Read the debate intro and Bleacher Fan’s argument that it is not good to run up the score on a game well in hand.
From the time a child first starts to play sports he is indoctrinated with the mantra, “As long as you gave it your best effort that is what really matters.” I absolutely agree. That is why it is important for a team to try to score on every chance it gets. To do anything else would be giving less than your best, and that is certainly not what sports are about.
Yet society has come to accept the notion that it is somehow inappropriate to attempt to score once a comfortable lead is established. What is a comfortable lead? During a 1993 NFL playoff game the Houston Oilers thought they had established a comfortable lead over the Buffalo Bills, up by 32 points during the third quarter. But when the game ended, it was the Buffalo Bills that walked away victorious. In 1996, the Utah Jazz were booed off the court trailing the Denver Nuggets by 34 points at the end of the first half. But, again, that comfortable lead disappeared leading to the biggest NBA comeback in recorded history. In the 2004 ALCS, I suffered the greatest disappointment of my life when the New York Yankees had a comfortable lead over the Boston Red Sox up three games to none. But, I learned the hard way that there is no such thing as a comfortable lead. While I assure you none of the losing teams were trying not to run up the score, these comebacks would never have been possible if these teams held back because they were worried about hurting the feelings of the other team.
I do not even like the phrase “running up the score.” Instead how about we call it what it really is, “trying your hardest.” When teams refuse to score after building a comfortable lead (whatever that lead is) it is actually cheating. What is the difference between refusing to score and shaving points? Absolutely nothing. Do we really want to teach our children that they should shave points so that the losing team does not feel as bad about the loss? There are important life lessons in losing.
Derek Jeter is a case study in the lessons of losing. Jeter’s father used to beat him at every game they played. His father, Charles Jeter, tried to instill an important lesson “[that in life] nobody is going to let you win anything. [Life] is not going to be fair all the time.” Derek learned these lessons and was motivated to approach everything with a unique tenacity that drove him to be the best. After several All-Star game selections, Golden Gloves, Silver Sluggers, and World Series Championships, I would say few would doubt the effectiveness of this technique.
Winners try their best. They try their best when they are up big in game or trailing by a seemingly insurmountable margin because that is how the game is played. My argument is best summed up by the immortal words of former NFL head coach, Herm Edwards, “This is what the greatest thing about sports is—you play to win the game! Hello? YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!”
Woody Hayes, former coach of The Ohio State Buckeyes, went for two points after scoring a touchdown that gave the Buckeyes a 48-12 lead. When asked why he went for two, he said “Because they wouldn’t let me go for three”.
It had nothing to do with “preserving the lead”, or trying his hardest. Instead, it was about rubbing Michigan’s noses in the fact that they were losing, and he was simply trying to make it as painful as possible.
You say that it is trying your hardest, I say it is being a D-Bag!
Bleacher Fan, where is your sense of pride? Would you really want a team to take it easy on you out of pity?
Sports are an all-or-nothing competition. If you want something a little nicer then stick to reading or basket weaving. I hear that very few people get their feelings hurt in those activities.