On defensive fouls, the offense should always have the option of keeping the ball and resetting the shot clock. It's boring as hell when the last 90 seconds of a game takes 15 minutes, with players milling around coaches and the foul line instead of, you know, playing.

Though it does provide opportunities for lots of crowd shots on TV, so there's that, I guess.

Nothing to do with flopping, but anyone who thanked Joan Jett for saving rock and roll can take it back. She's shilling for Cadillac now.

Hmm... Led Zeppelin went commercial for Cadillac too. Is this like the old "we know what kind of person your are, we're just negotiating the price" joke? Too much integrity to sell out for Chevy.

I would submit that the charge against cheating by diving/flopping hasn't worked yet in any of the other sports where it's been tried. The honchos at FIFA talk about getting diving out of soccer but woe unto the referee who actually has the cajones to deal with it. And that's a sport with 22 players against one referee and his two assistants. And again those players are way faster and can move the ball farther and faster than any referee can hope to really keep up with.

The NHL says that they are trying to work on the diving too, but these days they are so focused on the hooking and interference that the divers are being rewarded for the time being. You see a penalty for diving once every 3 or 4 games and you also get a penalty call to other team at the same time so they end up being offsetting. Why not give the diver a penalty but not give the other guy the hooking call?

I suppose when there is so much money at stake and winning at all costs is celebrated there is no such thing as sportsmanship or respect for "the game" left anymore.

On your other topic, the father of my college roommate played for the Browns and the Steelers in the 50s and early 60s. He had a massive championship ring on his hand to prove it. And he also had lots of trouble walking to prove it too. The poor guy's knees were pretty much wrecked. And in those days the protective equipment was nowhere near what it is today and neither was sports medicine.

In response to your line:

"We know all this."

I have to disagree. I've always known that it takes quite a toll on some players. But I didn't know the extent of the physical devastation.

Two recent articles were very difficult to read.

An excellent article on the 1985 Bears which sounds like it covers ground similar to the 49ers article called 'Glory can be costly':

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/cs-070127bearsfeech,1,6028414.story?coll=cs-bears-headlines

The other was an article in ESPN the magazine about Andre Waters. He recently committed suicide. The article talks about the impact of concussions on his brain and the horrible effects it had on his post football life. In his early 40s his brain tissue was similar to that of someone in his 80s.

I think it is crucial that these articles as well as the articles such as yours today be published. It is exposing moral dilemma that will eventually be impossible to ignore.

Bravo King!

Great operatic voice on the sham that is NBA officiating. The worst officiated game in the world (way beyond soccer!). Although I would say the officials are fickle, as well as "outmanned". The general sports fan can readily see the outcome of a roundball game is heavily influenced by the likes of Steve Javie and his ilk. Sad that a game with such stunning athletic talent is reduced to a comic opera!

Cheers.

Glenn A is right that FIFA has not been able to eliminate diving from the sport, but at least referees have the ability to punish "simulation." Why not give NBA refs a similar tool?

I also disagree that the problem is necessarily the number of referees. The problem is that pro athletes in all sports today are so fast and so strong.

If they make new flop rules retro-active, some of those old 60 win Utah Jazz teams become about 40 wins. One of those guys was flopping every defensive possession. And getting the calls.

Speaking of the Jazz, Steve Nash is now on a crusade to become the second biggest choker in NBA history next to John Stockton. The two combined now have nearly 30 years played, many with 50 plus and 60 plus victory high-seeded teams, and no rings.

!. Fifteen folks on a hardwood court

Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of thump...

2. Is the NFL Union contributing anything to the old guys? If the current players contributed, maybe a percent or two of their salaries, maybe the owners would match.

I'd propose two remedies for flopping. One, review game tape and assess technical fouls after the fact. This practice might not do much to penalize a flop during the game, but it will act as a deterrent if a sufficient number of techs add up to a one-game suspension (sort of how yellow cards add up in soccer).

Two, quit calling so many goddamned charges, which seems to be a major, if not the primary, outlet for flopping in basketball (unlike in soccer, in which diving, or "simulation," is typically done by an offensive player who has been dispossessed). Raise the bar for a charge such that a defensive player really has to get mauled by an offensive player to get the call. That would prevent defenders from turning the charge from a punishment against an out-of-control offensive player into a purposeful defensive tactic by which a defender plays for the charge by sliding in under a player driving to the rim, jumping out from behind a pick, etc. In this respect, The NBA has become increasingly similar to college basketball, which has let drawing a charge become an established defenseive maneuver such that players routinely dart in front of dribblers even after they have jumped and shot or passed. It's dangerous, and it's also not very enjoyable to watch in my opinion because it hinders the offense while allowing the a team to avoid actually playing defense by laying the game in the lap of the officials, which rarely makes for a better sport.