The Sports Contrarian

This is me I suppose. The contrarian often does not know that he is one. Perhaps he/she will argue that they are/aren't one. Over the past couple weeks I've been thinking about it when a topic comes up. Do I not agree because someone else does? Am I in a good mood because someone is in a bad one? It doesn't happen often, but with recently, with certain things, I really find myself in the minority. Here are a few (sorry for the sports stuff for non sports fans):

1. Instant replay. I can't stand it in baseball. I don't think it has any business being there. Baseball is the most humanistic of all big sports. Players use to call there own outs for goodness sake. I'd even like to go back to that. "Runner! Are you out!?" Replay is more palatable in tackle football, but I could do without it there too.

1a. Commercials between the top and bottom of an inning. Baseball again. Recently an umpire called out the Yankees and Red Sox for taking too long to finish a game. Everything I read came out condemning the ump. But I applaud him. Shorten the games man!

3. Larger College Basketball tournament field. I'm for this. Open it up, I say. It's only one more game (if a field of 128). It's like folks can't do math. Hey jerk heads, half the teams are eliminated each round. JEEZE. It fires me up. And can't any of them see that 3/4th of the bracket is filled with tournament winners and top 25 teams? Let more get a shot. Why the hell not, there are over 300 division I schools. Makes the regular conference season more important.

2a. Fouls in college basketball. All this ref arguing. I'll make it easy for all you dummies out there in sports broadcasting world (and the Big East Conference); If a player has the ball and there is contact? It's a damn foul. When the ball is not in possession let everyone pound each other. But around a ball in possession? CONTACT = FOUL. (lesson over). Start calling this and you will see more fluid games or more foul outs, which would heal the aliment that is the last 2 minutes of any game (un-watchable).

2b. Bold one here. Move it to NBA line or eliminate it.

2c. Get rid of TV time outs.

4. Casinos in Ohio. It's a kind of sport. I lost on this one. The vote went through even though voters in Columbus shot it down by a wide margin. Didn't matter. A casino is coming to the largest college town in the nation. Send them kids to OSU parents!!!

5. NFL quarterback protection. Let them get hit. Puts more focus on the running game. Do you want Payton Manning throwing all game if it increases the chance of his head getting ripped off? I think not.

Anyway, I have more but I'll stop there because those are the big ones that seem to pop up most often... and I now have a headache.