Someone once said that “without rules there is chaos.” Not to be outdone, many others have suggested that rules are meant to be broken. So, to summarize, humans want order that they can, when deemed necessary, violate. No one ever said we were an easy species to understand. That aside, it’s true we do like to impose rules and order when we realize things have gotten out of hand. Sometimes this makes perfect sense. There’s a rule that you shouldn’t murder or steal and most of us agree it’s necessary because how could society function otherwise. And then, sometimes, we find reason to make up rules for the most unpredictable of reasons.
10. Yu-Gi-Oh! Tournaments Had to Introduce a Hygiene Rule
If you’re not familiar with Yu-Gi-Oh!, it’s a Japanese manga series that evolved into a popular anime and a massively popular card game. The card game, launched in 1999, is still big and played in tournaments all around the world. In 2009, the game was awarded a Guinness World Record for being the top selling trading card game of all time, with over 22.5 billion cards sold at that time.
Because the game is still so popular, those tournaments attract a lot of players and even spectators, usually in some fairly small spaces. And that’s part of the reason Konami, the company behind the game, had to make up a new rule in the year 2019 for tournament play. They made up a hygiene rule. It reads, in part, “all persons attending a tournament [are] to be clean and wear clean clothing. If you or your clothing is excessively dirty or bad-smelling, you can be penalized.”
While the rule sounds silly, apparently hygiene was an issue for so long that many players were quite happy with the revelation. You can imagine how frustrating it might be to have to sit across from someone for 40 minutes of gameplay when you can smell them the whole time.
9. The Stock Exchange Made Rules to Prevent Market Cornering
To those of us not concerned with the Stock Market it mostly seems like a bunch of nonsense that vaguely resembles rich people gambling and something to do with orange juice. But understanding the ins and outs of the stock market has allowed many people to make an incredible amount of wealth. And, sure, it’s caused a lot of people to lose it as well.
In order for the Stock Market to run more or less smoothly, there are rules for what can and cannot be done. The rules are not as set in stone as you might think, however, and in 1979 and 1980, they changed dramatically thanks to William and Nelson Hunt.
The Hunt brothers were rich because their father, H. L. Hunt was rich. He was one of the richest men on Earth in 1960. His sons had an idea on how to get even richer. There was a prohibition on Americans owning gold, so they started to buy silver. They ended up with about 100 million ounces of it. Then they hoarded it, creating a global shortage. The price climbed for $1.50 when they started buying it to nearly $50. Then the Federal Reserve suspended trading, and the price dropped like a rock. As brokers began selling the Hunts’ silver to pay back loans, the price plummeted by 78% But the brothers still had contracts to buy it at $50.
The pair lost nearly $2 billion and went bankrupt. They were charged with trying to corner the market and fined. The exchange made up new rules. One stated no one could hold more than three million ounces from then on. Anyone who had more than 3 million had just a few months to sell down to three million. Sales could only be to approved buyers.
8. Monkeys Caused a Change to Indian Golf Rules
If you play golf at all, you’re likely familiar with “play it as it lies” rules. Basically, if something somehow interferes with the progress of your ball, it doesn’t matter. Wherever the ball stops rolling, you play it from there. So if it bounces off a tree, oh well. If it gets stuck in deep grass, good luck chopping it out. And in parts of India they had to adapt this rule for an unexpected side effect of playing golf in a land where it hadn’t been played before.
In certain parts of India, golf courses exist in the same space as monkeys and monkeys have, on occasion, taken an interest in the game. It’s not unheard of for a monkey to snatch a ball in play and run off with it. That’s frustrating for the golfers but it’s also part of the game now. Rules were made to account for it which are basically “play it where the monkey leaves it.”
This dates back to the English colonial presence in India when they tried to make Calcutta too much like English for their own good. The monkeys, new to golf, loved taking the balls and playing with them. The English fought back trying to use fences and more to keep them at bay, obviously to no avail. Even trapping them was no good. Eventually they gave in and just accepted the monkeys as another hazard, just like a sand trap.
7. The Olympic “Eddie the Eagle Rule”
There’s a lot of work that goes into making the Olympics a successful event and it has to happen on so many levels. You have hundreds of athletes that need to organize all around the world in addition to whatever the host city needs to do in order to prepare for everyone showing up. There are sponsors, infrastructure, media, security, and so much more involved. And, thanks to Eddie the Eagle, there also has to be some sort of proof you deserve to be there.
The Eddie the Eagle rule states that, if an athlete is to qualify for the Olympics, they either need to be in the top 30% or the top 50 performing competitors in their chosen event, whichever is fewer. This is because, prior to Eddie the Eagle, there wasn’t a guideline in place and apparently just anyone could end up at the Olympics if they were lucky enough.
