DK's Talking Point: What's the dumbest bleeping rule in sports?

The discussion about Sha'Carri Richardson's suspension from the Tokyo Olympics for smoking marijuana has been robust. And it only amplified with the announcement yesterday that USA Track and Field would omit her entirely from the Games since she'd only be able to participate in the 4x100 relay and those four runners had already been informed of their selection.

Tough, tough outcome for the 100-meter champ in the national trials.

My stance on this is twofold:

1. She broke a rule, which was dumb.
2. The rule itself is dumb.

Which got me to thinking: What are other dumb rules in sports, meaning in the events themselves?

Off the top of my head ...

There's no rule dumber in the NFL than the one that punishes an offensive team with a loss of possession for fumbling into the end zone. Fumble anywhere else on the field, and the ball's still yours. There's no sense to it.

There's no rule dumber in the NHL than the one that sees officials check a player for blood to decide whether a high-sticking penalty should be two or four minutes. I mean, it's 2021. We have the technology to look at replays and determine whether or not a stick struck someone in the face without examining bodily fluid.

There's no rule dumber in Major League Baseball than the one requiring a runner to touch all four bases after a home run. The ball's already cleared the fence. The play is over. Nothing else can occur on the diamond. So the trot itself is ceremonial. Attaching any meaning to the trot is ... insanity!

I'll bet Ke'Bryan Hayes has my back on this one, too.

Oh, and with all due apologies to Italians everywhere ...

... there might not be a rule dumber in any sport than deciding major international soccer matches with penalty kicks. It's a luck contest and nothing more, and it blows my mind that entire civilizations live and die with these things and think it's OK.

YOUR TURN: Bring the dumb and the dumber.