On Making Baseball a Faster Game

If baseball games take forever to play (supposedly), what is the MLB doing about it to "speed things up"?

Baseball games are not exactly known for finishing up in an timely manner. In fact when you go to any baseball game, here's the best way to know how long you'll be there: 

Yeah...well, there isn't a way of knowing.

You can make a guess, but you'll probably be right 3 out of 10 times, so you'd average the same as an average baseball player: a .300 batting average (ironic, huh?).

That's not to say baseball isn't worth watching! I will give many reasons here on ATS why baseball is one of the greatest sports ever created (but at some other time). 

Here's a story I found on ESPN about the MLB's recent pace of play changes, in order to speed up the game a little bit.

And then a vulgar and quite honest reaction from one of baseball's most recognized players, David Ortiz:

Courtesy of youtube.com

I'll talk more about this latest development in subsequent posts, but just so you have a general idea of what is going on, the ESPN article and the video above are good starters.

Be back soon on ATS!

--Jordan

Sources:

1. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12351883/major-league-baseball-announce-pace-play-rules

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1oOam2krGI

Today's "court storming"? Enough of it already!

Can we move beyond the shallow, vulgar expressions of emotion in today's version of "court storming"? 

Is it possible to get back to a more original, legitimately-inspired version of "court storming"? 

I hope that we can! At least that is what is being talked about in a lot of sports circles. You hear, "Ban court storming!," or "we need more security at college games to prevent these sort of things." Of course my favorite is Michael Wilbon's take on the issue of court storming: "Forfeit!" As in, the team whose fans storm the court should be forced to forfeit the game entirely. 

Remembering the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team

Also known as the "Miracle on Ice," no sports event stands above this one for its all-time significance.

I start off this post with a bold claim, but I think what took place in Lake Placid, NY on February 22nd, 1980 stands alone as the most incredible sports event of all time. A brief recap of the event will help make my point.

Background

Courtesy of wikipedia.org(1)

Yesterday was the 35th anniversary of the famously dubbed "Miracle on Ice." Thirty-five years ago, a young group of college athletes were brought together to compete under the world's brightest lights and biggest stage: the Olympics. This event which takes place once every four years (for the winter games, that is) invites the greatest athletes from across the world, whom proudly represent their respective countries. 

But this was no ordinary (if the term "ordinary" can even be ascribed to the Olympics) tournament of elite athletes, in particular for athletes of the United States. It had been 20 years prior in Squaw Valley, California since the United States had participated in an Olympic event on its own soil (3). What's even more interesting is that it was also 20 years prior since the U.S. Men's Hockey Team won a medal, much less a gold one, in its own event.