The 10 Silliest Things in Sports Right Now
Silly ideas flow through sports ignoring both time and reality.
Everyone knows the guy or gal who believes a college football team could beat a pro team. Many fans hear from someone every day how or why a referee will decide something. Ditto for how much athletes get paid—or don't.
Fans are fallible like anyone else. They're passionate, mostly loyal and involved. But sometimes these things fall into the category dubbed as "blinders," and sports fans have the wool pulled over their eyes.
Which is fine, really. Debate and interacting with other sports fans is what makes sports, well, sports.
Within, let's take a look at the silliest ideas in sports. These ideas span far and wide, with fans, front offices and media included across a bevy of sports scenes. Debate, of course, is encouraged in the comments below.
Pro Bowls and All-Star Games
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Hint—they don't matter much.
Everyone seems to know the person who will run into a room and say "Player X made the Pro Bowl. I voted for that!"
The sense of inclusion involved with a Pro Bowl or All-Star Game encourages the idea these games matter, be it NFL, NBA, MLB or beyond. There's nothing wrong with including fans in the process—that's actually awesome—but it shouldn't go beyond that.
Just look at how many athletes decline to play in these games every year. NBA players use the break in a lengthy season as just that, a break. Those who do show up throw down dunks and don't play defense.
Similar story for MLB. Players show up and hit homers. The World Series implication is nice, but it's still the fan-voted players seemingly going through the motions.
The NFL is the worst culprit. A whopping 43 players pulled out of the Pro Bowl last year. The league tried to make it interesting by doing a fantasy-football inspired draft, and that has already been canned. At this point, flag football would be more entertaining.
So cherish the person who thinks these things matter. It's their right, but that doesn't make it right.
Storming the Court
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How many eye-rolling times has this happened now?
Those who catch highlights on televisions or online wouldn't know the answer because everybody is storming the court or field after any type of win now. It's played out. It's boring. It's lost all significance.
There have been some terrible incidents when storming the court in recent years. Storming a field and ripping down a goal post is even stupider. Conferences like the SEC and Pac-12 now have fines in place if it happens.
Back in the day, a special occasion caused for such an outburst. Now it just feels like an excuse to act rowdy, to get down near the players and mob for a bit.
It's all right to be excited, but whatever happened to just cheering and celebrating within the means of the allowed space? Social media already allows fans to get closer to athletes than ever.
Storming a court or field is possibly dangerous for all, so keep it in mind the next time a middle seed beats a middle seed and the floodgates open.
The Ends of NBA Games
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Pass. Foul. Free throw. Timeout.
Pass. Foul. Free throw. Timeout.
Basketball heads can clamor all they want about the strategy that goes into a game and how coaches employ timeouts and on and on.
That doesn't make it entertaining.
It's fun to see a game go down to the wire. But it's a jarring experience to watch a fast-paced game suddenly devolve into this plodding war of free throws and guys jogging around in circles while the inbounder flirts with a timing violation.
This isn't an exciting shootout in other sports. It's not waiting on the decisive pitch to come across the plate in extra innings. Nor is this the exciting NFL overtime that has been tweaked recently.
No, this is something different. It's the butchering of a sport's pace, grinding it to a halt when the journey there was fast and entertaining. Now, those involved don't have an obligation to make things entertaining. But they might if the most boring two minutes in sports causes enough fans to change the channel.
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Quarterbacks Get Mega Contracts
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Quarterback is an important position, but that doesn't mean pay huge cash to anyone who happens to have an arm.
Look around the NFL right now. Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill has a $77 million contract over four years. Through five games this year, he has thrown six touchdowns to seven interceptions for his 1-4 team.
How about Brock Osweiler with the Houston Texans? He's on a $72 million contract over four years and in five games with his new team has completed 58 percent of his passes with—you guessed it—six touchdowns and seven interceptions.
It gets funnier as play marginally improves. Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is apparently worth more than $120 million. He's a career 61.1 percent passer with an iffy 6.91 yards per pass attempt and has five touchdowns to four interceptions this year.
Maybe the New York Jets had the right idea—the team didn't cave to Ryan Fitzpatrick's demands this offseason in a messy contractual spat. Nobody else would sign Fitzpatrick, and he's gone on to throw 10 interceptions in five games.
Barring the absolute best of the best like a Tom Brady, quarterbacks aren't worth it.
That Anyone Has a Clue What a Catch Is in the NFL
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Those who follow the NFL on social media during games see at least 10 instances of the hive mind wondering how a certain play was or wasn't a catch.
It happens in real time with fans watching games together too, of course, but it's a lot easier to see how widespread the problem is when the entire globe can ponder the same thing at once.
The NFL tried to update the catch rule over the offseason in pretty funny fashion. It's to the point where a guy like Dallas Cowboys wideout Dez Bryant has offered his help, as captured by ESPN.com's Todd Archer.
"They need to still work on it," Bryant said. "Because I've seen a lot of stuff where how is that a catch and that's not a catch. So, you know, I hope they do a better job. If they need my input, I'm here. Pretty sure lot of guys would want to get involved in that. You know, hopefully they'll get it."
It's almost funny at this point—we have all this technology available at our fingertips like instant replays, countless angles, zoom, all in real time with officials trained to make the right call.
