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Sportsmanship

Not running up the score is....?

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Tucker Case said:
We're in agreement here.




:(:(:(

I lost a bet with WI Crippler. The sigline is the exact opposite of my feelings. (the avatar is par tof the bet, but that's just funny) The "angry" mood over on the left is up because of that game.
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lol.....sorry about that. i'm a broncos fan, (among a couple of other teams), and rodgers does look good.

don't worry, cutler will be okay. orton won't.
 
liblady said:
lol.....sorry about that. i'm a broncos fan, (among a couple of other teams), and rodgers does look good.

don't worry, cutler will be okay. orton won't.
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Yeah, I'm not worried about Cutler. Our receivers and offensive line, on the other hand, have got me nervous as hell. That's probably why I'm on such a huge "fundamentals" kick.

People gotta finish their routes and blocks goddamnit!!!! :lol:
 
Tucker Case said:
Yeah, I'm not worried about Cutler. Our receivers and offensive line, on the other hand, have got me nervous as hell. That's probably why I'm on such a huge "fundamentals" kick.

People gotta finish their routes and blocks goddamnit!!!! :lol:
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hate to tell you this, but i'm a huge colts fan........will this be the end of all conversation?
 
liblady said:
hate to tell you this, but i'm a huge colts fan........will this be the end of all conversation?
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You're dead to me. :lol: j/k. :2razz:

Like I said to P/N in another thread somewhere, you guys should've picked up Grossman. He won y'all a superbowl.
 
:lol:

and we thank him for it, but not enough to pay him.
 
Zyphlin said:
Did you read any of my posts previous to this? I did yours.

I'm not saying that at all. you're right, it is insulting.

I don't think that a team should take a knee every down if they're up 35 points in football.

I don't think a team should hand the ball over to the opponent when they're up by 40 points in basketball.

I don't think a team should have their batters just stand and watch the ball go by or throw up lob pitches if they're up by 10 points in baseball.

I'm not saying that at all. What I'm saying is

You don't throw long bombs on 1st and 2nd down, or fake spiking the ball only to throw a touch down, or go for it on 4th down on your 40 if you're up 35 points and soundely trouncing the opponent in football.

You don't do non-stop alley oops or have your foot and a half taller man child bust into the paint each and every play or shoot nonstop 3's or play press defense if you're up by 40 points in basektball.

You don't call constant stolen bases, or pinch hit to get a power batter into the line up, or start pitching inside heat if you're up by 10 points in baseball.

And you don't sit there and continue to play your entire starting line up as you pulvarize the other team.

I'm not saying you're supposed to tank the game. I'm saying you don't purposefully try to "Run up the score". If you end up putting your 2nd or third string in there, and run a conservative but reasonable game plan, and you still put up some points then so be it. That's not running up the score in my mind.

I gave an example from last year. There was some High School Football team that won 90ish to 10, or something absurd like that. However I don't consider that running up the score as once the game was clearly handily won the coach put in all his 2nd and 3rd stringers and basically just did normal running plays or short passes. That's not "running up the score" to me. It would've been just as insulting and embarassing if he had his team just take a knee every down as he would've if he had them throwing bombs with the first team. Both would've been the wrong option and I'm not advocating one over the other.
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Well, I agree with that. I never said you need to run crazy plays or go for the throat when you're up by fifty points. I'm just saying it's okay for a team to try their best, even if they're winning by a lot. Where that line is drawn...I guess that's subjective.
 
Ethereal said:
Well, I agree with that. I never said you need to run crazy plays or go for the throat when you're up by fifty points. I'm just saying it's okay for a team to try their best, even if they're winning by a lot. Where that line is drawn...I guess that's subjective.
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Maybe its a misconceptio non the term "running up the score".

To me, "running up the score" always meant intentionally trying to score a ton against a lesser opponent, pulling out all stops to get that score.

That's unsportsmanlike.

If you're taking steps to not just keep destroying a team, but instead letting your 2nd and 3rd teamers come in, or run a more simple stream lined conservative game plan from then out, and you keep scoring, to me that's not "running the score up".

I think its bad coaching if you're completely and utterly blowing a team out and you're leaving your starters in there and exploiting glaring weaknesses in the other team the entire time with said starters, especially at sub-college levels.
 
Zyphlin said:
Maybe its a misconceptio non the term "running up the score".

To me, "running up the score" always meant intentionally trying to score a ton against a lesser opponent, pulling out all stops to get that score.

That's unsportsmanlike.

