Not many people value foot speed like I do, having constantly been trying to improve my attribute in that category for years. But I can't be the only one that has to wonder about the purpose of foot races. Jamaican track & field monster Usain Bolt set multiple world sprint records last week, beating out some other fast people running a straight line. I simply ask, "Why?"
There should be a purpose for running. Getting from point A to point B is fine, but it should be for a reason like catching a ball or defending a goal. Simply to beat the next guy (or in Bolt's case, the clock) seems a little pointless to me. So what should these world class sprinters do with their speed? If they don't have the skill sets to play established professional sports, then I propose my own: tag. A Professional Tag League.
The rules would be simple. There would be an enclosed space, say.... eighty meters by eighty meters (I use meters because this sport would be played internationally). At its most basic, it would be an open area without obstacles or barriers of any kind. This would allow for little kids to get accustomed to the game. Things like ledges and launch ramps could be discussed for future seasons. The gameplay itself would be simple. Five players enter. One is randomly selected to be "It". The basic game of Tag ensues, in which this player attempts to touch another person, a "Not It". Here's a picture to illustrate:
No replay will be needed because each competitor would be wearing gloves that when contacted with another player's full body suit, would produce an unmistakeable reaction (perhaps some sort of slight electric spark?).
Each round lasts for two minutes. Time is kept on how long each player is It. There will be five rounds, so each player gets a chance to starts out as It. At the end of the five rounds, whichever player has the least cumulative time as It wins. As far as technicalities go, we can either go No Tagbacks (can't tag the person that tagged you for a predetermined time), or incorporate freeze tag rules where the tagged player must remain in place for five seconds. In cases of tied times (which would not be too uncommon as we would calculate time to the second, not millisecond), there would be a sudden death footrace.
No I kid, we would simply have lightning rounds made up of two sessions each. Each session will last up to thirty seconds. Finalist A will have the chance to tag Finalist B to stop the clock. Reset, and then B will have the chance to tag A in less time to win. A tie would result in another round. If both reach the thirty second limit, another round will be played until a winner emerges. In the case of more than two winners after the initial five rounds, player A could tag either player B or C to stop the clock, and there would be three sessions instead of two per each round. Perhaps the field will be shrunken to seventy meters by twenty meters for these sudden death rounds.
Despite this sounding like something that would be shown on Spike TV, I honestly see this becoming the World's Game. I'm unsure if team play is a possibility, nor if one could have more than one player from each country during the Olympics. But think of the possibilities such a game holds! Let's finally give these sprinters something to run for.
Image from AP.
There should be a purpose for running. Getting from point A to point B is fine, but it should be for a reason like catching a ball or defending a goal. Simply to beat the next guy (or in Bolt's case, the clock) seems a little pointless to me. So what should these world class sprinters do with their speed? If they don't have the skill sets to play established professional sports, then I propose my own: tag. A Professional Tag League.
The rules would be simple. There would be an enclosed space, say.... eighty meters by eighty meters (I use meters because this sport would be played internationally). At its most basic, it would be an open area without obstacles or barriers of any kind. This would allow for little kids to get accustomed to the game. Things like ledges and launch ramps could be discussed for future seasons. The gameplay itself would be simple. Five players enter. One is randomly selected to be "It". The basic game of Tag ensues, in which this player attempts to touch another person, a "Not It". Here's a picture to illustrate:
No replay will be needed because each competitor would be wearing gloves that when contacted with another player's full body suit, would produce an unmistakeable reaction (perhaps some sort of slight electric spark?). Each round lasts for two minutes. Time is kept on how long each player is It. There will be five rounds, so each player gets a chance to starts out as It. At the end of the five rounds, whichever player has the least cumulative time as It wins. As far as technicalities go, we can either go No Tagbacks (can't tag the person that tagged you for a predetermined time), or incorporate freeze tag rules where the tagged player must remain in place for five seconds. In cases of tied times (which would not be too uncommon as we would calculate time to the second, not millisecond), there would be a sudden death footrace.
No I kid, we would simply have lightning rounds made up of two sessions each. Each session will last up to thirty seconds. Finalist A will have the chance to tag Finalist B to stop the clock. Reset, and then B will have the chance to tag A in less time to win. A tie would result in another round. If both reach the thirty second limit, another round will be played until a winner emerges. In the case of more than two winners after the initial five rounds, player A could tag either player B or C to stop the clock, and there would be three sessions instead of two per each round. Perhaps the field will be shrunken to seventy meters by twenty meters for these sudden death rounds.
Despite this sounding like something that would be shown on Spike TV, I honestly see this becoming the World's Game. I'm unsure if team play is a possibility, nor if one could have more than one player from each country during the Olympics. But think of the possibilities such a game holds! Let's finally give these sprinters something to run for.
Image from AP.
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