My Suggestion for a NEW "National""Sport"...

26 Sept 2017 | US Navy Vet

[Dr. Sivana]

And Maxwell is a kraut, too! (Figures) (N.B.: I am descended partly from Krauts, so I have a waiver.)

[Howie66]

I remember that. He was a beast in both sports!

[Tenacious 1]

USAC Sprint Car racing and World of Outlaws.

Oh yea! There are tracks dotted all over the Midwest. If you have never done this, you are missing out. There are about 4 tracks located within 30 minutes of where I live that run races every weekend. (Can you guess which city I live in?)

For $6 to $10 dollars you can bring a cooler in and spend 4 or 5 hours watching many races. For a couple more bucks you can sometimes get a pit pass and go visit with the drivers and their crews, which are usually family. Most of these guys are hobby racers. It is a lot of fun.

[V K Lee]

A vote for underwater hockey.
https://usauwh.org/
What better national sport for a nation which owes enough debt to crush any and everything.

And, for those who are fearful of being permanently damaged from sustained injury...
There is ALWAYS the ‘Spelling Bee’

[Alberta's Child]

Good post. Complaining about the pace of baseball is like complaining about the pace of golf. The game is designed to be played slowly and methodically. There is nothing you can ever do to the rules that would make baseball as exciting as other sports where the ball is in play all the time (perhaps with the exception of going back to the days of allowing runners to be put out by beaning them with the ball on the base paths).

The gripes about long delays that extend the game are legitimate, but the only ones that I think need to be addressed involve the batter constantly stepping out of the box.

I have a completely different take than your proposed reduction to a 23-man roster. I think MLB is going to eventually go in the opposite direction and expand the roster to 26-28 players. Teams will be allowed to dress a set number of players for each game (maybe 22-24), just like other sports. This will eliminate the issue you have today where a team carries players on its game day roster even though there isn't a chance in hell that they're ever going to play in the game (the other starting pitchers in the rotation, for example).

What's going to drive this is that the whole idea of a "starting pitcher" is going to disappear. Instead of having one pitcher go 5+ innings, baseball is going to adapt to a system where a "normal" game involves multiple pitchers tossing no more than three innings apiece. The pitcher who lasts even into the fourth or fifth inning will become the exception rather than the norm.

[FreedomPoster]

Lacrosse. I’ve been saying for years that it has everything soccer does not: it has action, scoring, contact, and it requires opposable thumbs.

[Alberta's Child]

I hated hockey as a kid.

I saw my first game in person in my early 20s and I've been addicted to it ever since.

[DUMBGRUNT]

“How about rodeo? Only using Congress critters in place of the four-footed variety?”

Using spurs and a ‘hotshot prod’ to get them moving.

YES!

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

And normal girls don't play it.

Huh?

Maybe it is because I lived in areas that used to be the British empire but girls do play Lacrosse.

Really big sport in girls schools.

[IrishBrigade]

No one. Is suggesting a time clock, at least regarding the overall length of play; but merely to limit the down time between pitches...and personally, I’d like to see a foul ball with two srikes count as an out, three balls count as a walk, and any batter stepping both feet out of the box without asking for time be called out...

[Tenacious 1]

Why must a pitcher stare at the catcher for fifteen seconds to decide a type of pitch? Why should relief pitchers get to warm up on the mound after doing so in the bullpen?

Baseball is a cerebral game at many levels. I appreciate the pace. How to pitch to a certain hitter in a certain situation takes some strategy. And a hitter is, to an extent, also trying to anticipate what pitch is coming. I like to try and predict the pitch and location when watching a game. As a batter it does take a level of focus to step into the batters box.

[BeadCounter]

That’s true, that Athletic did that but as long as a sport is not majority African-American; I don’t think it will really catch on. As said earlier, major league baseball teams play 162 games a year, that’s a lot of national anthems but I still don’t think this idiocy will catch on in baseball and players like that Maxwell character will look like a joke. African-Americans make up a small portion of the MLB and I’d guess, they are a lot better behaved as well.

[IrishBrigade]

Perhaps there are no changes that can force baseball to be more exciting, but every effort should be concerned with getting the pitched ball into play in fair territory, so as to allow the game to proceed apace...extended at bats is killing the sport...

[Lazamataz]

And normal girls don't play it.

Normal girls don't play any sports. Normal girls sit prim and proper in their cotton dresses on the couch and fetch me a beer and a sammich when I command.

[Dr. Sivana]

The pitcher who lasts even into the fourth or fifth inning will become the exception rather than the norm.

Sigh. No more complete games, certainly no no-hit/perfect games.

To me, baseball was always about balancing players' strengths against weaknesses. An NFL team has free substitution and has separate packages for third and long, potential onsides kicks, etc. It gets crazy after a while, because football is about creating mismatches.

Baseball is about REQUIRING mismatches. That right fielder who hits 40 home runs may be a liability as a right fielder. The fleet footed base stealing lead-off man may have a weak arm in center field.

If baseball was about the best hitting, the best pitching and the best fielding, they would have free substitution, andeach team would only have to provide four batters, none of whom would have to field. Eight non-pitching fielders, none of whom would ever hit. Three pinch runners, none, of whom would ever have to field OR hit. You'd still want a full set of pitchers who would field, but not bat. Lefty and righty versions of both pitchers and batters would still exist.
br> You would see, phenomenal hitting, pitching, fielding and base-running, and a truly AWFUL game.

[airborne]

I agree completely!

I have season tickets for the local AHL team, even though it’s the Capitals farm team. Live hockey is awesome!

I have tickets for Saturday to see the WBS Penguins play the Bears in Hershey. And I’m anxiously awaiting the October 4th raising of the “2017 Stanley Cup Champions” banner in Pittsburgh!

[Dr. Sivana]

Maybe it is because I lived in areas that used to be the British empire but girls do play Lacrosse.

Do they change the rules to make it less of a contact sport, as Ringette does for hockey? Why don't these girls play field hockey?

I admit that there's girls' football here in Georgia. Yes, I believe that outside of some non-contact powder puff football, it is both abnormal and unhealthy for girls to play.

[Fiji Hill]

Stick with football, a uniquely American sport, played almost exclusively in the US. Most people outside the US find football difficult to understand. Being able to and appreciate football (the same can be said for baseball) is one of those things that makes us American.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

They do play field hockey.

Having never seen Americans play Lacrosse I have no idea if it is less "rough and tumble" or not but you go home with some truly spectacular bruises.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“I’m a baseball and hockey guy that turned it all off after all teams started having “pride” nights.”

College Hockey for me. But I am a die hard NY Ranger fan and will never give that up.