In the recent Euro 2020 championships, the final and one semifinal match ended in a tie score even after extra time. To resolve this, the teams each take 5 penalty kicks and the teams that converts the most wins the game. This is insane!
Suppose we extended this method to other sports. No right thinking sports fan would think that these analogous methods would make any sense.
So, here’s the Bozosphere’s solution to the soccer/football draw after regulation. Play a 10 minute period with each team fielding 10 players, rather than the usual 11. The first team to score wins. If neither team scores, play another 10 minute period, this time with each team fielding 9 players. Repeat removing players as necessary until a team scores. If no team has scored and it’s down to one player per team on the field, then penalty kicks can determine the winner. This method of resolving draws uses the standard skills of the game.
My suspicion is that games would rarely get below 7 players per team on the field.
Remember: You read about it first on the Bozosphere!
New and improved ideas!
We’re grateful to the Bozosphere’s loyal readers for the comments made in private emails that have caused us to rethink our position on the matter. Some soccer players objected to the strategy as they thought the players would be exhausted in the extra periods. However, the current setup has two 15 minute extra time periods which would correspond to the 10, 9, and 8 a side periods. By this time, a goal is likely to have been scored, so total playing time does not seem to be an issue. One reader suggested that with fewer players on a side, there would be more running, but at this level of play teams can control the tempo of the game fairly well.
A serious objection is that fewer players on the field would change the nature of the game in the way that 4-on-4 full court basketball is a very different game than the usual 5-on-5. The Bozosphere finds this a compelling argument, especially as the game would progress to 8-on-8 or smaller sized teams.
This led us to realize that penalty kicks are really a symptom of a larger problem, that of limited scoring in football in general and knock out rounds particularly as teams tend to play more defensively.
Let’s go to the record books and look at scoring this year in top division national leagues in Goals per Game (GPG)
In the group play in this year’s Euro championship, 94 goals were scored in the 36 game, for an average GPG of 2.61. In the round of 16, 29 goals were scored in 8 matches, for a 3.63 GPG, but that includes two blow out games. In the remaining 7 games, 19 goals were scored for a 2.71 GPG.
Some of those games included extra time so, the spectators enjoyed a goal less than once every 30 minutes of game time.
We at the Bozosphere are not advocating American college football scoring with 7 or more touchdowns per team or basketball like scoring.
Here are two suggestions that would improve scoring without major changes to the game.
Change the shape of the goalposts. There are often shots that hit the side posts or top and bounce away from the goal. Remembering from physics that angle of incidence equals angle of reflection, what happens is that the circular shape of the bars promotes bounces away from the goal. Suppose the post had an oval shape and the axes of the posts were set to 45 degrees, facing inward for the side posts and downward for the top. Then shots that hit the side posts or top post would be much more likely to bounce into the back of the net.
The current dimensions of the goal are 24 feet across and 8 feet high. The size 5 ball used in professional football is about 8.7 inches in diameter. If the goal size was changed by one ball diameter in height and one ball diameter on each goalpost, the goal dimensions would change by about 9% in height and about 6% in width. “Sacrilege” I hear you calling. Other sports have altered dimensions. The height of the mound in baseball has not always been 60 ft 6 inches. Baseball stadiums have only guidelines for the size of the outfield and teams have changed the dimensions of their parks to suit their batters and pitchers. Baseball has also changed the liveliness of the ball. American football has changed the locations of the goalposts. Rugby pitches have only a minimum and maximum size. FIBA and NBA basketball courts are not the same size, nor are the 3 point shot lines the same distance from the basket.
As always, the Bozosphere welcomes your comments.