If you're taking steps to not just keep destroying a team, but instead letting your 2nd and 3rd teamers come in, or run a more simple stream lined conservative game plan from then out, and you keep scoring, to me that's not "running the score up".

I think its bad coaching if you're completely and utterly blowing a team out and you're leaving your starters in there and exploiting glaring weaknesses in the other team the entire time with said starters, especially at sub-college levels.
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Very true. Even in professional sports you want to get your second and third stringers in the game when you're winning by a lot, so keeping your starters in at lower levels is just a silly thing to do.

I just think a team or individual athlete should always do their best, even if that means making the other guy feel bad. I don't like it when society tries to level the playing field. Is a kid supposed to get a lower test score because he's throwing off the curve? Hell no! I think it should be the same with sports. Do your best, even if you hurt the other guy's feelings, but as Kandahar already pointed out, I'm obviously a competitive person...:)
 
I guess my problem with it in kids and youths as the poster was talking about is the fact that its a very, very, very thin line between show boating and "playing your best" against a weaker opponent.

As you're older, its easier to understand the difference there. When you're younger though, its hard to grasp it.

Not everyone is a Barry Sanders, who could break off a 80 yard run breaking 6 tackles only to reach the end zone for the 3rd time in the day and immedietely go hand the ball to the Ref and head back to the bench like it is no big deal.

I think there is a lesson to be had with teaching kids a bit of humility, reservedness, and restraint when they're younger as those are what helps create an athlete that is not a show boater. Whose not going and putting on faux Hall of Fame Jersey's or throwing popcorn into their face.

Telling your super star youth players to go out there against competition so far below them that its uncanny and telling them to go all out just kind of pushes the notion that humiliting and taking advantage of the opponent isn't just okay, its expected and good, and if that's okay then really what's wrong with taunting or smack talking an opponent when its basically doing the same?

That'd be part of my issue with youth (again, with keeping starters in there and telling them to "go all out"). You talk about the "lessons" the other team needs to learn, but what lessons is that teaching to the plays that are doing the winning.
 
Tucker Case said:
It's about learning the fundamentals of the game more than anything else.
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Sure, which is why it may be a better idea simply not to keep score at that level.
 
Zyphlin said:
I guess my problem with it in kids and youths as the poster was talking about is the fact that its a very, very, very thin line between show boating and "playing your best" against a weaker opponent.

As you're older, its easier to understand the difference there. When you're younger though, its hard to grasp it.

Not everyone is a Barry Sanders, who could break off a 80 yard run breaking 6 tackles only to reach the end zone for the 3rd time in the day and immedietely go hand the ball to the Ref and head back to the bench like it is no big deal.

I think there is a lesson to be had with teaching kids a bit of humility, reservedness, and restraint when they're younger as those are what helps create an athlete that is not a show boater. Whose not going and putting on faux Hall of Fame Jersey's or throwing popcorn into their face.

Telling your super star youth players to go out there against competition so far below them that its uncanny and telling them to go all out just kind of pushes the notion that humiliting and taking advantage of the opponent isn't just okay, its expected and good, and if that's okay then really what's wrong with taunting or smack talking an opponent when its basically doing the same?

That'd be part of my issue with youth (again, with keeping starters in there and telling them to "go all out"). You talk about the "lessons" the other team needs to learn, but what lessons is that teaching to the plays that are doing the winning.
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I think we more or less agree. It's just the thin line between doing your best and being a show-boating ass-head that clouds the issue.
 
Ethereal said:
I think we more or less agree. It's just the thin line between doing your best and being a show-boating ass-head that clouds the issue.
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Things come up in other ways, too.

There was another Serena episode from a year or two ago -- at Wimbledon, when she had a horrible cramp in her calf. Went on for a while; she could hardly move, but decided to keep playing, anyway.

Her opponent (Hantuchova), seeing that she was hurt, took it easy on her, letting her back in the match, and paid the price -- Serena won.

It's perfectly understandable why she'd take it easy, but in that situation, I think sportsmanship and professionalism demanded that she play her best game, if Serena wanted to continue.

Different situation, of course, but still related.
 
Ethereal said:
Well, I agree with that. I never said you need to run crazy plays or go for the throat when you're up by fifty points. I'm just saying it's okay for a team to try their best, even if they're winning by a lot. Where that line is drawn...I guess that's subjective.
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I don't think it's subjective at all. These kids are playing a competitive sport. The rules of the sport say one side will win and the other side will lose, that's a foregone conclusion before the game starts. Unfortunately, you get these crazy liberals who don't want anyone to ever feel bad about themselves so they want one team to almost "throw the game" as it was, to protect the delicate, sensitive little feelings of these kids who signed up for the team to begin with.

