David Friedman suggests that, instead of limiting a football team to 11 men, you allow the team as many men on the field as they’d like, with the constraint that their total weight be below some 2400 pounds. It’s an interesting idea.
Commenters suggest the related idea of limiting the total height of a basketball team to 30 feet. Then we’d find out right away how tall these players really are.
I’m not saying these ideas are perfect, but they’re interesting.
Andrew, I recall that you once suggested that instead of soccer games going to free kicks, they should add another ball to the field every ten minutes in overtime, until one team scores. (Of course, Dave Letterman had another suggestion for improving soccer: "Let them use their hands!")
As long as we're talking about goofy sports ideas, I think some football team with no prospects should hire an offensive line of sumo wrestlers to use in passing situations. I, for one, would pay to see that.
Unintended Consequences
Players would likely do many unhealthy things to keep there weight down like what has happened in wrestling.
"What do Billy Saylor (19 years old) at Campbell University in North Carolina, Joseph LaRosa (22) at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and Jeff Reese (21) at the University of Michigan all have in common? They are all dead now, victims of one of the ghastly secrets of college wrestling. All three boys were engaged in dehydrating practices trying to lose weight in order to qualify for their first college-wrestling matches."
or…
disallow bodily contact except on the player with the ball.
like Rugby, actually – which is a much more dynamic game that Am football.
D
Its an interesting idea. Being a cricket fan I am thinking how body rules may apply to cricket. Think about sachin tendulkar whoes height is 5ft 4inches, and he is world's greatest batsman. So if we start putting body limitations then there will be matches between different body type teams, e.g. cricket heavy weight championship, cricket 6feet team tournament :)
That sounds interesting.Imagine 25 players weighing around 80 pounds each playing for 1 team.That would be hilarious.
I think 11 player format is the best and it should not be changed.