Pet peeve: Full-body swimsuits.
In watching Game 5 of the Celtics-Magic NBA playoff series, it struck me again how basketball is a free-flowing, back-and-forth game for 47 minutes, and then grinds to a halt in the final minute. Foul. Timeout. Another foul. Another timeout, and so on. In Game 4, there was a five-minute stretch at the end with 4:50 of non-action and commercials, with one 10-second play sandwiched in-between.
Too many timeouts and too many fouls in basketball are two of my sport pet peeves. Those irritating things found in all sports that help diminish enjoyment. And I know that every sports fan has his own list, so I’d love to see them. But first, some more of mine:
Basketball: Excessive timeouts per team. I would limit teams to one timeout each in the final minute. Don’t slow down a fast-paced game just to appease control-freak coaches.
NFL: The overtime rule. Give each team a possession.
College football: The BCS. Blow it up and have a playoff.
Baseball: Pitchers who take forever to throw and batters who adjust every piece of clothing and equipment before stepping up to the plate. Put these guys on a clock.
Media: Anything Fox broadcasts, especially if Joe Buck is the announcer. Who did he sleep with to keep getting all the high-profile jobs? … ESPN’s regular obsessions (Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Terrell Owens, Brett Favre) that suck the air out of all other sports news when they’re happening.
Hockey: Most Sun Belt teams. It’s a cold-weather sport. Contract the league and have the playoffs done by May 15.
Swimming: The full-body swimsuit. For obvious reasons.
Those are just a few of my least-favorite things in sports. What are yours?
on May 13th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
People that whine too much.
on May 13th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
basketball shorts that reach down to the mid-calevs. I don’t even like basketball but that look is so bad. Bring back the 70s short shorts.
on May 13th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
College football: weak non-conference schedules; BCS; too many meaningless bowl games
College basketball: the 65th team in the Big Dance; the possession arrow.
General: fake grass in outdoor stadiums; fans of college teams who are neither students nor alumni saying “we” when refering to said team.
on May 13th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
part 2
Swimming: full-body suits
General: homophobic players & fans
on May 14th, 2009 at 12:51 am
CFL: The “Rouge” - if you miss a field goal or simply kick the ball through the endzone, you get a single point. Some people say it’s a part of CFL Heritage and Tradition and is what makes it special… I say it’s ridiculous as you reward failure.
Heaven help me if a Grey Cup is one by a rouge.
on May 14th, 2009 at 1:12 am
ESPN.
on May 14th, 2009 at 2:34 am
why do male beach volleyball players wear so much clothing while the women wear so little ? such a shame to hide the great bodies under too much fabric
on May 14th, 2009 at 5:02 am
Ice hockey, all that bashing…so Neanderthal men
Soccer, all that hugging and kissing…it’s so girlish and ridiculous
on May 14th, 2009 at 5:27 am
the no contact with umpire rule in AFL, if you don’t want to be touched stay out of the play ump!
on May 14th, 2009 at 7:08 am
NFL: punters that refuse to try and pin teams deep by kicking it out of bounds (the old coffin corner) and instead try to drop it and hope a teammate downs it inside the five. The lack of a rookie salary scale ala the NBA. Oh, and Eagles fans.
NHL: the fighting.
NBA: agree 100% about the end of games. And add the fact that teams can call a timeout and then get to take the ball out at midcourt and the preferential treatment given to stars. If it’s a foul against the 11th man, it’s a foul against Lebron or Kobe.
MLB: all the situational pitching changes and the lack of a salary cap.
Golf: the morons who scream “get in the hole” everytime a golfer swings a club.
Sports in general: fan behavior at the games, the ridiculous amounts of money athletes make, the renegotiating of contracts and players holding out while under contract.
on May 14th, 2009 at 7:18 am
Jeff Van Gundy whenever he is near a microphone, TV and an NBA game.
on May 14th, 2009 at 8:32 am
ESPN announcers trying to call a soccer game while setting in front of TV in a studio in New York when the game is being played half way around the world.
on May 14th, 2009 at 8:54 am
I hate the last two minutes of NBA games too, but how do you fix it? By running the clock during free throws?
In baseball, I hate the variability of ball and strike calls, depending on what the umpires define as the “strike zone.”
