Eliminating risk - ruining competition

A reprint of my Nov. 5 SlapShots column.

Members of governing bodies of major sport leagues operate a lot like politicians. They seem to develop messiah complexes, believing they can create rules and regulations that will eliminate every risk from the games they oversee.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how the National Football League is creating a sissy league through over-enforcement of roughing rules. I’ve seen a similar evolution in ice hockey with rules designed to curb fighting.

And this past weekend, NASCAR got into the act, enforcing a “no bump-drafting in the turns” regulation at Talladega. "We want to see sunshine between the cars," NASCAR president Mike Helton told drivers before the Amp Energy 500 on Nov. 1.

The purpose? To reduce the likelihood of big crashes such as the wreck Carl Edwards was involved in at the spring race at Talladega. Brad Keselowski got into the back of the 99 on the final lap and sent Edwards airborne into trackside fencing, sending debris into the grandstand injuring eight spectators.

For you non-NASCAR fans, bump-drafting amounts to nothing more than giving the car in front of you a little push. Drivers utilize the technique at super speedways like Talladega and Daytona because cars race with restrictor plates at those tracks. NASCAR instituted restrictor plate racing at Daytona and Talladega to slow down speeds after a 1987 crash involving Bobby Allison. A cut tire resulted in Allison’s car going airborne into trackside fencing sending debris into the grandstand, injuring spectators.

And yes, the two crashes were as similar as described. For those not schooled in literary devices – that’s irony.

So this year, NASCAR officials decided they needed to tinker more. We got the “no bump-drafting in the turns” edict.

The result? A really boring race and two big crashes sending cars airborne during the final laps.

Ryan Newman was involved in the first wreck. Newman got caught in traffic and was bumped by Marcos Ambrose. The number 39 skidded in front of Kevin Harvick, spun backward and went airborne, landing on Harvick’s hood upside down. Newman’s car slid several hundred yards on its roof, whacking a wall along the way.

Remarkably, Newman was uninjured, a testament to the safety innovations NASCAR has applied to its racecars. But while unhurt, Newman was also unhappy about the way the race played out. With the strict policing of bump drafting, drivers went the conservative route, spending large portions of the race going around-and-around nose-to-tail in single file.

“It's not even a good race for the fans – that's the bottom line – that's who we're trying to service is the fans. They can stand up and cheer when there's three to go with a green-white-checkered, but that's not racing. You're supposed to be racing all day long. And I think we've lost a little bit of that luster," Newman said.

He blamed NASCAR rulemaking.

“It's just a product of this racing and what NASCAR's put us in, in this box with these types of cars, with the yellow line, with no bump-drafting, no passing. Drivers used to be able to respect each other and race around each other – Richard Petty, David Pearson, Bobby Allison, all those guys have always done that. I guess they don't think much of us anymore."

And while turning most of the race into a borefest, NASCAR didn’t even accomplish its goal. There were still wrecks. Mark Martin also went airborne in a multi-car crash on the final lap. Brian Vickers said that he had no idea what the “no bump-drafting” in the corners was meant to accomplish.

"If the intent was to prevent a crash, obviously it's not going to do that," he said. "We crash as much in the straightaway here as we do in the corner."

And therein lies the problem. When you drive cars inches apart at close to 200 miles-per-hour, you are going to have wrecks. When you play a game involving violently hitting the opponent, guys are going to get hurt. When you chase a black rubber disk around a slippery surface with blades strapped on your feet and sticks in your hands, you’re going to have some fights and people are going to get hurt. That’s sports.

All of the rulemaking and enforcement in the world cannot eliminate risk. Risk is inherent in life. This obsession with making sports completely safe through ever-increasing layers of rules not only fails to accomplish its goal, it ruins the game in the process. If we’re going to strive for risk-free sport, we might as well not play at all.

Newman summed it up nicely.

"It was a boring race for the fans," Newman said. "That's not something anybody wants to see, at least I hope not. If they do, go home because you don't belong here."

Quick Shots

The Woodford County High School football team proved once and for all that it has heart. After trailing 33-14, the Jackets stormed back and made a game of it. The comeback fell short as Woodford lost 33-26, but they put themselves in a position to win the game at the end. It was the second week in a row that the Yellow Jackets have displayed a no-quit attitude. Now if they can just put that kind of effort together for four quarters, they may just be able to hand a little upset surprise to Covington Catholic in their opening playoff game.

This week I’m really not going to devote column space to the Bengals. Last week was their bye-week…

Preseason hoops polls are out. The University of Kentucky basketball team is ranked fifth in the USA Today/coaches’ poll and fourth in the AP poll. I think the rankings are a little high for a team with a new coach, a new system, and a lot of youth and inexperience.

Quote of the Week

“This team is going to be more me teaching how to win mentally, how to prepare – how to think than it’s going to be ‘here’s a drill’ and ‘here’s a play.’ We’re just so young, and they don’t know. You’re teaching everything. How to act in this situation. How to approach practice every day.” –University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari.

Puck to the head

This week’s puck flies at the head of the officiating crew at the Woodford County – Tates Creek football game for what broadcast color analyst Darrin Douglass called a “phantom” equipment penalty in the closing minutes. Woodford held Tates Creek on a third down running play, but officials called a dead ball penalty on the Commodores for a player not having his chinstrap fastened. The officials never blew the whistle and let the play run its course, then assessed the penalty and gave Creek the play over. They should have either whistled the play dead from the get-go or given Woodford the option of declining the penalty after the fact. Tates Creek got the first on the repeated third down,