Let me tell you what I don’t like

I just had to steal a phrase from talk show host Jim Rome. There are plenty of issues, players, and rules that sports today clearly needs to adjust or change. With the BCS rankings being adjusted and the scandals arising, here is a list of what I don’t like in the sports world today:

The BCS – Clearly I’m not alone here. I acknowledge that it has worked a couple times, with USC/Texas in 2006 or Auburn/Oregon in 2011. However, a playoff format is a must. You can’t tell me a computer is a better way to decide who will play in the national championship than having an eight-team playoff. You can still incorporate the bowl games in the final seven games to decide the clear cut number one. BCS, it’s time to go. I don’t like it.

Yankees/Red Sox match-ups – First let me say, as a purest, I love baseball games. However, I hate nine inning games that last four hours, which is what you seem to get when the Yankees/Red Sox meet every time in the regular season, or in their case, eighteen times per season. I mean, a four hour playoff game that goes fourteen innings would probably be a masterpiece. I don’t need eighteen regular season meetings, all of which are going nine innings and are dragged along for dramatic purposes. Furthermore, IT’S NOT A RIVARLY! It can’t be when one team has won 27 World Series Championships and the other has won 7 World Series Championships. When you have one team over a long period of time that you know is going to beat the other team more often than not, it cannot be considered a rivalry. I don’t like it.

Baseball’s home field advantage – Congratulations to the St. Louis Cardinals and their remarkable run to the World Series flag. Now that the parade is done and the smoke is gone, do people remember that these Cardinals hosted game seven of the World Series… as a wild card team? You cannot reward a second place team with a home game seven over a team who has won their division and may have the best record in all of baseball. I don’t like it. What’s wrong with best record deciding that advantage? Which leads me to my next gripe…

MLB All-Star Game – It should be and has in the past been the best of all the professional all-star games. Today, it is a joke, especially when the Homerun Derby is more popular than the game itself. Two things need to change. One, the obvious change is to get rid of the winner deciding the home field advantage in the World Series. Second, allow players to re-enter the game. Some of the best moments in MLB All-star game history have involved big names like Ted Williams, Pete Rose and Tony Gwynn. Players playing the entire game used to be normal. Nowadays, no way. But can you imagine Mariano Rivera trying to close it out for the American League and up stepping Albert Pujols, who gets to re-enter the game for one AB? This should be a no-brainer. I don’t like it.

College Sports scandals – USC, Ohio State, Penn State: they used to be associated with storied college football programs. Now they have a black eye because people have lost their values, or never had them to begin with. John Calipari, Jerry Tarkanian and UCONN men’s basketball have also stained their sport. It should not be about the money. It should be about the kids and the integrity of amateur sports. I don’t like it.

Hatred towards Duke Men's Basketball - Great coach and leader. Great kids who graduate from one of the top institutions in the US. They are great examples of how to succeed on and off the court. They know how to win (four NCAA titles in 20 seasons), know how to compete and are rarely seen in a negative light. Coach K, Jay Bilas, Christian Laettner, Grant Hill, Shane Battier, Chris Duhon, J.J. Redick: What's not to like? Why are there so many haters? I don't like it

California sports fans – Yes, I am one of these and there are probably other states that are just as bad, but I hope it doesn’t get any worse for us fans in the Golden State. In the last year alone we have seen a stabbing at the USC/UCLA football game, a shooting at a 49ers/Raiders preseason game, a stabbing at a Chargers/Raiders game, and, of course, the unfortunate beating of Giants fan Bryan Stow at Dodger Stadium on Opening day 2011. Forget the concept of banning alcohol; it’s just not going to happen. So you fans, clean it up. Trash talk? Yes. Take it to another level like beating, stabbing and guns? No. I don’t like it.

Twitter – Is it a nice idea to be able to follow your favorite athlete and have more access to them than you would twenty years ago? Sure. But do we need to know every single thing LeBron James is doing? Do we really care? This is one of those “less is more” situations. Athletes, tone it down with Twitter. I don’t like it.

The NBA lockout – Obviously, this is a tough time of year. No Kobe Bryant. No Dwight Howard. No Blake Griffin. This is the one time I feel sorry for Mark Cuban. He and his Mavericks have yet to raise their banner and host their ring ceremony. Hey players, take a vote. A full vote of all 450 players and take the 50-50 deal because I just have a feeling the worst may be yet to come. By worst I mean a full season gone and perhaps contraction. I don’t like it.

The Super Bowl in New York – New York City is one of the greatest and most exciting cities in the world. Madison Square Garden and the New York Yankees both have their place in the sporting world. However, can you picture the San Diego Chargers battling the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a few years in the coldest Super Bowl ever? Some of you football die hards love watching two teams battling it out in the sleet or other strenuous weather. I don’t blame Steeler fans or Packer fans reveling in having home field advantage, especially when you are playing a team like the Chargers or Bucs. But the Super Bowl is so big and so famous and such an enormous event. It needs to be in a dome with perfect weather conditions. It needs to be in a city like Miami or Tempe or perhaps even Los Angeles. Cold weather and the Super Bowl just isn’t a good match. I don’t like it.

Despite all of these things, we still watch sports on a daily basis. So my question for you, what don’t you like?