rules Page 4 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
You’ve got a lot of balls, MLB
As long as you’ve known baseball, it’s been four balls for a walk, but it wasn’t always that way. Today is the 133rd anniversary of the Joint Rules Committee taking away 20% of pitchers’ margin for error, reducing the number of balls for a walk from five to four....
The NBA is walking a fine line with new foul rules, but Draymond is into it
The NBA finally listened to the outcry and decided to turn back the clock on the game and make things more balanced where foul calls are concerned. The league is walking a fine line and must be careful not to reel the game back too far. Some of the more prolific scorers in the league have already be...
NBA’s habitual foul seekers having a hard time finding fouls
If the world ended today (because that’s the only way the NBA season would end today, and I hate cliches, but this one is useful in this case), the NBA would finish with the fewest free throw attempts per game in the history of the league. Even though we’re only five games into the season and player...
The SEC has no idea what fines are for
In the aftermath of the garbage storm at Neyland Stadium that sent players and cheerleaders alike running from the sidelines — and saw Lane Kiffin embrace his inner Odell Beckham, Jr. — the SEC announced on Monday that the University of Tennessee would be fined $250,000 for their fans’ behavior duri...
This was your human element moment
I’m not here to claim that anyone should feel sorry for the Tampa Bay Rays. While MLB would love to position them as the plucky underdog, what they really are is the model that almost every team owner has pointed to while yelling at their front office saying, “Why can’t we win that cheaply?!” while ...
Look, I’m really trying to avoid wrestling company tribalism, but…
It would be healthier to not use WWE as a comparison point for AEW, or vice versa. One shouldn’t need the other to prove why it’s good and worthy of fanship. And you can enjoy both equally, which should make this time the best it’s ever been to be a fan (and it is!). These are the tenets I’m trying ...
Cinnamon Toast Crunch sighting in last night’s Mets-Marlins game
Alright, who had cereal mascot playing umpire in the seats at LoanDepot Stadium on their 2021 scorecard? Nobody? That makes sense....
Hey, NCAA: Let J.R. Smith play college golf already!
J.R. Smith never played college basketball. He jumped straight from high school to the NBA. Now that his NBA career is over, he’s making an effort to get a college degree. Smith will be attending North Carolina A&T — the largest HBCU in the nation, with just over 12,700 students — which consistently...
Deadspin’s deep dive into umpire stats: accuracy and consistency are key
Umpires are supposed to get every call right to the point where they have virtually no impact on the outcome of the game. Therefore, whenever an umpire does affect the outcome of a game, people start to take notice. ...
The IOC needs to leave Raven Saunders alone
The International Olympic Committee just needs to leave Raven Saunders alone....
Phew! USWNT scores shootout win over Netherlands
With the United States tied with the Netherlands, deep into extra time in the Olympic quarterfinal — a rematch of the 2019 World Cup final — Christen Press took a beautiful pass from Megan Rapinoe, shot, scored… and then saw the offside flag go up....
Hear me out: NBA, WNBA should adopt 3x3 format for in-season hoops tourneys
Stefanie Dolson, Allisha Gray, Kelsey Plum, and Jackie Young are Olympic gold medalists now. They should also be the catalysts for a permanent change in both WNBA and NBA basketball....
All-Star Takeaway: MLB is alive, internationally supreme, and going to get better
DENVER — It would be nearly impossible for any fan to have left the MLB All-Star Game here at Coors Field on Tuesday night without feeling good about the game. ...
I for one don’t welcome our crappy new robot umpire masters
Do you remember the part in Iron Man 2 where Tony Stark was in court and the United States government was essentially trying to take the Iron Man technology for themselves and their argument was that other countries were developing the same technology, then Stark hacked the monitors and showed a vid...
MLB’s must-see show is Tatís Jr, not Shohei Ohtani
With Shohei Ohtani mania running wild, it’s hard for anyone to think there is a bigger star in MLB America than him....
A new HR king declines possible crown, for now
Is this like when LeBron James opted out of the dunk contest early on in his career? Maybe....
The Golden Knights sure know how to lose, just like the tourists they’re built around
It’s no secret that Las Vegas is built on losers. They don’t construct a new hotel per week because everyone goes there and takes down the blackjack tables. It’s a town with a foundation on losing. You lose, they win....
All this ‘sticky stuff’ talk has gotten out of hand
Tyler Glasnow isn’t wrong that Major League Baseball has done a poor job in executing its crackdown on sticky stuff....
If MLB wants to fix what’s wrong, all it has to do is watch the college game
Dallas Baptist University is playing the University of Virginia in a win-or-go-home Super Regional game right now, and something I haven’t seen in a while just happened — a runner got on first, stole second, then the batter hit a fly to deep right that allowed the runner to move to third. What is th...
HEAR ME OUT: The infield fly rule is dumb and needs to be done away with
Last night’s Astros-Red Sox game had everything. There was a divisive fan moment before the game when a kid called Alex Bregman over under the guise of wanting to get a picture only to pull the rug out from underneath him and call him a cheater. There were six lead changes — more than any game since...