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    Pointless things in sport...

    ...to the casual viewer:

    Scrums in Rugby League.

    #2
    Conferences between pitcher and catcher to 'get their signals straight'.

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      #3
      Originally posted by johnr View Post
      ...to the casual viewer:

      Scrums in Rugby League.
      Well, I'm a casual view when it comes to league, and I've never thought that. Even though they may be uncontested, they obviously free up space immediately afterwards by requiring six players per side to be concentrated in one area of the pitch.

      Tennis players toweling down after every point/stopping for a drink after one game/stopping for a drink mid tie-break. Oh, and bouncing the ball more than a couple of times prior to serve.

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        #4
        Football's experiment with extra assistant referees on behind the goalline.

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          #5
          VAR

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            #6
            The time it takes in cricket between announcing when a pitch inspection is going to happen and the pitch inspection happening. And then the time between the pitch inspection and the restart.

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              #7
              I genuinely can’t watch tennis because of the bouncing/towelling down thing. Something about that OCD type behaviour triggers something similarly latent in me.

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                #8
                Originally posted by johnr View Post
                ...to the casual viewer:

                Scrums in Rugby League.
                Scrums in Rugby Union. When was the last time you saw a straight put-in (although I am aware that the law changed a bit recently)?

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Sporting View Post

                  Scrums in Rugby Union. When was the last time you saw a straight put-in (although I am aware that the law changed a bit recently)?

                  Not pointless exactly, but they seem to take an age to set up and then almost always collapse or someone does something wrong, meaning the process starts all over again.

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                    #10
                    Football has a whole theatre of pointlessness. The manager's assistant getting out the tabletty thing and explaining at length to the 3rd sub exactly what is required, in the 93rd minute of a 3-0 win. And ... oh never mind, it'll just be another rant about the modern game, at least in the upper echelons.

                    Anyway, the toss in sport is a particular event with a great range from vital to irrelevant. It could decide the winner (literally, back in the day, and theoretically still), it could give a huge advantage (first use of the pitch in cricket), or it could seem entirely pointless. I don't know enough about tennis to know how much serving/receiving first really matters, but certainly in football the pre-match toss has become like one of those ceremonies that open Parliament or give mayors something to do, a tradition kept on long after its original importance has faded.

                    Occasionally the captain will almost look surprised when they win, and have to make a decision. Everything else was meticulously prepared, but not this. I think they should choose to change ends every time, as used to happen a lot (and still does at lower levels with slopes and wind etc). They rarely do now.

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by johnr View Post
                      ...to the casual viewer:

                      Scrums in Rugby League.
                      Or just rugby league

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                        #12
                        Olivier Giroud at the 2018 World Cup.

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by ooh aah View Post

                          Or just rugby league
                          I've been enjoying the Beeb's coverage of the Challenge Cup, hence the OP. Just don't get the scrum. Also agree with Sporting's take on the Rugby Union scrum. What we need is some sort of centrist alternative that the whole country can unite behind.

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                            #14
                            One point conversion in American Football. Hardly ever misses (anyone know the, er. percentage conversion rate)?

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                              #15
                              Organisations' rankings in professional boxing. In fact professional boxing organisations full stop.

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                                #16
                                Originally posted by Sporting View Post
                                One point conversion in American Football. Hardly ever misses (anyone know the, er. percentage conversion rate)?
                                Hmmm, making it two or nothing would be interesting...

                                They increased the distance for one-point coversions a few seasons ago and it did drop the rate down to around 93%. What's curious is that the success rate when going for two extra points has crept over 50%; so the expected points is greater for that option.
                                Last edited by Kevin S; 12-06-2019, 10:44.

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                                  #17
                                  High fives between all or most of the players after just about every point won in volleyball matches.

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                                    #18
                                    But it seems like the shift is happening naturally anyway
                                    https://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...=.aeaa5f055db0

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                                      #19
                                      Originally posted by Sporting View Post
                                      High fives between all or most of the players after just about every point won in volleyball matches.
                                      This. I walk along the beach most days, past the volleyball court, and it sometimes seems that the players use more energy walking around the court high-fiving than actually playing the game.

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                                        #20
                                        Same with free-throws in the NBA. Score one point, finger tap everyone within a ten foot radius. Score second point, repeat. Drives me nuts.

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                                          #21
                                          Originally posted by tee rex View Post
                                          Anyway, the toss in sport is a particular event with a great range from vital to irrelevant. It could decide the winner (literally, back in the day, and theoretically still), it could give a huge advantage (first use of the pitch in cricket), or it could seem entirely pointless. I don't know enough about tennis to know how much serving/receiving first really matters, but certainly in football the pre-match toss has become like one of those ceremonies that open Parliament or give mayors something to do, a tradition kept on long after its original importance has faded.
                                          Weirdly Cricket, where it matters a lot, is one of the few sports to do away it, at least for some games. County cricket mathces these days are done without a mandatory toss. Rather, the visiting captain is offered the option of fielding first. If they take that up, there is no toss. If they decline, a toss happens. Some have suggested bringing this in to Test cricket for similar reasons - it counteracts the advantage the home side has in preparing the pitch.

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                                            #22
                                            Jump balls in basketball (abolished in the college game)

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                                              #23
                                              In 50-over one day games, what about splitting the innings? 25 overs each side then start again where they were (ie at 120 for 3, same batsmen come out and carry on?). Would that be fairer re conditions and would it work?

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                                                #24
                                                Originally posted by Rogin the Armchair fan View Post
                                                In 50-over one day games, what about splitting the innings? 25 overs each side then start again where they were (ie at 120 for 3, same batsmen come out and carry on?). Would that be fairer re conditions and would it work?
                                                I quite like the idea but partnerships in progress would lose momentum.

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                                                  #25
                                                  One wonders if batsmen would consciously become more aggressive in overs 20-25,/which wouldn't be a bad thing.

                                                  Would be worth trialing, rather unlike The Hundred.

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