That's utterly stupid. Both teams ought to do their best from the second the game starts to the moment the final whistle is blown and whoever wins, wins and whoever loses, needs to improve their game. After all, that's why these games are played.

Nothing subjective there at all.
 
Zyphlin said:
Not everyone is a Barry Sanders, who could break off a 80 yard run breaking 6 tackles only to reach the end zone for the 3rd time in the day and immedietely go hand the ball to the Ref and head back to the bench like it is no big deal.
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Yet not everyone has to be Barry Sanders, everyone just has to do their best. Winning or losing doesn't make you a good or bad sportsman, it's how you conduct yourself. The good sportsmen are the ones who can go to the other side, shake their hands after the game and say "good game" and mean it. They're the ones who feel grateful to play the game and be able to do their best.

If someone told Barry Sanders to "go easy on the other side so they don't feel bad", I'm sure he'd tell them to shove it and I'd applaud that decision.
 
Cephus said:
I don't think it's subjective at all. These kids are playing a competitive sport. The rules of the sport say one side will win and the other side will lose, that's a foregone conclusion before the game starts. Unfortunately, you get these crazy liberals who don't want anyone to ever feel bad about themselves so they want one team to almost "throw the game" as it was, to protect the delicate, sensitive little feelings of these kids who signed up for the team to begin with.
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Why must you make everything a partisan issue? :roll:

It has nothing to do with throwing the game. No one is saying that the better team should lose the game. But they can win the game without being d-bags about it.
 
Kandahar said:
Why must you make everything a partisan issue? :roll:

It has nothing to do with throwing the game. No one is saying that the better team should lose the game. But they can win the game without being d-bags about it.
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But the only place you can make a case for them being douchebags is after the game is over and they point and laugh at the losing side or something similar. I've already agreed that's wrong and an example of bad sportsmanship, but that's not what this thread is about. It's about kids doing their best in a competitive game, which is something everyone should do all the time anyhow.

That's not douchebaggery, that's reality.
 
Cephus said:
But the only place you can make a case for them being douchebags is after the game is over and they point and laugh at the losing side or something similar. I've already agreed that's wrong and an example of bad sportsmanship, but that's not what this thread is about. It's about kids doing their best in a competitive game, which is something everyone should do all the time anyhow.

That's not douchebaggery, that's reality.
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[emphasis added by bubba]
now let's see what this thread was about by reviewing the original post:
Goobieman said:
Because of someting that happend over the weekend...

Assume that a youth sports team so completely outclasses its opposet that it can score at will, and while doing so, completely shut its opponent out..

Is it good or poor sportsmanship for the superior team to hold back and not run up the score?

Please 'splain your answer.
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[emphasis again added by bubba]

it would appear you are mistaken. this thread is about distinguishing what constitutes poor sportsmanship
 
justabubba said:
it would appear you are mistaken. this thread is about distinguishing what constitutes poor sportsmanship
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In a competitive sports team. Appears I wasn't mistaken at all.
 
Each side should try to score as much as possible. Isn't that what what doing your best means?
 
I think there might be something in there about keeping the other team from scoring.
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Point taken. Kids should try to score as many points as possible while trying to keep the other team from scoring as few points as possible.

If this results in "running up the score," then that is what they should do.
 
Running up the score is more likely to occur in youth sports than in professional sports. Professional organizations know that nothing good will come of trying to humiliate the opposition but fights and lusting for future revenge. If the game is beyond the point of contest it's time to put in the second and third strings, to test the ability of rookies and prospects and give them meaningful game time experience. If I'm coaching a youth sports event and it's beyond the point of contest, I'd likely operate on the same principle, giving the less than elite level kids on my squad the opportunity to play the primary roles. Of course if your bench warmers are better than their starters, the score could still get run up.
 
When I was a kid, I played in a church basketball league, where we played other churches. We had a bad snowstorm, and a small team(6 guys). Two of our guys couldn't make it, and we were down to 4 guys. We won something like 89-37. I scored 43 points myself. This other team was simply that bad, that a team with no subs, and 1 man short on the floor, got beat badly.

Sometimes, the other team is so bad, a crushing is really the only option available.

It really is poor sportsmanship to not play to the best of your ability, based on your opponent. Its downright disrespectful. Now if you jump out to a big lead, and the game is in hand, you show your own players that work hard in practice(but don't normally see the field) some respect too, and let them go out and perform to the best of their ability. But at no time, do you send players out there with the intention of not competing to their highest level.
 
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