This holiday weekend I was traveling home like many others. Since I wasn’t able to watch my favorite college football team play on television, I tuned into the local radio broadcast team and listened to the game. Years ago I loved listening to college football on the radio, but it has become almost unlistenable.

1. The play-by-play announcer was very good. He did an outstanding job, and I really enjoyed listening to him call the game.
2. The part of the broadcast that’s become ridiculous is every scenario has a sponsor attached to it. For example; ‘that interception is sponsored by Bluto’s plumbing, the name to count on when crap hits the fan’. ‘That field goal is sponsored by Holy Healthcare Clinic, if you’re having trouble getting up for the big game, call our E.D clinic today for an appointment’. They’ve moved into the Lotrimin Jock Itch and Anti-Fungal red zone’. And the insanity goes on and on.
3. I’d rather have an outstanding color commentator that wasn’t a star player, than a star player that’s a mediocre commentator.

Friday night high school football is still an awesome experience for players, students, and communities. All other high school sports have been negatively impacted by AAU, USSSA, extreme youth travel teams, and all other year-round youth sports insanity.

College football needs to stay away from playing on Friday nights. High school football deserves to have Friday nights all to themselves.

I’m a big fan of College Wrestling. These are the changes I would like to see;

• Add 2 weight classes (a 225 poundish weight class is necessary)
• Get rid of riding time
• If tied at the end of regulation, wrestling a 1 minute sudden victory overtime period. If tired at the end of the first overtime period, wrestle a second 1 minute sudden victory overtime period. If tired at the end of the second overtime period, wrestle a third 1 minute sudden victory period, but this time if a wrestler goes out of bounds 1 point is awarded and the match is over.  

I’m a big fan of College Football. There’s so much to like, including the College Football playoff, but we can do better. The best part of the College Football season is the playoff, so we should have more of it. This is what I would like to see;

• Eliminate conference championship games

• 12 teams make the College Football Playoff
• Teams are seeded 1 -12
• The top 4 teams get a bye in the first round
• Teams are then re-seeded 1 – 8
• Teams are then re-seeded 1 – 4

I would argue conferences, divisions, and leagues are no longer needed in professional sports. From this point forward I’ll refer to conferences, leagues, and divisions in professional sports as ‘conferences’ for simplicity sake. First, let’s evaluate this concept from a point/counter point analysis.

Point – We need conferences because, ‘rivalries’ are essential.

Counter point – Even the most traditionally heated rivalries are cooling each and every year. With the increase of free agency, trades, and player movement amongst teams, rivalries are all but finished from a player’s perspective. With the increase of favorite players now playing for the rival team, rivalries are all but finished from a fans perspective. Todays rivalries are made by teams playing each other in the playoffs on a regular basis.

Point – We need conferences because, it makes sense geographically.

Counter point – When teams traveled by trains this made sense. With private charter planes waiting for teams at the airport, we no longer need to worry about geographical alignment.

Point – We need conferences because, fan’s like watching their team play the same teams multiple times a year.

Counter point – Maybe our grandfathers would hold to this belief, but not the majority of fans today. I trust you’re not delusional enough to think your favorite team wants to win more because they’re playing a team from a neighboring state or city. The players on your favorite team didn’t grow up in your city, and they don’t dislike the neighboring state or city like you do.

Point – We need conferences because, teams playing for a conference title is exciting.

Counter point – Teams playing for playoff seeding is more exciting, and who cares about a conference title.

• Conferences hinder us from having the best teams in the playoffs. Naturally, some conferences are better than others. A team vying for a playoff spot shouldn’t be penalized for playing in a stronger conference, nor should a team have an advantage of making the playoffs because they play in a weaker conference. Teams having to endure a brutal playoff run because they play in a stronger conference shouldn’t be penalized, nor should a team having a cake walk through the playoffs have an advantage because they play in a weaker conference. The playoffs are the most exciting time of the season. Having the best teams in the post-season, seeded appropriately makes the most sense.

Just to be clear. I’m only talking about professional sports, not college sports. College rivalries and conferences are awesome.

Bonus week; Here’s an extra post for you.

Something has gone terribly wrong when Spencer from the IT department is now qualified to be a major league baseball manager. This is what the post-game press conference could sound like after game 1 of the 2019 World Series;

Reporter #1 – The 3 best players on your team were on the bench for game 1. What went into this decision?

Manager Spence – (whipping open his wicked fast laptop, Spence starts banging away on the keyboard) I developed a program last night that indicates this was the correct move.

Reporter #2 – Yeah Skip, your hard throwing righty struck out all 5 guys he faced on 3 pitches, and looked unhittable. You pulled him to bring in meatball lefty. Can explain this?

Manager Spence – First of all, my name is Spencer not Skip. Second, you can clearly see that man hits .280 against right handed throwers and only hits .276 against left handed throwers. It’s simple math.

Manager Spence – I’ve got to go now. Its Star Trek night at Arthur’s house.

The NHL regular season is so close to being watchable, they just need to pull the trigger on one final piece. You got it, fighting. NHL fighting numbers are slowly deteriorating; now they need to go away forever.

