I don't get some things in sports

I got a call last Sunday from my dad.

"Why did Dallas call time out before Green Bay's winning field goal?"

I explained to him the process of icing a kicker, meaning you use a time out to make him think about that important play. I also told him it works just as well most of the time as it did Sunday for Dallas, whose hashtag went from #FinishThisFight to #FinishedTonight.

That's one thing I understand about sports in 2017. Here are three things I don't.

• I'm glad Ivan Rodriguez got voted into the Hall of Fame. But I still don't get the logic of Hall of Fame voting.

I get that guys who have confirmed positive tests are probably not going in the Hall of Fame. What I don't get is why are some guys suspected of steroid usage going to the Hall of Fame (Rodriguez), while others suspected of steroids are still waiting (Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds).

And I understand that some voters want a line of demarcation between guys who are voted in on the first ballot and guys who are voted in later. But a co-worker mentioned inductee Tim Raines. Raines has been retired for nearly a decade. Nothing has changed about his numbers or his career. Why is a guy not worthy of induction in 2014, and then suddenly he's a shoo-in for 2016?

Hopefully, we'll start to figure it out a little better next year. Ballots will be public, and baseball writers will have to explain why they voted the way they did.

• The NBA has announced its starters for the All-Star Game.

Russell Westbrook leads the league in triple-doubles (a game of at least 10 in three different categories, usually points, rebounds and assists), but Westbrook wasn't named one of the Western Conference's five starters.

The reason he didn't get the starting nod is that two other Western Conference players at the same position just beat him out in the combined fan/media/player vote.

I've got two reactions. The first is ... why do we care what positions we select to start an All-Star Game, which is just an exhibition? If three of the five starting players play the same position, so what?

The second reaction is ... why do we really care who starts? Again, it's an exhibition game, and there's no rule that says starters have to log more minutes than other guys.

• I don't know why we still do that bit. You know, the bit about the bits.

"Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar," every cheerleading squad in every city says. "All for (your team), stand up and holler."

It needs to go away for two reasons:

1. Two bits hasn't been a thing in this country since it could get you a — sing it with me — shave and a hairrrrrrcuuuuut.

The last time I got a shave and a haircut, it was $15, and it was a — sing it with me — big mistaaaaaaake.

I'm sure some of you barbers do an awesome shave, but I swore off a second chance after my face was hacked up so much co-workers asked who beat me up.

2. We have no coins worth one-eighth of a dollar. We never did. Other countries did, and we just used that money every now and then. American currency and American cheers, please.

Kevin Wilson is managing editor for the Clovis office of the Eastern New Mexico News. Contact him at:

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