The (Possibly) Worst Rule in Sports

(Well okay the worst rule is probably injury time in soccer, but really in the vast majority of games it's 1 minute for the 1st half and 3 minutes for the 2nd half barring anything strange happening. But I digress ...)

One of the goals of most sports is not to let refs determine the outcome of the game. But there's one rule in football that drives me nuts: automatic first downs given on some penalties. Sometimes it doesn't matter, a personal foul will result in a first down more often than not, but other times a ticky tack foul will change the course of a drive.

Let's a take an example. On first down the QB bobbles the snap, drops the ball and falls on it to recover the fumble. Now it's 2nd and 16. Next the QB takes a good snap, but gets sacked. Now it's 3rd and 21. Of course the offense dials up a pass play, and 10 yards down the field a corner brushes against a receiver. That's a five yard penalty -- and a first down!?! How is this in any way correct? The severity of the penalty should determine the thing for itself. There's a reason why a personal foul is 15 yards and offsides is 5. But no, the league has created a secondary value system where by some fouls are more equal than others.

The whole thing just makes me want to ...