Word: nfl
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...measures, the NFL is the most popular sports league in the country. Packed stadiums, glowing television ratings, a cool $7 billion in revenues. So why, in a league with so many smart guys at the executive table, is the NFL so darn stupid about settling games that are tied at the end of regulation? Why, in other words, is football so asinine about overtime...
...virtually every other sport, whether it's extra innings in baseball, overtime in basketball or a playoff in golf, both teams or players competing get an equal opportunity to win. But the format for overtime in the NFL is different, and inherently unfair. If the game is tied after four quarters, the teams play a 15-minute, sudden death overtime period in which the first team to score wins. Which means that whichever team wins a totally random coin toss to determine who gets the first possession has a better shot at winning the game. In fact...
...disappeared. The Jets won the coin toss and marched down the field to kick a field goal. Give New York credit for scoring, and sure New England could have gotten the ball back if its defense had "won" that particular part of the game. But why shouldn't the NFL give the Pats, and other teams like it, a chance to score too? Even a couple of NFL coaches this season have decided the the random nature of overtime can be too risky; twice so far, teams which scored a last second touchdown and could send the game into sudden...
...ridiculousness of the NFL's approach becomes clear when you think about the national pasttime. Imagine if at the end of a tied nine inning baseball game, the ump flipped a coin to determine who hits first. If that lucky team scores right away, it wins. It doesn't have to protect its lead by getting the final three outs, and the toss loser doesn't get its chance at "last licks...
...course there are a lot less injuries in baseball, and one of the primary reasons the NFL doesn't play a full 15 minute overtime is because longer games invariably increase the risk of already exhausted players getting hurt. But by not giving both teams an equal shot at winning, the league cheapens all the physical sacrifices its players make on the gridiron...