Every-Thing Sports

How the NCAA can make sports more fair (and fun)

NCAA.com

At my fulltime job, I do a lot of driving around when I do in-home consultations. So naturally I listen to the radio, music, or podcasts all day long. During the midday yesterday, I found myself listening to Sports Talk 790's In The Trenches with Greg Koch and ND Kalu. Listening to a show hosted by two former football players during a Monday while football season in going on is not a bad idea. However, what was a most awful idea was a call they took early on in their show. The caller wasn't a corny character or anything. He was an actual person. He didn't seem to be drunk or under the influence of any drugs either. But maybe he's on to something about making the NCAA enforce new rules to make college football more fair:

Road game noise ordinance

The caller to ITT said the NCAA should enforce a noise ordinance for all road games because it's not fair that the road team can't always hear what they're doing on offense. He was highly upset about it and made sure to let the laughing hosts know he has their number and will call them to let them know how he feels. I suggest the refs carry a decibel meter and immediately throw a personal foul flag on the fans. If they get a second noise ordinance personal foul, random sections would get ejected for every ensuing penalty! Free throws in basketball, penalty shots in hockey and soccer...you get my drift. (Extreme sarcasm here for the sarcasm impaired.)

Transfer Portal Day

The transfer portal is open and available to all sports, but it mainly effects football and basketball since they're the most high profile and highest revenue sports. I wrote a piece about UH's D'Eriq King redshirtingleaving redshirting yesterday. Since National Signing Day and announcements alike are such a big deal, wouldn't it be cool to see Transfer Portal Day? Just think about it: what if King did decide to leave and enter the portal? He's sitting in his parent's living room or a banquet hall and in front of him are three hats...you know where I'm going with this. Besides, if they were smart, the NCAA could monetize this by selling the exclusive television rights to one of their partners for a bagillion dollars. (I'm serious about this one.)

Whiffle bats and balls

NCAA baseball has long used metal bats. That distinct ping is a rite of passage to any NCAA baseball fan to hear. Much has been made about the safety of those bats. Some have even cited them as a reason scores tend to get out of hand. There's a mercy rule in Little League baseball to prevent such scores "in the interest of fairness and sportsmanship." I propose that any time the scoring differential is more than 10 runs, the team that's ahead must use whiffle bats and be pitched to with whiffle balls. Once the opposing team is back within five runs, the opposing team can go back to using regular bats and balls. Wonder what a knuckleball would look like using a whiffle ball? (Totally joking, but halfway serious.)

20 second shot clock in basketball

If the NBA uses four quarters, 12 minutes each, with a 24 second shot clock, why does the NCAA use a 35 second shot clock for two 2o minute halves? I've never understood that. Ever since I was a very young child, I've always questioned some of these things. Two 20 minute halves is cool. They don't need to go to four quarters. But the 35 second shot clock is utterly ridiculous! A 20 second shot clock is very time appropriate. They use roughly 83.3% of the NBA's standard time, so use the same percentage of their shot clock. Scoring would go up which causes viewership to go up which would make them more money. (Dead serious here. First proposed this once when I was high with some friends in college. They thought I was tripping until I did the math. That's when they knew I was on another level when it came to sports.)

One day, I'll revisit this subject in a more serious manner because I've long held onto several ideas the NCAA should use in order to improve several sports. Maybe I'll do it sport by sport. Maybe I'll do another composite article. I also have more jokes in the arsenal. Can't empty the clip all at once. I only added commentary as to which are jokes and which ones aren't after a conversation with Brandon Strange. If you don't know him, he and Josh Jordan are responsible for making sure a lot of the content you see or watch on SportsMap gets done flawlessly. Huge thanks and props to those guys for all they do. If you want to see me appear in videos expressing these opinions, hit them up!

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TEXANS OPEN ON THE ROAD

Dissecting the Houston Texans 2023 schedule

The Houston Texans open the season in Baltimore. Composite Getty Image.

The 2023 NFL schedule has been released, and the new-look Houston Texans know exactly when they will face off against this year’s foes.

There are several eye-popping details in Houston’s 2023 schedule. The No. 1 being the Texans will not have a single prime time game, at least to begin the year. There is always the possibility a game gets flexed later on, which would mean Houston is having an impressive season, but as of now, the league doesn’t believe they will.

What's missing? No prime time games.

With the NFL abolishing the guarantee that each team will get at least one prime time game, Houston did not notch even a Thursday Night game.

Houston’s first four weeks of the season will be a difficult challenge in what could be Stroud’s first month as a starter in the NFL. Facing off against the Ravens right out of the gates would put the young quarterback in a tough and hostile environment if he is a starter from day one.

Trying to contain Lamar Jackson and that offense will also be a difficult task for head coach DeMeco Ryans and defensive coordinator Matt Burke as their first challenge together with Houston. At least they have almost four full months to build their game plan against the explosive, star-led offense.

The Colts will be in a similar position to the Texans in week two in that they will be trying to find an identity early, so that matchup could make for a fun and entertaining game.

Houston’s week three matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road will be a great barometer to see how the Texans stack up against what is expected to be the AFC South’s top team in 2023.

Houston wraps up week four against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who’s vaunted defense led by T.J. Watt will cause problems for Stroud or whoever is under center for the Texans.

The schedule eases up in weeks five through nine. Houston faces off against Atlanta and New Orleans and then will have a bye week before playing against the rest of NFC South in Carolina and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

These four games in five weeks could offer the best opportunity for the Texans to come away with multiple victories in a row, as the NFC South is expected to have a down year.

Houston could have its toughest challenge of the year in week 10 against one of the AFC’s expected Super Bowl contenders in the Cincinnati Bengals. The Texans follow up that formidable test with what is expected to be their easiest game of the season — a battle against the Arizona Cardinals in week 11. There is just one caveat, there are no guarantees in the NFL.

The Texans host the Jaguars in week 13. That will be a great opportunity to see how Houston, and in particular Stroud, has grown from the early weeks of the season.

Weeks 13 and 14 against the Denver Broncos and New York Jets are complete wild cards in that both teams are led by veteran, star quarterbacks whose best days could be behind them. By this point it will be clear whether Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers have been able to recapture their magic or if they are still struggling like they did in 2022.

The Texans will not see the Tennessee Titans until week 15, which is an interesting schedule quirk. By this point, both teams will have a solid idea of who they are. It could also be the first time Stroud and Will Levis face off against each other.

Week 16’s game for Houston will be on Christmas Eve. The weather inside NRG Stadium will be frightful when Deshaun Watson and the Cleveland Browns return.

If Stroud has put together an admirable rookie season and the Texans are anywhere close to or even above .500, the atmosphere for this game will be absurd. Regardless, there will be a lot of Houston fans hoping to hand the former franchise quarterback a lump of coal in the form of a loss for Christmas.

Week 17 will see Houston play against Tennessee again. With it being the Texans’ final home game of the regular season, it could make for a fun New Year’s Eve party at NRG Stadium. Considering both teams will be just two weeks removed from playing each other, it could be a grueling, physical contest.

Houston ends its season on the road against the Colts. The final game of the regular season will offer one last opportunity for both Stroud and Anthony Richardson to put a stamp on their rookie years. Who knows, perhaps even one of them will be eyeing the postseason.

With the schedule now out, Sept. 10 cannot get here soon enough.

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