While some of us prepare to set off 4th of July fireworks and others with pets figure out how to keep from getting too crazy, let’s address a few things that I might have thought about before my vacation last week didn’t have time, but I can now argue that we are in the dead time of summer.
For better or worse, here we go:
1. The NCAA has proposed changes to the rules of softball, and I, for one, can’t find much fault with their ideas for the 2024 rulebook revision.
In my opinion, the best that came out of this was to align the illegal pitching rules more closely with the world legal rules, allowing pitchers to kick their balls off the field with both feet. That will make it easier for everyone in the sport.
Pitchers don’t have to worry about running into an umpire looking for illegal pitches, and umpires don’t have to worry as much about watching their feet. Transplanting and tossing remains illegal, but jumping no longer. It should lead to a better game.
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Other important changes would include simplifying the handicap rules, adding scenarios where video reviews could be used, and reducing the “action clock” between pitches from 25 to 20 seconds. Eight other minor changes are proposed, including a doubled first base and the ability for batters to go on deck on either side of the field to avoid being drilled by a foul ball and possibly sustaining serious injury.
The only change that really worries me is the wording regarding disability, which I think will lead to more of these views in situations where they might not affect the game. That being said, I think the committee did a good job.
The changes will be voted on in August and I expect they will likely all be part of the game next year.
2. The NCAA is also campaigning in women’s basketball to crack down on flop games, which I totally agree with because it’s not a legitimate game. Violators will automatically receive a technical foul this year and the offending team will receive two foul throws.
However, can the referees properly judge this type of game? I have been convinced for years that there is a big difference in the quality of refereeing between men’s and women’s football. Do not get me wrong. There are top officials in women’s football, but there are too many underperforming zebras who pollute women’s football with bad rules of the game or personal prejudices.
If they make the flop out of play, that would be a big step up. Especially after last spring’s Final Four, when Iowa fans were enraged at losing the championship game to LSU with tight whistles that knocked star players like Caitlin Clark off the ground at crucial points.
3. I have to say that some of the Twitter populace who think they know baseball actually don’t. Not nearly.
The geniuses trying to tell Hall of Famer batsman Rod Carew that he can’t get used to the fastballs of today’s game are just plain humorous. Guys like Carew and Tony Gwynn would be constantly threatening .400 these days because they could so easily take those 100-mile heaters the other way and hit the 5.5 hole.
While on vacation last week, I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole one night and watched baseball from the 1980s. One game was Tigers at Angels. what did my eyes see Carew pulled the infamous soft-tosser Jack Morris over the right midfield wall in Anaheim and hit a two-run home run.
Good thing some of these Twitter pundits don’t actually run MLB teams.
Bucky Dent covers SIU sports for The Southern Illinoisan and also votes on the Wooden Award. He can be reached at [email protected] or at 618-351-5086.
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