What constitutes “boring” in sports?

For too long, the pendulum has swung too far to the entertainment side. Now it’s swinging back to the fundamental side, at least in baseball.

We’ve been told that baseball without home runs is a bore. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa’s home run chase in 1998 was enhanced via steroids and an expansion-fueled dearth of good pitching. The chase brought in the casual fan who couldn’t tell an ERA from an IRA, but it wasn’t good baseball.

The MLB reacted to the public outcry of the Steroid Era by getting rid of the abusers. College and high school baseball had a different problem with their wildly inflated home run totals thanks to bats with sweet spots bigger than a Zeppelin.

But now, college baseball and high school baseball have gone to the BBCOR (Bat-Ball Coefficient of Restitution) specification bats. When the college game went to the new sticks, scoring and home run totals dropped. ERAs dropped like Enron stock as pitchers weren’t worried about a good pitch in a good spot being turned into a tape measure home run.

Bunting, hit-and-runs and defense are now in primacy. Sticking a burly slugger with a hole in his glove at first or in right field isn’t an option anymore. Speed is more vital than ever.

So forcing the return of fundamental baseball will be boring? Not at all. There’s nothing better than a well-executed hit-and-run, a crisp double-play or the game within a game between a pitcher and a speedy runner on first base.

It’s all in the appreciation of the true greatness, not some entertainment-induced love of what should be a rare play.

Now the NBA and the NFL need a similar adjustment.

The NBA exists as highlights and trades. It’s jaw-dropping dunks and clutch 3-pointers on Sportscenter packaged between boring one-on-one isolations set to bass-thumping, non-melodic droning and bored celebrities sitting courtside just to be seen.

Fixing it won’t be easy. But calling traveling more than a couple of times per game and turning off the music during play would be a great start.

The NFL has turned into the most pass-happy football league this side of the Canadian Football League or arena football. The reason? Quarterbacks can stand in the pocket with impunity thanks to rules designed to protect them from serious injuries. That’s understandable, considering the consequences of head injuries and the amount of investment teams make in their field generals. But the other rules that have turned the NFL into the arena league can be modified. Pass coverage exists in name only, as rules are so skewed to wide receivers and tight ends as to render defensive backs nearly useless. Tweak those rules and watch the passing numbers drop to more realistic standards. It’d make a 300-yard passing game a milestone rather than a shrug.

We live in a consumer-driven society where more is always better. But do you need an extra-large drink or will a simple medium do the job such as well? Take a step away from sodas and you’ll find after a break, the taste is spectacular.

There’s a serious problem with making the spectacular commonplace. It takes the extra out of extraordinary.

And what are you left with? Ordinary.

•

Steve Wilson is sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. You can follow him on Twitter at vpsportseditor. He can be reached at 601-636-4545, ext. 142 or at swilson@vicksburgpost.com.