The NFL needs to change the player suspension rules.

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What part of the year do NFL coaches and general managers worry about the most? The down time of the league when players are left to their own devises. The combination of money and idle time is dangerous.

The NFL rules insures that the player has no contact with the team. The separation between team and player is supposed to be a penalty for both. But the structure and discipline of the team is exactly what players that have been suspended need most. The league keeps talking about how much it cares about the players’ health and safety. And when the player needs the team the most, the league prohibits even phone calls to team management. The league denies the type of support that can help a player get his life back on track. So what should the league do?

The league needs to change the rules to require the suspended player to continue attend meetings, training room and meals with the team but prohibit him from any field practices or games. The league could require testing on a daily basis and the team can better monitor the progress of cleansing. The structure that change would provide will help the Read more at FryingPanSports

The PED scandal is one more blow to MLB’s credibility

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Major League Baseball has umpires with impaired eyesight refusing to use instant replay.  Even when they do they get the call wrong.  Now the league faces the biggest drug scandal in its history.

 

The league is being run more by the umpire and players’ unions than by team ownership.  Every time the owners have an issue they hide behind the unions as the excuse for not being able to change things.

 

The current collective bargaining agreement provides some fairly stiff penalties for use of PEDs.  However, the league needs to regain the confidence of the public.  The only way to do that is to give the player a 100 game penalty for the first time he fails a test.  The second time he should be banned from the game for life.  That should also prevent him from being considered for the Hall of Fame.

 

The issue of inconsistent umpiring is different.  The line setters can adjust to players being suspended for PED use.  However, they cannot adjust for wildly inconsistent calling of the game.  The interest in any sport is in part due to gambling by the fans.  The first indication of the impact of bad umpiring … Read more at FryingPanSports