Thursday, June 15, 2006

Don't Play Like A Champion Today

Apparently, in Connecticut a football coach could be suspended a game if he beats an opposing team by more than 50 points. Leave it to a coach to call it like he sees it:

It's the most asinine, insane thing I've ever heard of in my life.


I'm not a fan of running up the score, but neither am I a fan of making running up the score against the rules. Lessons about sportsmanship can be learned from both good examples and bad.

Via Joanne Jacobs (see blogroll at left), where one comment in particular made a lot of sense to me:

Were I coaching a team that was leading by such a wide margin, I would leave the first-string players in and tell them to just stand there, do nothing and let the other team score until the difference was under 50 points. Then go back to playing for real. If the lead goes over 50, back to standing around.

The policy is that good players are not allowed to play to the best of their ability -- so follow the policy exactly. Don't sugar-coat it, don't disguise the impact, and don't pretend that it's anything other than what it is.

Posted by Kyle Haight at June 15, 2006 12:22 PM

at

3 comments:

  1. Ellen K9:00 PM

    I actually read this on another far more liberal blog. Something to the effect that they didn't like the competition in athletics. Wow. Looking back at history and anthropology, if our ancestors had that sort of attitude, we'd be extinct for fear of having food and weapons that other tribes didn't have. It's the same mindset I have seen in my district when they don't want to give awards in juried shows for fear of hurting kids. By high school, you need to know if you are better or worse than someone else. If you can't handle it, then you are up for a very frustrating life.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous9:17 PM

    In Nebraska the 8 and 6-man football teams end the game after one team gets 45 points ahead. The rule is mainly to keep the weaker teams from getting their players hurt. In these small schools the pool of potential atheletes is small and anyone who wants to can be on the team, athletic ability or not.

    Jennifer

    ReplyDelete
  3. Darren10:29 PM

    At the college level, at least on the East Coast, they've solved the "little guy" problem by creating a sport called "sprint football". If memory serves, no player is allowed to be more than 158 lbs. Why that particular number was chosen, I have no idea.

    ReplyDelete