Category Archives: Sports

SHOULD ONLY STARS GET CALLS AT THE END OF A GAME?

SHOULD ONLY STARS GET CALLS AT THE END OF A GAME? The article about Kevin Love not getting the free throws at the end of a game reflects a common assumption that referees treat stars better than they treat other … Continue reading

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THE NBA ACKNOWLEDGES THAT A CALL AT THE END OF A GAME WAS WRONG.

THE NBA ACKNOWLEDGES THAT A CALL AT THE END OF A GAME WAS WRONG. As reported in this article by Jon Krawczynski, the NBA has acknowledged that the referees made a mistake in the last seconds of a game. The … Continue reading

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REFORM—REDUCING COLLISIONS AT HOME PLATE.

REFORM—REDUCING COLLISIONS AT HOME PLATE. I have posted several times, beginning here, on my long-held belief that blocking the plate in baseball ought to be eliminated. I had thought that any change in the rules was unlikely, but this article … Continue reading

Posted in Baseball, Sports | 1 Comment

MY FAVORITE MVP INJUSTICE.

MY FAVORITE MVP INJUSTICE. My favorite MVP injustice is the American League MVP award for 1984. It should have gone to Alan Trammell, the Detroit Tiger shortstop. Instead, it went to the Tiger closer Willie Hernandez, who saved 32 games … Continue reading

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MVP—AN AWARD TREASURED BECAUSE NOBODY KNOWS WHAT IT MEANS (COMMENT).

MVP—AN AWARD TREASURED BECAUSE NOBODY KNOWS WHAT IT MEANS (COMMENT). Once more, there has been a debate over which of two great players—Miguel Cabrera or Mike Trout—deserves to be the Most Valuable Player in the American League. In both 2012 … Continue reading

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COMPETITIVE HUMAN TOWERS.

COMPETITIVE HUMAN TOWERS. I get a kick out of the games that people have invented, and the Wall Street Journal seems to be interested in them also. In the United States, there are cheerleading competitions, in which the competitors from … Continue reading

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WHAT KIND OF BASKETBALL REFEREEING WOULD I WANT?—MOVING SCREENS (COMMENT).

WHAT KIND OF BASKETBALL REFEREEING WOULD I WANT?—MOVING SCREENS (COMMENT). The problem with referees having discretion in making a foul call is that players and fans cannot know what the rule is. All three referees at a given game should … Continue reading

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WHAT KIND OF BASKETBALL REFEREEING WOULD I WANT?—TAKING THE BALL OUT OF THE BASKET. (COMMENT).

WHAT KIND OF BASKETBALL REFEREEING WOULD I WANT? TAKING THE BALL OUT OF THE BASKET. (COMMENT). Dick Weisfelder commented here on my post about this year’s announced plan to have stricter application of the rules in college basketball. Dick’s comment … Continue reading

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CALLING MORE FOULS IN PRO BASKETBALL.

CALLING MORE FOULS IN PRO BASKETBALL. Steve Kerr, announcing a recent preseason professional game, commented that refereeing is an art—perhaps 400 fouls could be called in a game and the referee has to use judgment on which ones to call. … Continue reading

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CALLING MORE FOULS IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL.

CALLING MORE FOULS IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL. College basketball is experimenting with an approach I have long wanted. The approach is unpopular with a lot of basketball people, and I do wonder whether the experiment can last a whole year. In … Continue reading

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