for four games."
Old School vs. New School
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Many examples of this debate have popped up in sports over the last year. Does Stephen Curry's penchant for three-pointers hurt the game of basketball?
His former Golden State Warriors head coach, Mark Jackson, says yes, per The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears, then writing for Yahoo Sports. NBA Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson has said Curry's success behind the arc is due to ineffective defense in today's game.
Should baseball players flip their bats in celebration or just show more personality in general? Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper called baseball "a tired sport, because you can't express yourself," per Tim Keown of ESPN The Magazine.
Meanwhile, MLB Hall of Famer Goose Gossage called Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista a "f--king disgrace" for flipping his bats, per Andrew Marchand of ESPN.com.
The old school vs. new school debate in sports doesn't appear to be going anywhere soon, so, buckle up.
Superteams
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Kevin Durant joined the Golden State Warriors, and now that team has four All-Stars on its roster. Cue the superteam debate. Are teams stacked with talent good for the league, bad for the league or perhaps a little of both?
First of all, what even is a superteam? Derrick Rose says the New York Knicks constitute one. Hmm.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said, per Dan Devine of Ball Don't Lie, "I've read several stories suggesting that that's something that the league wants, this notion of two superteams, that it's a huge television attraction. I don't think it's good for the league, just to be really clear."
Meanwhile, WNBA veteran Sue Bird agreed the issue was complicated but also told Ryan Morik of Complex, "There's something about dominant teams that draws fans in. People like to see this; they like to witness dominance."
And Jack Moore of the Guardian outlined how max contracts have affected salaries and wrote, "In the end, the owners have nobody to blame but themselves for the position they've found themselves in. In their lust to restrict the earning potential of superstars, they created a world in which those players will instead chase after the next best thing—a ring."
Rio Olympics
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The Rio Olympics are facing a plethora of serious issues, including the Zika virus, water contamination, impeachment proceedings, security concerns, economic hardship and a big-time Russian doping scandal.
These issues have caused many to debate over, among other things, the safety of the Games. Should they proceed? Should athletes attend?
For example, University of Ottawa professor Dr. Amir Attaran wrote a piece for the Harvard Public Health Review that advocated for the postponement, relocation or even outright cancellation of the Games due to health concerns over the Zika virus.
Meanwhile, Marc Siegel of the New Scientist wrote:
"Believe me, I am not trying to minimize this or any other health risk, but the fact is that Zika—or its cousin, dengue—has not risen to the level at which the Olympics should be cancelled any more than Major League Baseball should have relocated a series between the Pirates and the Marlins originally scheduled to be held in Puerto Rico.
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This "what to do about Rio" debate should end shortly, however, since Opening Ceremonies are on August 5.
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