Thought Provoking Sports Question of the Day

[Anonymous519]

"Of all sports, which do you think is the most corrupt and poorly run?"

Boxing has a poor history of corruption, fixed fights, and involvement with the mob. But the sport has dropped from being a major sport dramatically over the years especially with the popularity rise of MMA. In MMA, Dana White's UFC may not have a lot of corruption but it surely is one of the poorest run sports today. The NFL has a lot of black eyes as does the NBA but to answer this question I would say right now it's the NFL.

 

[konradv]

How is the NFL poorly run? They got through a whole season during a pandemic with no games cancelled. What other team sport can say that?

 

[Anonymous519]

How is the NFL poorly run? They got through a whole season during a pandemic with no games cancelled. What other team sport can say that?

I wasn't referring to getting through a season, I'm talking about all the other bullshit that goes down in this league and it's too much to mention in one thread...but basically how they get away from the sport itself and allow distractions from social and political issues interfering with the sporting. JUST PLAY! Also there are issues with interpretation or rules.

 

[occupied]

Olympic sports put everything else in the shade for corruption, abuse, doping, fixing and just general mismanagement.

 

[Anonymous519]

Olympic sports put everything else in the shade for corruption, abuse, doping, fixing and just general mismanagement.

GOOD ANSWER!

 

[konradv]

How is the NFL poorly run? They got through a whole season during a pandemic with no games cancelled. What other team sport can say that?

I wasn't referring to getting through a season, I'm talking about all the other bullshit that goes down in this league and it's too much to mention in one thread...but basically how they get away from the sport itself and allow distractions from social and political issues interfering with the sporting. JUST PLAY! Also there are issues with interpretation or rules.

Social and political has nothing to do with how the league is run. You can't isolate how people feel about things and take away their freedom of speech. Don't watch, if it upsets you, but don't let a few minutes of recognition of the outside world or a banner here or there ruin it for the rest of us.

 

[Anonymous519]

How is the NFL poorly run? They got through a whole season during a pandemic with no games cancelled. What other team sport can say that?

I wasn't referring to getting through a season, I'm talking about all the other bullshit that goes down in this league and it's too much to mention in one thread...but basically how they get away from the sport itself and allow distractions from social and political issues interfering with the sporting. JUST PLAY! Also there are issues with interpretation or rules.

Social and political has nothing to do with how the league is run. You can't isolate how people feel about things and take away their freedom of speech. Don't watch, if it upsets you, but don't let a few minutes of recognition of the outside world or a banner here or there ruin it for the rest of us.

Unfortunately for today, it wasn't this way when I grew up in the 1970s. Lucky for me I got to experience that. They played FOR THE SPORT back then and ONLY FOR THE SPORT! It wasn't about money, or EGO, or social matters, they just played sports with a will to win. That is how it should be. You will NEVER see that again. If these athletes want freedom of speech or want to take a stand against something, I have NO PROBLEM with that...just do it AWAY from the sport. Sports was not created to be a platform for social injustices or other such matters.

This is my opinion and I don't expect everyone to agree but as I said, I was lucky enough to grow up with sports when it was SPORTS.

 

[Anonymous519]

How is the NFL poorly run? They got through a whole season during a pandemic with no games cancelled. What other team sport can say that?

I wasn't referring to getting through a season, I'm talking about all the other bullshit that goes down in this league and it's too much to mention in one thread...but basically how they get away from the sport itself and allow distractions from social and political issues interfering with the sporting. JUST PLAY! Also there are issues with interpretation or rules.

Social and political has nothing to do with how the league is run. You can't isolate how people feel about things and take away their freedom of speech. Don't watch, if it upsets you, but don't let a few minutes of recognition of the outside world or a banner here or there ruin it for the rest of us.

ALSO...I don't go to my office every day or on any day and start spouting off about politics, social matters, etc. I come to DO MY JOB. That is what athletes are paid for DO THEIR JOB. I wonder how many employees around the country report to work every day and make waves by taking a stand against something? These kind of issues should be left to be done on your own time outside of work no matter what your profession is. Not on the job. This is what bothers me about today's athletes. They are taking a blind eye on what the essence of sport is.

 

[DGS49]

No professional sport I can think of can compare with boxing, but NBA basketball has become almost unwatchable because of the bullshit officiating and the adaptation of rules to accommodate players who historically have simply refused to follow the rules of the game. A few examples, in no particular order...

• the abandonment of the "steps" rule when the player is dunking the ball. It is not unusual for players to take four or five steps in the leadup to a dunk, and traveling is simply not called.
• Jump balls are a joke. The players are supposed to control the ball after it starts to come down. Really.
• Since Ervin Johnson hit the scene, the old violation that was called, "palming" no longer exists.
• The prohibition of going into the Paint until a foul shot hits the rim was simply abandoned because the players universally ignored it. There was a purpose for that rule.
• Foul calls are inexplicable, and seemingly at random. Violent contact is continually ignored, as long as it is the "right kind" of violent contact; if not, then a foul will be called even with no contact at all.
• The semicircle in front of the hoop was a horrible idea and would not have been necessary if violent, injurious fouls around the basket were met with appropriate sanctions...ejections, suspensions, banishment.

