World Baseball Classic could use some changes

While there’s no denying the NCAA Tournament’s greatness, it’s already a little sickening.

… While there’s no denying the NCAA Tournament’s greatness, it’s already a little sickening.

It hasn’t started yet and already Jay Bilas’ once silky-sounding voice has become so monotonous, he sounds like any adult in a ‘Peanuts’ cartoon. Alas, there is another tournament currently going on that’s a bit under the radar. Unfortunately, that one is about as interesting as a recording of Bilas reading vanity license plates.

That tournament is the World Baseball Classic. For those not aware, the WBC is an international competition that was created in 2006. This year is the second ever WBC, and from here on out it goes to every four years. But really, are people going to want this tournament anymore in four years? Doubtful.

There are tons of problems with the tournament. As someone who’s watched minutes — minutes! — of the WBC, I think I can help solve some of the tournament’s biggest issues to make it the greatest sporting event in the universe.

One issue that comes up a lot is when to start. Right now it’s in the spring, cutting into MLB spring training. Some think they should do it after the season ends in November and play it in warm climate.

While some talk about start date as an issue of the tournament, it doesn’t really matter. If the content is boring, you could start it any day of the year and it’s not going to be compelling. And boring content is the WBC’s biggest problem.

The WBC needs rivalries. The first round was broken up into four pools containing four teams, and the top two teams in each pool moved on to the second round. Look at Pool C, which consisted of the United States, Canada, Venezuela and Italy.

No real rivalries there. The United States and Canada is as close as it gets, but Canada is more like the Gayle to the United States’ Oprah, whereas sports needs Canada to be the Shelbyville to the United States’ Springfield. In Pool B you do get the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, and in Pool A, Japan played China. Those were good, but the whole tournament needs to be like that.

Would you honestly give up a chance to see the United States play Iraq or Afghanistan? No way! What’s that, winner plays the winner of Israel and Palestine? When is that game going to be on? I need to make sure to cancel anything I have planned so I can stay home and watch that. Even Jay Bilas can’t kill the excitement of that tournament.

Rivalries are the first step to fixing this thing. Now, a lot of those teams I mentioned probably couldn’t field an entire baseball roster. No problem! If it’s a down year for multiple countries in terms of talent, throwback year. A team composed of talent from Britain, the United States and France takes on a team of players from Germany, Japan and Italy in a seven-game series. That’s right, Allies vs. Axis once again, and teams will of course play in World War II-era garb to further enhance the fun.

Another concern about the WBC is pitchers. The pitchers have to leave spring training early to play in the WBC, and they’re not fully stretched out yet. The solution? Pitchers won’t pitch. We’ll use tees. The pitcher can choose where to set up the tee, then stand on the mound to field, but that’s it.

Outside of pride, there really doesn’t seem to be anything the winner gets from winning the WBC. And pride is nice and all, but stuff is better. That’s why the WBC needs mayor bets, which are bets commonly made between the mayors of the two teams playing in whatever sport’s championship. They usually comprise of giving away that city’s signature food item, or being forced to wear clothing from the other city.’

This is an international competition, which means mayor bets could be amazing. Italy could risk giving up the Leaning Tower of Pisa to Australia if it loses, but if the Aussies lose, they have to fork over the Sydney Opera House. How about the United States vs. Canada for complete ownership of Niagara Falls? Or the Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela with the winner getting to rewrite the other country’s laws?

These were just some quick ideas on how to improve the tournament. The WBC need not take my advice, although I think it’s all great. Just know, if something doesn’t change, the WBC has as much chance of being entertaining as Jay Bilas announcing a spring training game.