By Allen Bacon, The Daily Bosco
With the start of the NFL preseason this past weekend, I was reminded that it was time to dust off one of my annual sports rants.
A few seasons ago in the National Football League something happened that hasn't happened in six years.
There was a tie.
But there should never be a tie in the NFL.
There are rarely ties in the NFL because of the way that the overtime is played. If there is a tie after regulation, there is a coin flip. One team kicks off to the other team. If the team with the first possession can get the ball into field goal range and kicks a field goal...the game is over. The other team doesn't get a chance to respond.
The NFL has a superior playoff system in the postseason than NCAA Division I Football does. But the NCAA has a far superior way of resolving a tie and the NFL needs to follow suit.
In the NCAA the team starts at the opposing teams 40 yard line in the overtime period. If they score, whether it be a touchdown or field goal...the opposing team gets a chance to score too. This can go on until one team scores without the other answering or the other team scores more. This is an exciting and conclusive way to determine a game.
Even the National Hockey League has adopted a no-tie policy. I was at a Ducks game last season against Nashville. The score was tied after regulation. The teams each lose a man and skate 4 on 4 which opens up the game quite a bit and is conducive to scoring. If Nashville hadn't scored in the overtime then the teams would have gone to a shootout.
The NHL and the NCAA and the NBA get it. When you spend a lot of your hard-earned money on seeing a sporting event...you want to see some kind of resolution. You don't want to see a tie.
Now if NCAA Division I Football can go to a real playoff system then I would be really happy. I was encouraged to see Barack Obama saying on 60 Minutes he would indeed make this one of his priorities if he is elected President again. Well maybe not a priority...but at least he said he would throw his weight around on this matter.
Of course, I have not heard if Mitt Romney has weighed in on this important matter and this for me is a defining moment when selecting a President.
Sports Notes: Ties or no ties, Listen and watch NFL tripleheaders linked from Bosco Radio Sports Channel on Sundays starting in September....Today on Bosco Radio Sports there are links to Soccer, Tennis, Baseball and Horse Racing.. All live and all in the sidebar.
1 comment:
I agree, no tying in the NFL. And the NCAA approach sounds like a reasonable method. However when you factor in television coverage then they are going to want to limit contingency playtime to some modicum of certainty. As for the NHL, I could never get behind a shootout. It just seems stupid and about as logical as flipping a coin to see who wins. The next president should indeed push for legislation regarding NFL tie game reform. Oh and while he's at it, he should push for MLB to get rid of the designated hitter.
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