Why not employ technology for ball and strike calls?
on May 14th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Full body swimsuits, jammer swimsuits, board shorts for male beach volleyball players
on May 14th, 2009 at 9:50 am
NFL and college football: Black pants, especially worn with black jerseys. The NO Saints are guilty IMO - stick to the gold pants!
And I have to agree, the last minute or so of basketball games feel like eternity with all the timeouts! The skirts- ahem, long shorts in hoops also need to take a hike. They don’t need to be really short either, I just don’t wanna see guys wearing bottoms the same length as Kathie Lee’s!
on May 15th, 2009 at 2:36 am
Americans calling all their domestic championship winning teams “World Champions”. Unless you are competing on the world stage, you cant be world champions!
on May 15th, 2009 at 8:22 am
Jon Miller and Joe Morgan from ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. Worst in any sport.
Stuart Scott
Pitching from the stretch vs the wind-up. Sorry, but it all looks the same to me.
Loose interpretation of “travelling” in the NBA. I watched Lebron start from beyond the paint and never dribble once on his way to the basket. He should have been credited with a couple of rushing years.
$10 beer
on May 15th, 2009 at 10:59 am
*rushing yards. Sorry.
on May 15th, 2009 at 11:12 am
People who want to take the human element out of the strike zone in baseball, and those who want to speed the game up - it’s beautiful just the way it is in.
on May 15th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Commercials before AND after kickoffs in the NFL.
NBA refs not making calls on star players.
on May 16th, 2009 at 7:36 am
NFL - overtime, play another quarter!
I find it hard to believe that Basketball and Football (both American) get a bad reputation for fighting when in Hickey players are allowed to fight. Go figure!
on May 17th, 2009 at 8:09 am
Referees in football who rush to spot the ball at the end of a half. Aren’t referees supposed to be neutral? Instead, they aid the offense by rushing at the end, and, thus, breach their neutrality. They don’t rush to spot the ball after every play so why should they rush at the end of the game?
on May 17th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
1) Brent Musberger
Kurt Warner and his wife
2) Announcers that think we tune into the game to listen to them yak ad naseum about how much they think they know about everything
3) Brent Musberger
4) Soccer-haters
5) The BCS
6) Full body swim suits
7) Brent Musberger
9) Brent Musberger’s mom and dad
10) Poker as a sport? What’s that? When are they going to start broadcasting the Canasta Cup and the Euchre Bowl?
on May 18th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
I have a couple peeves:
Baseball- We don’t need to go back to the 1950’s when 90% of starting pitchers finished the game, but perhaps a cap on pitching changes in an inning. Teams should only be allowed one pitching change per inning except when a player is injured.
Baseball- Uniform structure. Teams should wear white home uniforms and gray travel uniforms. I went to a Mets/Braves day last week and both teams wore dark tops. It looked like little league.
Baseball- TV/Radio This sneeze was brought to you Robitussin. Ummmmmm please!!!
Hockey- First round of playoffs 5 games. Other series should be game/game/off/game/game/off/game/game/off/game. The series is far to long, even devoted hockey fans lose interest when the series drags on.
NBA- Everything!!
on May 18th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Sam: The “brought to you by” sponsorship problem persists throughout every sport now. It’s not just a baseball thing.
As for the hockey series being too long, there are issues involved that would prevent the schedule you suggest: players’ health — 7 games in 10 days? for baseball, yes, but hockey is much more physically taxing — travel issues, arena availability…and that’s compounded by the scheduling for national TV purposes (example: apparently the Detroit-Chicago series is the only one NBC wants to show, so they had two Sunday afternoon games scheduled, including yesterday’s). And I daresay that not one devoted hockey fan loses interest in a series just because of an off-day or two.
on May 19th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Laugel, the guys kissing and hugging is half the fun of soccer!
on May 19th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Most gymnastic’s coverage. In most competitions, the 6 men’s events are going on simultaneously, and yet a lot of coverage is waiting for scores, and you only see the top 3 athletes (or who the network thinks is going to be the top 3). Use the split screen — and show more routines. There’s got to be something happening on one of the six apparatus.
And train the camera operators a little. There’s no need to get seasick watching a high bar routine — pan out just a little instead of having the camera go up and down, and up and down, and up….
That was satisfying — now where could I post about people who stay in the “passing lane”, but don’t pass? LOL