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There is some precedent for this kind of nonsense. The NCAA banned the slam dunk in 1967 because Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was so unstoppable that they wanted to slow

There is some precedent for this kind of nonsense. The NCAA banned the slam dunk in 1967 because Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was so unstoppable that they wanted to slow him down. The NBA allowing the zone in 2001 was done so teams could double and triple-team Shaquille O'Neal before he got the ball because he was so impossible to guard. I'm definitely not saying they should do this, of course, especially in the Olympics. Crippling dominant teams and players to promote competitive balance in team sports tends to be a more practical measure to keep fans of the crappier teams interested and paying.

ralusek 5y ago
Patch notes for new metas.
JamesSwift 5y ago
Its hard to look at those examples, along with Biles, and not think that the precedent has racial undertones. Would the reaction be the same if these were white athletes, or would they become marketing powerhouses responded to with amazement at how they are operating at entirely new levels.
- Judgmentality 5y ago
  I actually hadn't considered this, and now I'm curious if some of the new F1 regulations (there are lots of new regulations fairly regularly, so I don't mean to say this is like changing the rules of basketball which happens every decade or so) have anything to do with Lewis Hamilton's total dominance, who happens to be the first black formula 1 driver.
- faitswulff 5y ago
  Frankly, it is absolutely racist, and I'll happily burn karma to say so.
- stjohnswarts 5y ago
  It's very easy to also not see this as having racial undertones. If all you have is a hammer then everything is a nail, expand your toolbox.
  - jdgoesmarching 5y ago
    An institution use idiotic logic to downplay the achievements of someone who happens to be black? Famously something we know has never happened before, particularly in sports. No this doesn’t prove anything, it’s just a data point that happens to fall on a trend line. In this case, HN sees something that looks like a nail and would rather fling the hammer out the window then consider using it.
  - ceejayoz 5y ago
    If you pull out dozens of nails and the other person tells you they're all not a nail, just "a nail-shaped piece of metal", perhaps you should find another opinion.
- bryan_w 5y ago
  Right? Nobody makes Tom Brady play with an overinflated ball to even the playing field.
  - foobarian 5y ago
    Nobody institutes limits on the number of joints you can have in swimming competitions either.
  - JamesSwift 5y ago
    In fact they might underinflate it a bit to help him out ; )
  - cafard 5y ago
    Shoot, it appears that you can't even make Tom Brady play with a ball inflated to the regulation pressure.
- toomuchredbull 5y ago
  They passed such rules for Wayne Gretzky as well.
  - JamesSwift 5y ago
    Wasn't aware of that. Very good counterexample, appreciate the balance
  - 1-more 5y ago
    wait what rules did they change for him?
    - locopati 5y ago
      without looking it up, iirc, they changed rules around being able to setup behind the goal (which was a classic move for him to wraparound) and also rules around the goal crease
nine_k 5y ago
This was done to keep the game fun to watch, because this is where the money is. The same way online games keep rebalancing player classes to nerf excessively powerful classes and boost excessively weak classes, so that the fight stays based on skill and luck, not on grabbing a super-weapon.
- walterlb 5y ago
  I disagree. Nerfing classes/weapons in games still gives everyone the same toolset to work with, and more skilled players can still excel with the different toolset. To use another games analogy, this is more like "rubber-banding" in racing games, where the pack is artificially caught up to the leader.
  - nine_k 5y ago
    But the basketball rules, however changed, gave everyone the same toolset. Not so sure about the Olympics.
Traster 5y ago
As well as this in sports like F1 the entire history of the sport has been a litany of "Let's cripple the front-runner" type of rule-making.

ralusek 5y ago

Patch notes for new metas.

JamesSwift 5y ago

Its hard to look at those examples, along with Biles, and not think that the precedent has racial undertones. Would the reaction be the same if these were white athletes, or would they become marketing powerhouses responded to with amazement at how they are operating at entirely new levels.

Judgmentality 5y ago
I actually hadn't considered this, and now I'm curious if some of the new F1 regulations (there are lots of new regulations fairly regularly, so I don't mean to say this is like changing the rules of basketball which happens every decade or so) have anything to do with Lewis Hamilton's total dominance, who happens to be the first black formula 1 driver.
faitswulff 5y ago
Frankly, it is absolutely racist, and I'll happily burn karma to say so.
stjohnswarts 5y ago
It's very easy to also not see this as having racial undertones. If all you have is a hammer then everything is a nail, expand your toolbox.
- jdgoesmarching 5y ago
  An institution use idiotic logic to downplay the achievements of someone who happens to be black? Famously something we know has never happened before, particularly in sports. No this doesn’t prove anything, it’s just a data point that happens to fall on a trend line. In this case, HN sees something that looks like a nail and would rather fling the hammer out the window then consider using it.
- ceejayoz 5y ago
  If you pull out dozens of nails and the other person tells you they're all not a nail, just "a nail-shaped piece of metal", perhaps you should find another opinion.
bryan_w 5y ago
Right? Nobody makes Tom Brady play with an overinflated ball to even the playing field.
- foobarian 5y ago
  Nobody institutes limits on the number of joints you can have in swimming competitions either.
- JamesSwift 5y ago
  In fact they might underinflate it a bit to help him out ; )
- cafard 5y ago
  Shoot, it appears that you can't even make Tom Brady play with a ball inflated to the regulation pressure.
toomuchredbull 5y ago
They passed such rules for Wayne Gretzky as well.
- JamesSwift 5y ago
  Wasn't aware of that. Very good counterexample, appreciate the balance
- 1-more 5y ago
  wait what rules did they change for him?
  - locopati 5y ago
    without looking it up, iirc, they changed rules around being able to setup behind the goal (which was a classic move for him to wraparound) and also rules around the goal crease

nine_k 5y ago

This was done to keep the game fun to watch, because this is where the money is. The same way online games keep rebalancing player classes to nerf excessively powerful classes and boost excessively weak classes, so that the fight stays based on skill and luck, not on grabbing a super-weapon.

walterlb 5y ago
I disagree. Nerfing classes/weapons in games still gives everyone the same toolset to work with, and more skilled players can still excel with the different toolset. To use another games analogy, this is more like "rubber-banding" in racing games, where the pack is artificially caught up to the leader.
- nine_k 5y ago
  But the basketball rules, however changed, gave everyone the same toolset. Not so sure about the Olympics.

Traster 5y ago

As well as this in sports like F1 the entire history of the sport has been a litany of "Let's cripple the front-runner" type of rule-making.