The NHL has a similar problem (in my ignorant opinion) in that "incidental" contact, even if rather violent, is universally ignored by the officials, a situation that becomes orders-of-magnitude worse during the playoffs. The "Let 'em play" attitude results in the most talented teams washing out of the playoffs because thugs on the other teams just take the best players out of the action with violent "checks." But apparently the fans are fine with it.

 

[Unkotare]

"Of all sports, which do you think is the most corrupt and poorly run?"

Boxing has a poor history of corruption, fixed fights, and involvement with the mob. But the sport has dropped from being a major sport dramatically over the years especially with the popularity rise of MMA. In MMA, Dana White's UFC may not have a lot of corruption but it surely is one of the poorest run sports today. The NFL has a lot of black eyes as does the NBA but to answer this question I would say right now it's the NFL.

MMA will be a footnote in sports textbooks 100 years from now. The bloom is off the rose.

 

[candycorn]

Olympic sports put everything else in the shade for corruption, abuse, doping, fixing and just general mismanagement.

GOOD ANSWER!

Agree..

 

[candycorn]

How is the NFL poorly run? They got through a whole season during a pandemic with no games cancelled. What other team sport can say that?

I wasn't referring to getting through a season, I'm talking about all the other bullshit that goes down in this league and it's too much to mention in one thread...but basically how they get away from the sport itself and allow distractions from social and political issues interfering with the sporting. JUST PLAY! Also there are issues with interpretation or rules.

Social and political has nothing to do with how the league is run. You can't isolate how people feel about things and take away their freedom of speech. Don't watch, if it upsets you, but don't let a few minutes of recognition of the outside world or a banner here or there ruin it for the rest of us.

ALSO...I don't go to my office every day or on any day and start spouting off about politics, social matters, etc. I come to DO MY JOB. That is what athletes are paid for DO THEIR JOB. I wonder how many employees around the country report to work every day and make waves by taking a stand against something? These kind of issues should be left to be done on your own time outside of work no matter what your profession is. Not on the job. This is what bothers me about today's athletes. They are taking a blind eye on what the essence of sport is.

Their "spouting off" doesn't seem to have affected their performance much. I, too, wish that they would limit their activism to when they are out of uniform and away from the facilities. But I applaud anyone with that much to lose, willing to speak up. Its easier to cash checks and ignore the world, would you not agree?

As for the NFL allowing it to happen, if you put yourself in their shoes, here is what they see when they look at you.

Six days a week you're a father, mother, sister, brother, employee, consumer, etc... One day a week, your team is playing and you are a football fan. For that one day, they have your attention and while they have your attention, they want to address the stuff you're thinking and feeling the other six days of the week. When John Lennon was killed, they talked about it on Monday Night Football. Should they have just ignored it? It had nothing to do with sports or the game but it meant a lot to a great many people.

I don't mind it much myself.

 

[candycorn]

No professional sport I can think of can compare with boxing, but NBA basketball has become almost unwatchable because of the bullshit officiating and the adaptation of rules to accommodate players who historically have simply refused to follow the rules of the game. A few examples, in no particular order...

• the abandonment of the "steps" rule when the player is dunking the ball. It is not unusual for players to take four or five steps in the leadup to a dunk, and traveling is simply not called.
• Jump balls are a joke. The players are supposed to control the ball after it starts to come down. Really.
• Since Ervin Johnson hit the scene, the old violation that was called, "palming" no longer exists.
• The prohibition of going into the Paint until a foul shot hits the rim was simply abandoned because the players universally ignored it. There was a purpose for that rule.
• Foul calls are inexplicable, and seemingly at random. Violent contact is continually ignored, as long as it is the "right kind" of violent contact; if not, then a foul will be called even with no contact at all.
• The semicircle in front of the hoop was a horrible idea and would not have been necessary if violent, injurious fouls around the basket were met with appropriate sanctions...ejections, suspensions, banishment.

The NHL has a similar problem (in my ignorant opinion) in that "incidental" contact, even if rather violent, is universally ignored by the officials, a situation that becomes orders-of-magnitude worse during the playoffs. The "Let 'em play" attitude results in the most talented teams washing out of the playoffs because thugs on the other teams just take the best players out of the action with violent "checks." But apparently the fans are fine with it.

I couldn't have written it better myself.

I'd just add in that the NBA and WWF are the exact same sport.... The superstars do whatever they want and if you're not a superstar...you can't do anything.

Hugh Hollins--former NBA referee--admitted on the Dan Patrick Show once that there was a "star system" by which the refs would make sure that if a player was going to foul out, the sixth foul had to be a "good foul"...indicating that the previous five were open to interpretation and could be anything.

 

[lg325]

Pro sports
1. All combat sports
2. Soccer

 

[AFrench2]