Having worked FBS football for a respectable amount of time (14 seasons), and Texas HS football (under NCAA rules, with a bucket of ‘exceptions’) for 48 seasons (so far), as well as minor league (American Association) professional baseball, NCAA baseball, ASA softball (fast and slow pitch), NFHS baseball and basketball (Texas uses NFHS for everything but football), and even dabbled in soccer briefly, I can tell you that American football is by far - by far - the most complex set of RULES in existence. Over the 52 years that I have been involved with football officiating, the NCAA Rules Book and Interpretation Book have grown from being about 1/4” thick (combined) to 9/16” thick, i.e., more than twice as much rule info as in 1972. And that is not to mention the directions provided by four different Sec-Eds that have developed the rule language (to suit the wishes of the Rules Committee) over that same period of time, via ‘bulletins.’ Most of the bulletin items have been turned into rule langauge, but not all; yet, they still survive, and we are expected to know them.
By comparison, baseball rules are quite simple. Yes, the complicating factors in baseball are associated with physical contact between players, and when non-players become involved in the action. The former requires getting a good look at the action, and using good judgment, but the rules themselves are fairly simple. As far as spectator interference, all but the lowliest of playing fields can be configured to keep spectators far enough back from the fences to eliminate interaction with the ball over the field of play - even for some distance (at least an arm’s length) back from the fence. Something baseball at all levels should require.
Let’s talk about NCAA blocking below the waist. Could there be a more complicated RULE? Nothing like it in baseball. Nothing like it in basketball. How about offensive formations? Shifts? False Starts? Defensive movements to cause a false start? Substitution? 10-second subtractions? Starting the clock on the snap or the referee’s signal? 40 second play clock or 25 second play clock? On and on and on. (I haven’t even mentioned penalty enforcement.)
Oh, have you heard about the NFL’s new kickoff rules? And how they will officiate it, mechanically? Whooo dogggy. And then, if they choose to onside kick, it goes back to current rules and mechanics. (Yes, they have to declare when they will attempt an onside kick.) So, the officials have to remember the “old way,” and the “new way.” What a zoo. That’s like, in baseball, if the batter could only bunt if he declared that before his at-bat began. Talk about changing the game, and increasing the complexity…
Baseball has changed so, so very little in 100 years. OK, the DH. Now the pitch clock (to satisfy TV - don’t get me started). And now replay. (And, sadly, soon, fully electronic ball/strike calling - starting in MLB, but you can be sure it will get to HS, in time.) But, the basics of the game have remained. Hit the ball. Run the bases. Catch the ball. Throw/pitch the ball.
Instant replay has changed everything. And now that gambling has become embedded in professional AND amateur sports, the scrutiny of officiating decisions has moved from whether the ruling was correct or incorrect, to whether it affected the preferred outcome of the game. (Deny it all you want, but that is what is happening.)
But, I will throw this out there. Until I had a long conversation with a highly experienced golfer and golf coach, I had no idea that golf rules were as complicated as they are. They are so course-dependent, it is mind boggling. Still not as complicated as American football, but ‘second’ on my list.
