NCAA Rule Change Proposals: Real and Imagined

by War Eagle Atlanta on Feb 15, 2010 11:22 PM CST Comment 12 comments

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The NCAA football playing rules committee has announced some proposed rule changes, which must now be approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel. If you think that sounds an awful like trying to get health care pushed through both houses of Congress, well maybe that's overstating it just a bit, because this isn't double-secret legislation.

The biggest change comes in the way of penalties on taunting. If a player commits the act before he crosses the goal line, the penalty is assessed from the spot of the foul--negating the TD. If it occurs while in the end zone, then the same rules apply, with the penalty being assessed on the extra-point attempt, 2-point conversion try, or ensuing kickoff--depending on the outcome of a quick game of three-card Monty. The changes, which enjoy almost universal support, would take place starting in the 2011 season.

"Taunting and prolonged individual acts have no place in our game, and our officials have generally handled these rules well," said former Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, the committee chair. "This is just another step in maintaining our game's image and reflecting the ideals of the NCAA overall."

Oh really, Mike? If it was that important to you, why don't you just toss the player? Is that what Draco would have done?

Other rules changes suggested include:

Television monitors will be allowed in the press box coach's booths beginning in 2011. The home team has responsibility for insuring that coach's booths for both teams have identical television capability, complete with access to Youtube and Twitter and Holly Rowe's cell phone number.
Ending the requirement that players pants always cover the knees. Just the jock area is fine.
Eliminating the intentional "wedge" on kickoffs and punts, a rule implemented by the NFL last year. I doubt that even Acid Reign can explain what the hell that is because all I hear is wedgie...
Recommending conferences that do not have a pregame warm-up policy use a 10-yard, no-player zone between the 45-yard lines beginning 60 minutes before kickoff. Okay, what does that mean? For RV parking? No tail-gating? Special National Anthem Singing Area?
Requiring players who wear "eye black" to use solid black with no words, logos, numbers or other symbols. That will be effective next season, but not nearly as effective as requiring full-on mascara. Sissies! Seriously, they had to do something about it. Guys were trying to print War and Peace in there.

Anyone got any other rules changes you'd like to see? Okay, a few for me:

If you have a tight end line up for more than 50 plays in the game and never throw it to one of them, automatic ejection of the player. (Known as the Auburn rule) You won't be needing him anyway, or you would have done it already. Bring in a flanker.
Any player whose helmet falls off more than once in a game because he won't button the straps properly in the hopes that he will be seen on TV more easily will be ejected and forced to conduct all post-game interviews wearing his helmet.
Any offense, within two minutes of the half, must throw at least one pass per four downs and at least pretend they're trying to do something other than run the clock out.
Line the field with sensors and lace a chip into the ball. I'm tired of chains and measurements that drain momentum and lengthen the game time. Oh, and if you could get that yellow first down marker to be visible to the players on the field, that would be cool, too.
No more icing the kicker time-outs. If you have one remaining and it is the last play of the game, it will automatically be called when the ball is spotted--not when the guy has lined up. Any attempt to call succeeding timeouts will result in 5 yard penalties and more beer commercials.

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Comments

I really like the sensors and chip idea..

The only problem I see would be getting one to stand up to the pressures created inside the ball when a punter really gets a hold of one.

"An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject"-Thomas Jefferson

by KoolBell777 on Feb 16, 2010 8:27 AM CST reply actions

Another NEW Rule....

Pellet guns and ammo can be rented in the stadium. Commerical timeouts will be deemed target practice on the guy in the red hat. He will be given the ability to run freely on the field as 85,000 open fire. That should help decrease the amount of and length of TV timeouts. If nothing else it will give fans something to do during commerical breaks.

by Paratiger on Feb 16, 2010 8:46 AM CST reply actions

That completely wins...

Over any ill-conceived plans my friends I have come up with to steal the red hat from the red hat man. Those mostly just involved someone either a) streaking or b) dressing up as Aubie in order to steal it.

by KentuckyTiger on Feb 16, 2010 9:50 PM CST up reply actions

All teams should be required to suit up and play their mascot/mascots. This would be great for Auburn. Give Nova or Spirit the ball and watch them fly to the endzone. It would suck for the OSU Buckeyes or the Stanford Cardinal, but that is their own damn fault. Get a real mascot already.

by Jumpn_JackFlash on Feb 16, 2010 10:04 AM CST reply actions

West Kentucky Hilltoppers

If hip hop is dead, then it happened the day that Dilla died.
-Akrobatik

by Bestjagfan on Feb 16, 2010 4:04 PM CST up reply actions

If a player has hair long enough to where his helmet doesn't cover it all

There is no penalty for him to be tackled by it. That is the dumbest rule in football to me.

You know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in France?

by jd is legend on Feb 16, 2010 10:35 AM CST reply actions

That's a good one

RASTA tackle!

How exactly do you out-recruit the national champions in their own back yard AND cost-to-coast? (Fruedian slip intended)

by War Eagle Atlanta on Feb 16, 2010 10:47 AM CST reply actions

I thought

they changed that rule. I thought it was part of the jersey, unless it is a pull down like a “horse collar” tackle

If you are a War Damn Eagle, you can War Damn anything.

by WarDamnZach on Feb 16, 2010 12:58 PM CST up reply actions

I know what the wedge is...

…..and it’s NOT what you are thinking, WEA! Basically, you set up a wedge-shaped blocking wall for the return man. Usually, there are one or two coverage men who are better than the rest of the unit. What the wedge does is bear down on that guy. The point man hits the coverage guy, and everyone else in the wedge piles in behind the hit. It’s basically a 40 MPH head-on collision, with about a thousand pounds behind the blocking side. The coverage guy gets clobbered.

…..The point man in the wedge arguably fares worse, because he’s sandwiched between the collision and all of the guys behind him. They always made me be the point man in grade-school football, and I couldn’t tell you how many times I got the wind knocked out of me! Sometimes, it was better to “trip” and be trampled!

by Acid Reign on Feb 16, 2010 4:44 PM CST reply actions

Great post WEA! I'm still laughing.

The buffer penalty is referring to conferences who don’t have a pregame policy of allowing the teams to come out at predetermined times before kickoff for warm ups, so the players are not on the field at the same time. I think.

You play fast, you play strong, you go out there and dominate the guy you play against, and make his ass quit! That's our trademark, that's our MO as a team, aight, that's what people know us as! - Nick Saban, 2008

by BamaReturns07 on Feb 16, 2010 5:44 PM CST reply actions

here is my take on these:

The taunting penalty is crap. Why would it be a spot foul that is completely objectionable and something else to cause some serious controversy for something utterly pointless. What could they possibly accomplish with it? Hey boys, if your going to celebrate, wait until you are in the end zone to do it or taking away scores because they felt that a guy ran into the end zone funny and in a taunting manner?

Outlawing the wedge will just have coaches figure out something else that pushes the limit and could give them an advantage until other teams adopt it. Not saying that it is bad to take it out, but what is the penalty for using it, re-kick? Coaches that will use the wedge to start with will figure something else out.

The eye paint and pants issues, really? This is what you guys have come up with to justify your jobs? Both are who gives a s*** rule, do it or not, no one cares.

I thought that the pregame buffer was already set up so not a big deal.

Television monitors in the press box, interesting. This could open up some interesting mid-game adjustments. This might really open up some chess matches on the field. What was the current setup now? Were tvs optional in the press box and if the home team had one, did they have to supply the visitors one too?

I would be an Alabama fan too but I didn't go to Troy. Instead, I am an Auburn man because I went to Auburn.

by Mattco on Feb 16, 2010 6:00 PM CST reply actions