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News / Clark County News

Talking Points: Question of punishment

The Columbian
Published: August 19, 2011, 5:00pm

What’s the buzz from the world of sports? Here are some items that will have people talking:

1

The NFL wants to dissuade players who run afoul of NCAA rules from bailing into the league.

That, we guess, is why the league plans to suspend former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor if/when he is chosen in next week’s supplemental draft.

Excuse us if we find this silly.

For one thing, what right does the NFL have to penalize players for breaking rules of another organization? We’re no lawyers, but we think Pryor will have a good case when he appeals the suspension.

If the NFL really wants to send a message that it’s not into harboring fugitives, it should suspend and fine Pete Carroll, who just happened to take the Seahawks coaching gig before USC went on probation.

2

Seattle Sounders FC play-by-play man Arlo White sent out a tweet asking fans if scoreless draws in MLS should mean zero points in the standings. (Currently MLS teams get three points for each win and one point for each tie.)

Our answer: Right on, Arlo!

One of the hurdles soccer faces in the United States is an incentive for coaches to value strong defense over offense, believing it is hard to get fired if you don’t lose games.

Soccer would do itself a great service if the incentive to attack greatly outweighed the incentive to hunker down. So teams should not be rewarded in the standings if they don’t score at least one goal.

Follow Talking Points on Twitter: www.twitter.com/talkpoints360

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