It's a given in society that we need rules. Without them there would be chaos and things would quickly spiral out of control. The same applies to sport. There must be rules to ensure that games function orderly, athletes are protected and fans get to enjoy as big a spectacle as possible.
My concern is that rules in sport are starting to go mad. Like it or not, these days professional sport is all about the mighty dollar. Most sports are driven by television deals, therefore rules are now tailored to make sport as watchable as possible on the box. This doesn't necessarily mean that it's best for the sport as a whole.
My first sporting love, AFL has been butchered over the last 10 years with constant rule changes that have made some aspects of the game laughable. Don't get me wrong, there have been some positive rules implemented, but the majority of tweaks are needless and merely a way for the rules committee to justify their existence.
There are two types of rules: black and white and rules open to the officials interpretation. The later of the two are necessary, but surely must be a simple as possible for the umpires/referees, players and fans to interpret. Currently there are rules in all major sports that leave people scratching their noggins, swearing and occasionally pegging the remote at the plasma.
The disappointing thing is that the knob shiners who set these rules are former players or officials, who know and love their sports, but are too gutless to do the right thing. The fact that the AFL experiment with 3 or 4 rules every year in the pre-season competition tells me that the fat cats see our great games as a toys they can play with and manipulate until they resembles shiny money making machines. This is bullshit!
It's a sporting pastime to give officials a hard time, but lately i have began to realise that these poor buggers are trying their best to interpret the ridiculous rules that have been dealt to them. Some umpires are definitely shite on given days, but the rules they are force to decipher are shite ever day. You have to ask yourself sometimes: Is it the ref or is it the rules that piss you off? I bet I know the answer.
When you begin to follow a new sport, it's a given that it will take some time to pick up the rules and learn to appreciate the true essence of the game. I have been living in Qld for 10 years now and have grown to love rugby league, however there are still quite a few rules that I am baffled by.
To add to my confusion, when watching a game on telly, they constantly go to the "video referee" for a ruling. During the 500 replays, the "expert" commentators explain what has happened and what the outcome will be. When the video ref eventually makes his decision it quite often turns out to be the exact opposite of what we've been told. Surely this is no way to attract new fans.
It's not only the football codes that are constantly tampered with. Cricket, basketball and tiddly winks have all been molested. I have been so livid this year with some of the rules in the AFL that I've almost...almost been driven to switch off. Those who know me will know this is big, very big. I'm sure I'm not the only passionate sports lover that is incensed by rule changes in their favourite game. Repeated tweaks are putting fans off big time. I hope and pray administrators will eventually pull their fingers out of their money hungry arses and stop vandalising sport.
In conclusion: I really think we should go back in time to when the rules were at their most basic. With the increased speed, skill and technology meshed evenly with these grass roots rules, I'm sure we would end up with a spectacularly pure and watchable product that would makes angry fans like me happy once again...Tragic.
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