Mostly this note applies to American football and hockey - and a little to basketball. This issue at hand is roughness, and indeed (very) unnecessary roughness.
By way of background, in soccer the "Yellow Card" is applied to cite an egregious foul against an opponent. This puts the offender on notice that one more such violation is a second yellow card and thus a red card implying ejection from the game. Thus the recipient of said card must be most cautious about future fouls. The procedure works, and it works well. The concomitant sanction is that the red card recipient is barred from at least the next game. There are only rare second yellow card violations, and the game, though rough, is a lot cleaner than it could be. Mind you, soccer is a sport of both skill and strength, of many bumps and bruises, of serious injuries despite possible sanctions.
Note, for athletes, playing the game is not just important, it is the only thing there is!!
In America football, there are numerous severe violations, notably unnecessary roughness, "clotheslining," and many others. The consequence, except in the most severe cases, is a 15 yard penalty. In severe cases there is a nominal fine - far less than one games' pay. Rough play is therefore only slightly, only somewhat discouraged. In hockey, there is a possible penalty period for serious aggression. But I do mean serious. In
American basketball, there is in effect a yellow card system, though the recipient gets four chances before the "red" is issued, and one is issued for each and every foul, not the more stringent egregious foul. Only the fourth foul is tantamount to a yellow card.
If these sports were more serious about both competitive and clean play, they would institute a single yellow card, two and you're ejected, system. (But not to remove the slot.) They do not. Rough, dangerous play is encouraged - therefore we see lots of it. Two strikes and you're out works well in the international sport of soccer - the world's premier sport. It could work well in the USA, as well.
Cleaning up the sports means imposing serious sanctions against egregious rule violators.
By way of background, in soccer the "Yellow Card" is applied to cite an egregious foul against an opponent. This puts the offender on notice that one more such violation is a second yellow card and thus a red card implying ejection from the game. Thus the recipient of said card must be most cautious about future fouls. The procedure works, and it works well. The concomitant sanction is that the red card recipient is barred from at least the next game. There are only rare second yellow card violations, and the game, though rough, is a lot cleaner than it could be. Mind you, soccer is a sport of both skill and strength, of many bumps and bruises, of serious injuries despite possible sanctions.
Note, for athletes, playing the game is not just important, it is the only thing there is!!
In America football, there are numerous severe violations, notably unnecessary roughness, "clotheslining," and many others. The consequence, except in the most severe cases, is a 15 yard penalty. In severe cases there is a nominal fine - far less than one games' pay. Rough play is therefore only slightly, only somewhat discouraged. In hockey, there is a possible penalty period for serious aggression. But I do mean serious. In
American basketball, there is in effect a yellow card system, though the recipient gets four chances before the "red" is issued, and one is issued for each and every foul, not the more stringent egregious foul. Only the fourth foul is tantamount to a yellow card.
If these sports were more serious about both competitive and clean play, they would institute a single yellow card, two and you're ejected, system. (But not to remove the slot.) They do not. Rough, dangerous play is encouraged - therefore we see lots of it. Two strikes and you're out works well in the international sport of soccer - the world's premier sport. It could work well in the USA, as well.
Cleaning up the sports means imposing serious sanctions against egregious rule violators.
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