And yet the problem persists. An iffy-looking catch might as well be a flip of a coin at this point, which is downright inexcusable in 2016.
So anytime someone suggests they know what is or isn't a catch, or that one they just watched was or wasn't, just laugh.
The Idea Players Care as Much as Fans About Loyalty
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They don't, just look at the picture above.
Fans are emotional and attached, which is a good thing. It's what makes sports special and something worth our time.
But it's a break from reality to think players feel loyalty toward an organization. Some will point to Kevin Durant leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder. Others will point out LeBron James leaving his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers before he totally redeemed himself.
Countless examples exist. Brett Favre joined the Minnesota Vikings. Remember when Karl Malone suited up with the Los Angeles Lakers? Roger Clemens to the New York Yankees. It applies to coaches and owners, too, with names like Brian Kelly, Robert Irsay and Art Modell coming to mind.
Think about it. Look at say, Tom Brady. The guy is from California, played ball at Michigan and has stuck with New England his entire career. But if the money numbers and fit hadn't been right, Patriots fans shouldn't fool themselves—he'd be playing somewhere else right now.
At the end of the day, athletes are doing a job just like anyone else. Loyalty comments are cool when things are good, but it doesn't mean players are planted in one place forever and will put up with whatever like fans can and will.
Not Paying College Athletes
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Excuses abound as to why college players shouldn't get paid.
One thought process says a scholarship is enough. Another points out the good the cash flow does for the rest of a university and education. Yet another says universities couldn't afford to pay the players.
But the holes here are simple. Players should accrue what the market allows. If a star player is worth more than his scholarship, the cash should go to him or her. College degrees aren't what they used to be, anyway. And while the cash helps everyone, throwing a little more at players putting their bodies on the line isn't a big deal. Any university claiming it can't afford to pay players should be laughed off the planet—Google college coach salaries sometime.
Colleges got rid of amateur head coaches a long time ago. Pro sports relinquished league control of players a long time ago, too. It's likely a matter of time before college athletes get paid, too.
As they should. The athletes bring viewers to television, and everyone gets to eat. Coaches. Schools. Vendors. Networks. Endorsements, advertisements and more roll in. Everyone has a seat at the table—except the athletes putting in the work.
The More Football, the Better
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Most would agree football is a good time when played at a high level.
On paper, it made sense the NFL decided to expand the schedule. There's football on Sundays, Mondays and now Thursday.
That doesn't mean it's good football.
Take a look at Thursday Night Football for example. Through five weeks of the season, the outcomes have read: 37-31, 27-0, 22-7, 33-21.
Monday Night Football through six weeks hasn't been any better: 38-16, 28-0, 29-14, 45-32, 24-10, 17-14. The last number was a stinker with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beating the Cam Newton-less Carolina Panthers.
Extra football isn't good, period. Non-Sunday games are miserable more often than not, which is what happens when you take a violent sport that batters the human body and ask said bodies to go out and perform at a high level on short notice. Don't forget the mental and preparation side of it either.
Any argument about this just being a tough early-season schedule is moot—do a quick Twitter and Google search and one will find fans complaining about the quality of extra games for years, especially on Thursdays.
Some day soon, fans might yearn for loaded Sundays back. Whether they get it is another conversation entirely.
Analysts and Announcers Must Be Former Players
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Some former players make amazing analysts or commentators. Think guys like Reggie Miller.
But the list of mediocre, if not downright terrible former players who have graced television simply because they played the game dwarfs the great ones.
Guys like Warren Sapp, Emmitt Smith, Shannon Sharpe, Merril Hoge and Mike Ditka don't bring much to broadcasts other than personality. That's not a bad thing on its own if it is what fans want, but the days fans want personality in favor of in-depth analysis seem gone.
It's almost like the weird trend going on in the NBA right now. More often than not, guys such as Derek Fisher fizzled in a hurry, the player experience side of things not giving the men an advantage at the job.
Thinking someone has to have professional playing experience to understand and analyze a sport is an antiquated thought process in the first place. Slowly, as fans use social media for instant analysis and demand more of analysts in all formats, this idea could fade entirely.
College Teams Beating Pro Teams
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This again.
Every year the same formula pops up: Best College Team Could Beat Worst NFL Team.
According to Public Policy Polling, 62 percent of voters in Ohio think Ohio State could beat the Cleveland Browns.
This applies to the NBA as well, with suggestions of the Kentucky Wildcats beating the Philadelphia 76ers floating around a few years back.
Stop. Just stop it.
In football specifically, every NFL player is a pro and made it through. Even the best college teams have what, four to seven players drafted a year in various rounds and eventual capacities. We're talking a whole different ballpark of athletic ability, maturity and technique.
The pro team would pin the college team deep, and that's the end of it. The offense would march up and down the field. Same thing for the NBA. Look how well the top draft picks fare in the pros each year. Some do well, but a team would need four or five top-five caliber players to prevent it from being a blowout.
This is a fun conversation to float out every now and then when a college dynasty pops up and the most inept of the inept emerges at the pro level.
But to actually believe an upset could happen? That's just silly.
Follow Chris Roling (@Chris_Roling) on Twitter.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
