Sports Independence
June 29, 2021 at 9:32 p.m.
Sports Independence
By Roger Grossman-
To be more accurate, it’s the peaceful and calm moment in high school sports.
There is no other week on the Indiana prep calendar quite like this one, because this is the week known as Moratorium Week.
“What’s that?” you ask?
It’s the week of the calendar that includes Independence Day, and it’s the only week in Indiana where high school sports teams cannot do anything organized.
No practices. No team camps. No work outs. No leagues.
Nothing.
Think of it as the Sabbath Day of high school sports.
What’s a guy like me to do during such a week?
Since Sunday is American birthday No. 245, I thought I might take an “independence” approach. So, today, we are going to focus on sports-related things from which we should seek our athletic independence.
The designated hitter
America was built on the concept that your success of failure here is based on your own self. It was the land of opportunity, not the land of guarantee. It was a place where you charted your own course in life, but you were still willing and able to step forward and help your neighbor.
That accountability is the way we should look at pitchers batting. Pitchers should be accountable. If a guy is throwing around people’s batting helmets on a regular basis when he is on the mound, he should expect to hear the ball wizzing past his noggin when he is up there.
Plus, there is more strategy without the DH, and it fits better into the business model of shortening the games.
Kickoffs in football
If you have heard me or read my stuff before, you know where I am at with this. College and pro kickoffs are useless because they almost always go into the end zones for touchbacks.
And more injuries and penalties happen on kickoffs and punts than any other play.
So the Grossman Plan is that the coin toss determines who gets the ball first, and who goes which direction. The captains shake hands, and the offense and defense from their respective teams run onto the field--ball at the 20. If Team A gets a touchdown, they kick the PAT and Team B gets the ball at the 20 immediately. If Team A kicks a Field Goal, Team B starts at the 35.
Punts are still a thing, but drastically different. In the Grossman Plan, all punts are either fair caught, allowed to roll dead, go out of bounds or into the end zone. Where the receiving team catches it, where it rolls dead, where it goes out of bounds is where they get the ball.
The bonus in HS basketball
I would like to see the threshold for free throws in high school basketball change.
I think a better system would be to base the bonus on team-fouls-per-quarter instead of by the half.
On the fifth foul in each quarter, the one-and-one would go into effect. On the seventh and beyond each quarter it would change to two shots. The team fouls would reset every quarter.
Mercy rules expanded
I think the mercy rules for high school baseball and softball should have another layer added, and I wouldn’t mind other sports adding it.
For the bat-and-ball sports, the rule is 10 runs after 5 innings. I would like to add a “15-runs-after-4 innings” provision.
For soccer, which already plays with a running clock, I would say when a team goes up by 10 goals, the game ends immediately. If they get to 10 goals in the first half, they finish the first half to make it an official game.
Last minute of basketball games
I resisted this for a long time, but I think I would like to see the clock stopped after every made basket during the final minute of varsity and junior varsity basketball games.
I am tired of kids watching the ball bounce with seven seconds left in a game, knowing the other team is out of time outs and they won’t have to throw the ball in before time runs out. It will take a little while for the clock operators to get used to it, but they will. It will also challenge the on-court officials to make sure the clock stops, but they will.
Thursday NFL games
The players hate them, they generally are not good games, and the road team almost always loses. They are dumb. They should stop.
In-game coaches interviews
The coach is trying to coach. Let them work! The coaches aren’t going to give away any game plan info, and so what we get we should be able to glean from the game analysts.
I offer these changes in order to form a more perfect sports union. And honestly, these things are a lot easier to fix than Congress.
To be more accurate, it’s the peaceful and calm moment in high school sports.
There is no other week on the Indiana prep calendar quite like this one, because this is the week known as Moratorium Week.
“What’s that?” you ask?
It’s the week of the calendar that includes Independence Day, and it’s the only week in Indiana where high school sports teams cannot do anything organized.
No practices. No team camps. No work outs. No leagues.
Nothing.
Think of it as the Sabbath Day of high school sports.
What’s a guy like me to do during such a week?
Since Sunday is American birthday No. 245, I thought I might take an “independence” approach. So, today, we are going to focus on sports-related things from which we should seek our athletic independence.
The designated hitter
America was built on the concept that your success of failure here is based on your own self. It was the land of opportunity, not the land of guarantee. It was a place where you charted your own course in life, but you were still willing and able to step forward and help your neighbor.
That accountability is the way we should look at pitchers batting. Pitchers should be accountable. If a guy is throwing around people’s batting helmets on a regular basis when he is on the mound, he should expect to hear the ball wizzing past his noggin when he is up there.
Plus, there is more strategy without the DH, and it fits better into the business model of shortening the games.
Kickoffs in football
If you have heard me or read my stuff before, you know where I am at with this. College and pro kickoffs are useless because they almost always go into the end zones for touchbacks.
And more injuries and penalties happen on kickoffs and punts than any other play.
So the Grossman Plan is that the coin toss determines who gets the ball first, and who goes which direction. The captains shake hands, and the offense and defense from their respective teams run onto the field--ball at the 20. If Team A gets a touchdown, they kick the PAT and Team B gets the ball at the 20 immediately. If Team A kicks a Field Goal, Team B starts at the 35.
Punts are still a thing, but drastically different. In the Grossman Plan, all punts are either fair caught, allowed to roll dead, go out of bounds or into the end zone. Where the receiving team catches it, where it rolls dead, where it goes out of bounds is where they get the ball.
The bonus in HS basketball
I would like to see the threshold for free throws in high school basketball change.
I think a better system would be to base the bonus on team-fouls-per-quarter instead of by the half.
On the fifth foul in each quarter, the one-and-one would go into effect. On the seventh and beyond each quarter it would change to two shots. The team fouls would reset every quarter.
Mercy rules expanded
I think the mercy rules for high school baseball and softball should have another layer added, and I wouldn’t mind other sports adding it.
For the bat-and-ball sports, the rule is 10 runs after 5 innings. I would like to add a “15-runs-after-4 innings” provision.
For soccer, which already plays with a running clock, I would say when a team goes up by 10 goals, the game ends immediately. If they get to 10 goals in the first half, they finish the first half to make it an official game.
Last minute of basketball games
I resisted this for a long time, but I think I would like to see the clock stopped after every made basket during the final minute of varsity and junior varsity basketball games.
I am tired of kids watching the ball bounce with seven seconds left in a game, knowing the other team is out of time outs and they won’t have to throw the ball in before time runs out. It will take a little while for the clock operators to get used to it, but they will. It will also challenge the on-court officials to make sure the clock stops, but they will.
Thursday NFL games
The players hate them, they generally are not good games, and the road team almost always loses. They are dumb. They should stop.
In-game coaches interviews
The coach is trying to coach. Let them work! The coaches aren’t going to give away any game plan info, and so what we get we should be able to glean from the game analysts.
I offer these changes in order to form a more perfect sports union. And honestly, these things are a lot easier to fix than Congress.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092