Rules that govern athletic events are supposed to control the fairness of play.

Here are a few rules that make me question how they are fair in determining the outcomes of games in four major sports.

Let’s start with football.

The off-setting penalty, where two infractions happen on the same play, makes little sense. An offensive team can be flagged for an illegal formation at the snap of the ball, but the play is allowed to continue. The defense, noting the flag, can commit an unsportsmanlike penalty, perhaps a late hit or roughing the passer.

The official calls fouls on both teams and the play doesn’t count. The down is reset and the play is done, over.

An illegal formation is a five-yard penalty, but the unsportsmanlike flag, one that might have caused a serious injury, is a 15-yard infraction, but it doesn’t count. A minor penalty and an egregious major penalty cancel each other out? In legal terms, is a misdemeanor as bad as a capital crime?

Another penalty that grossly favors the offense is defensive holding, which to my eye happens on nearly every play on both sides of the ball. It’s third down and 27 and the quarterback throws an incomplete pass, but a flag is thrown on a cornerback who momentarily grabbed a receiver’s jersey. It’s a holding call that results in a five-yard penalty and an automatic first down.

From 3rd-and-27 to a first down from a five-yard penalty. C’mon, man!

Next, let’s move over to baseball.

A balk is defined as an illegal motion on the mound made by the pitcher that the umpire deems to be deceitful to a base runner. When the pitcher’s foot is on the rubber, he has to come to a set position without any unnatural movement before he throws his pitch to the catcher. A balk is also called if he drops the ball to the ground.

How is a pitcher deceiving the runner if he drops the ball? Imagine a seventh game of the World Series and a team has the winning run on third base, and in the tension of the moment, and with his foot on the rubber, the pitcher drops the ball. The runner at third base is awarded home, and the World Series champion has been decided on that call.

The balk rule also states that a pitcher cannot fake a throw to first base, but he can fake a throw to second or third as long as he steps toward the base. If faking a throw to first is deceiving a runner, then why is faking a throw to second or third not deceiving a runner? Makes no sense.

Now, on to soccer.

If a playoff game is tied after two overtimes, the ball is placed 12 yards away from the goal and selected players get free kicks to try to score. So, picture this scenario. After two overtimes and the score tied, 0-0, the outcome would be decided by having the teams’ best goal scorers kicking the ball at goalies who are pretty much defenseless to prevent the ball from going into their nets.

The national average for scoring on penalty kicks is 75 percent. The goalie has to defend a goal that’s eight feet high and 24 feet wide, and try to stop the other team’s best goal scorers who kick the ball between 70 to 80 miles per hour from 12 yards away. The goalie has to guess at what direction the ball will be kicked to try to make a save.

Here’s my argument against those who say that penalty kicks are the best way to end a long soccer game: What if the goalie makes save after save in a game that ends in a scoreless tie in a state final championship game? Rather than do what playoff hockey does – and that’s to reduce the number of players to three from each team to produce more scoring chances and let the teams decide the final outcome – soccer places the goalies in an unfair predicament after they shut out their opponents for the entire game and two overtimes.

Should we decide overtime football games with kickers booting field goals from 12 yards out? As soccer fans, would you rather see playoff games decided on the field of play, or watch the ball placed on the ground and kicked into the goal?

Last March, a high school state semifinal high school basketball game in New Jersey was seemingly won by a team that scored the winning basket a split second before time had expired in the final period. The officials reversed the call and said the shot came after the buzzer, which by rule doesn’t count. They got it wrong. Now, it would be impractical to have cameras set up for reviews at every basketball game, but there can be reviews at playoff games.

The National Federation of State High School Associations conducts live streaming of every athletic event, so there is video and sound that can be reviewed on last shots.

Don’t blame the officials or the timekeeper who have to determine the outcome in real time, especially at an event of such importance.

The objective in all sports is to impart fairness toward the outcomes of games. Most rules do just that, but there are some that, well, just leave me scratching my head.