Eddie the Eagle, also known as Michael Edwards, was an English ski-jumper in the 1980s. In 1988, he was the first jumper England sent to the Olympics in 60 years, so people were stoked. He qualified, in part, because there was just no competition for him in Great Britain. He failed at alpine skiing, but there was no one on the ski jump team, so he took that up.
Despite almost no funding which meant, for a time, he voluntarily stayed in a Finnish mental hospital because he needed room and board, and being so near-sighted he needed very prominent glasses at all times, he qualified for the Olympics by achieving a 70 meter jump at the ‘87 World Championships.
In Calgary, he used borrowed skis because he couldn’t afford his own gear. He was the underdog to beat all underdogs and people loved him. He was the worst performer at the Olympics that year, finishing last in 70m and 80m.
Despite losing, he was certainly inspirational, and his perseverance moved people. That said, the rule to prevent under qualified amateurs from competing on the world stage was instituted right after, preventing any more underdogs from making it.
6. The Reindeer Rule Helps Ensure Religious Displays Aren’t Too Religious
Separation of church and state is a contentious issue for some and, at Christmas time, it often comes to a head. Not everyone thinks a nativity scene should be displayed in public on government property as it supports a Christian-specific perspective. But, thanks to the Supreme Court’s Reindeer Rule, that doesn’t matter.
In order to skirt the issue of religious displays in a secular space, all one needs to do is sprinkle a little secular charm. In this case, add Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer or a menorah to a nativity and it’s no longer Christian but holiday-themed. The reindeer means no one religion is being endorsed or promoted and so, arguably, everyone can be happy.
5. An MLB Pitcher Forced a Rule Against Multiple Switch Pitching
In baseball, a switch hitter can bat left or right. They can sometimes shake up a pitcher by doing this. But there are also switch pitchers who can pitch left or right and potentially shake up a batter. So what happens when a switch hitter meets a switch pitcher? That’s where you get the Pat Venditte Rule.
In 2015, Venditte was the first switch pitcher since 1894 and everyone wondered what might happen. The official MLB rule states the pitcher must indicate which hand they intend to use for pitching by wearing a glove on the other hand. They cannot switch until the pitcher becomes a runner or the inning ends.
Venditte inspired the rule in 2008 in the minors. He was warming up both arms and then was put up against a switch hitter named Ralph Henriquez. The two proceeded to switch back and forth for 7 minutes. The rule change meant this would never happen again.
4. Jeopardy Changed Rules to Prevent Cautious Players
Ever wonder why only the winner gets money on Jeopardy even if the other players have a positive balance at the end? Thank one man who wanted to get married in 1967. Back then, anyone who “won” money on Jeopardy took it home. This guy just wanted to win enough to buy an engagement ring. So he played and answered questions until he had enough. Then he just didn’t speak again. Half a game and he refused to play so as to not risk his winnings. Smart for him, but boring for TV audiences.
The game was rebooted in 1984 and the new version had no rule change to prevent any more cautious players from clamming up.
3. Airlines Banned Emotional Support Animals
Remember a few years ago when the internet was full of stories about service animals that were, for lack of a better word, ridiculous? People were bringing animals like pigs, alligators, snakes and, of course, numerous dogs and cats on planes under the guise that they were service or support animals. In 2020, that came to an end. Well, officially it did. People still try it.
In an effort to end flying zoos, airlines changed the rules to state that only trained service dogs that could fit in a passenger’s floor space would count. Any other animal could travel, but it’d be a pet, and you’d have to pay and arrange for transport the same as any other pet.
2. The NBA Changed Rules to Prevent Wilt Chamberlain from Dunking Past the Free Throw Line
Wilt Chamberlain was an absolute legend on the basketball court. He dominated like few players in history. 4,000 points in a single season. 100 points in a single game. Over 50 points per game average in one season. Literally dozens of other records. He was so good the NBA changed rules just to try to hold him in check. One of these rules involved how Chamberlain was able to dunk from the free throw line.
The free throw line is 15 feet from the net. For most humans, jumping that far is impossible. Chamberlain could do it. The rules were changed to make this illegal as a result, a rule clearly specifically for Chamberlain since who else was ever doing that?
1. The International Skiing Association Changed the Point Scoring to Sabotage The Best Skier
Rules should be used to make things reasonable, safe, and fair. Sometimes they’re used to punish. Ingemar Stenmark was a Swedish skier who was really good at what he did. So good, in fact, that the International Skiing Association decided to sabotage him with a rule change to make him appear worse than he was.
Stenmark had won 86 World Cup races in 15 years as well as two Olympic gold medals among other awards. His events were slalom and giant slalom. In 1978-79 he was so far ahead of the competition he had locked the win at the World Cup two months before the competition was over. There was no way anyone could have won enough to beat him. So the rules were changed.
Going forward, the overall World Cup would include downhill, an event Stenmark had never competed in. But, without it, he would automatically lose a third of his point standings. The result was Stenmark, with no interest in learning an entirely new event, would never win a World Cup again.