Unwritten Rules (Running up the score, etc)

[Homer]

I read this article (http://espn.go.com/moresports/news/2002/1121/1464158.html) and it got me thinking about the subject of running up the score and about unwritten rules in general. I do not understand what all the commotion is about. What are you supposed to do, stop playing your hardest just because you are so much better than the other team? Anytime people complain about this sort of thing, I start to lose respect for them. For example, in the NFL preseason the 49ers coach, Mariucci, bitched about how Spurrier and his Skins were running up the score on them. Well, who gives a [censored]? He should be embarrassed for complaining like that. I also recalled a bunch of unwritten rules in baseball, like not stealing a base when you are up x runs. I remembered a game played last year (?) in which Curt Schilling was pitching a no-hitter and a guy on the Padres bunted for a hit. Schilling and rest of the Diamondbacks threw a fit even though they were only up 2-0 at the time. What did they want the Padres to do, roll over and die? Even if it was 100-0, I see nothing wrong with bunting for a base hit there. It is part of the game. Anyhoo, I know I am ranting, but I guess I just don't like this unwritten rule bullshit. I think every team should play its hardest until the game is over (save strategical decisions like resting their best players when the game's outcome has been decided).

Comments?

-- Homer

[IrishHand]

Agreed.

[Ryan_21]

I agree, like in college football a team could be up by 30, playing with their 4th or 5th string players and still capable of scoring. Whats the coach suppose to do, tell his players "hey, why dont you guys go out there and go 3 and out and punt" or "why dont you go throw a pick6 so they can get a few more points"

This is nonsense, if you ever stop playing your hardest during a competition there is something wrong with you. Even if they are the 5th string players they should still play their hardest.

Ryan_21

[HDPM]

Yeah, the team can't stop playing. I would bench any player who celebrated a basket or a block in a total blowout, and would prohibit 3-pointers, but you have to play. Laying down doesn't help the other side's self esteem anyway. Play it out. The other coach is a whiner.

[Ray Zee]

one big problem with playing hard when assured a win is that you wear out your players somewhat. especially in sports where they play frequently.
what gripes me the most is in amature sports when the coaches dont put in their up and coming second stringers, just so they can run up the score.

A couple of comments:

i) The real culprit here is any playoff system so "feelgood" that it allows a team with zero wins to reach any kind of postseason play.

ii) I'd be more inclined to agree if it were any level other than high school. Even in college nowadays, there are potential livelihoods at risk, and we, as fans are always hearing about an athlete suffering a freak injury in a blowout, which would preclude a coach from "taking it easy" on the other team. However, in this specific case, we're talking about such a gross mismatch, that, IMO, the winning coach was definitely guilty of piling on.

No, you can't tell your players to stop playing. You can't give the other team the ball, and you can't start scoring baskets for them - that would be way beyond ridiculous.

However, considering that they scored 115 points in a high school game (4 x 8-minute quarters), this suggests he could have called the dogs off a lot sooner (115 in a HS game is roughly the equivalent of an NBA team scoring 172 points).

Those freshman and JV players that "hadn't scored"? They should have been playing the whole game, or at least the rest of the game after his starters had broken a sweat. If he goes that route, it's "only" 70-10, and no one's taking shots at him on the ESPN website.