I like watching the NHL playoffs, college hockey, high school hockey, and olympic hockey. One of the great things about the game of hockey is the physical play. I like a hard hitting, clean checking game. This is what I find illogical about fighting in the NHL;

1. Some might say the NHL needs fighting because it protects its star players. Why should star players be exempt from physical play? Let’s not treat star players like NFL quarterbacks. If a check on a star player is clean and legal, we should be okay with that. If a check on a star player is dirty and illegal, a penalty should be called.
2. Some might say the NHL needs fighting because the fans like it. It’s possible the NHL could lose the fan that says ‘I pay money to watch a fight and a hockey game breaks out’. I would argue the NHL would gain more fans that like to watch the best players in the world preform. When a fight breaks out you’ll see most fans jump to their feet and start cheering. This is not an indication the NHL should continue to allow fighting. If a tornado suddenly appeared heading straight for my house, I would jump to my feet with emotion and go outside to film it. This is not an indication I like having my house destroyed by a tornado.
3. Some might say the NHL needs fighting because it gives teams a spark when they’re not playing with energy. Hey, I’ve got an idea how to give teams a spark. Score a goal.

I’ll give you one more illogical nugget about the NHL. Why do players not wear face masks? Years ago goalies didn’t wear face masks, now we would think that’s insane. Hockey players wear face mask while they play youth hockey, high school hockey, and college hockey. Thankfully, most players are now wearing a shield to protect their eyes. The league office needs to decide to protect their players. Players won’t put a mask on if it’s not mandated because they don’t want to look week.

My 11 year old son had just finished his baseball season which ran from April through July. Since it was August, it was time for baseball tryouts for next season. The league needed to get the teams selected because practice was scheduled to start in Late November/early December. As I drove my son to the tryout I remember telling him to just have fun. I told him what matters is he does his best and I’m proud of him.

They divided the players into groups and ran them through stations. At each station the boys got a grade of some kind. I watched intently as the boys went from station to station. I was grading the boys in my own head trying to figure out how my son stacked up with the other kids and what team I thought he should be placed on. My son was heading to the fly ball station when I pulled him aside. I told him I’ve been watching the fly ball station and the coaches are doing the same thing with every kid. They hit a fly ball right at you, then they hit a ball to your left, then to your right, then in front of you, and finally they hit a ball over your head. I knew my son would have trouble with the ball hit over his head so I gave him a tip. I told him to cheat back a little bit on the last fly ball before they hit it to him so he could have a better chance of making the catch. It was my sons turn to be graded and they started hitting him the fly balls. On the last ball he didn’t do what I suggested and he didn’t make the catch. After the fly ball station I again pulled him aside and he could see that I was mad. I said to him, why didn’t you listen to me? I knew you’d miss that last ball. I’ll never forget the look on his face. I crushed him! I crushed his spirit, his fun, and his trust in me. He also knew that speech I gave him on the way to the ballpark was bullshit.

I could write many blogs with stories just like this one or worse. Simple put, I’m an idiot. I failed many times as a parent. To make things worse, I was also my sons coach for many years. I regret every time I used my son to make up for my own athletic failures. I regret every time I got angry when my sons athletic experiences didn’t go the way I wanted. I regret every time I embarrassed myself, my wife, my family, and my son.

If you can’t relate to me, and you are a much wiser dad than I was, thank you. Thank you for having proper perspective. Thank you for having self control. Thank you for not exasperating your child.

Most summer days when I was growing up you’d find a wiffle ball game being played in our front yard. The big tree across the street was a home run to left and center. The neighbors garden was a home run to right. The skinny tree was the left field foul pole, and grandmas back tire was the right field foul pole. The most important part of the field was the folded up lawn chair leaning up against the house. The lawn chair served as the strike zone. Very simply, if the ball hit the chair it was a strike, if the ball missed the chair it was a ball. In the countless number of games played on that field, not once did we have a disagreement over whether a pitch was a ball or a strike. Not one argument over balls and strikes. How was this possible? Because the strike zone never changed, it was never up for interpretation, and it never made a mistake. As a hitter we weren’t wondering what the strike zone might look like on any given day.

MLB can do the same thing. Not with a lawn chair, but with an electronic strike zone. Why should MLB continue to allow umpires to get it wrong when they have the technology to get it right? I don’t blame the umpire . It’s impossible to get every pitch right, only an electronic strike zone can be perfect.

The home plate umpire would still be an extremely important part of the game. He would have all his home plate umpire responsibilities he currently has, with the exception of determining whether or not a pitch is a ball or a strike.

Billy Ballplayer played major league baseball for 15 years. 5 years after Billy’s retirement Vic Voter is asked to evaluate Billy’s career and determine whether or not Billy is deserving of entering the baseball Hall of Fame. Vic has been giving 5 years to carefully vet Billy’s playing career. Billy’s playing career hasn’t changed since the day he retired.

Vic, we need an answer to the question. Is Billy a Hall of Fame baseball player? This is a yes or no question. This voting process seems so simple and straight forward. So why has the HOF screwed this up so badly? Because they have disregarded logic.

What’s illogical about the current MLB HOF voting process?

1. 5 years is plenty of time to evaluate a playing career. A voter should have 1 vote per player 1 time, period. The idea that a player is on the ballot for multiple years is ridiculous. Nothing changes after retirement! How can you vote no for years and then suddenly change your mind and vote yes? Did you miss something in your evaluation process? Did new information become available? If you missed something, or you changed your mind, this is an indication you are not qualified to be voting for the HOF and you should immediately have your voting privileges revoked!
2. A voter should never be allowed to vote no for a player that is obviously deserving of the HOF. The fact that someone voted no to Ken Griffey Jr. is illogical!
3. You can’t possible have a maximum or minimum number of players that can or can’t go into the HOF each year! Again, either the are, or you aren’t a HOF player.

The MLB HOF has the potential of being so awesome, but it continues to be illogical. The HOF should be a great reward for those deserving of the highest recognition of their accomplishments. However, when you continue to put players like Bert Blyleven and Bruce Sutter into the HOF you remain irrelevant.