Running up the score...

[woody2goody]

Not sure whether this is the right place for this, but I figured I'd get a good debate in this forum, as I think it's relevant to Madden in some way. Mods please move it if it isn't.

I always hear a lot in US Sports about 'running up the score' and 'showing up the opposition'. I know that this is frowned upon by the relevant governing bodies, in some cases teams and coaches are punished by fines, suspensions and even disqualifications or sacking, but why specifically?

Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely fair when it comes to sports and games, I never cheat, exploit glitches, disconnect from online games (unless I have to for an important reason), I try to play fair both on the sofa and on the field.

But my attitude is: The winning team should not be punished for destroying the opposition. You never see 'running up the score' being discussed in the United Kingdom.

Now I can understand if a team are bunting for base hits in the 9th with a 10 run lead, because even though it's legal it's unsportsmanlike. Swing the bat properly, you know.

But my view is that if the opposition cannot stop you, then why should you be penalised for taking all the points available to you? Coaches in some high schools and colleges have been FIRED for doing this.

If you're team is facing underfunded, badly trained, ill-disciplined teams who are just not good enough, then winning by a large margin shouldn't be a crime. It's the losing teams that should take a long look at themselves, and try to do whatever they can to improve.

In football it's surely up to the defence to stop the offence. What does it do to an offence's mentality when they are thinking 'We musn't score another touchdown otherwise the coach will get fired'.

Also, you may win 100-0 and be completely outclassed by the opposition, but you may get really lucky and get 10 interceptions and 5 fumble recoveries inside your own red zone, which is completely possible in a game of football. You may not even have a sniff of scoring with your own offence, but nevertheless you win and your coach could be on his way.

I know this is an unlikely scenario but it could happen, and it would be a bit silly if it did.

Any thoughts guys and gals?

[clutch0ne]

As a Patriot fan, I heard a lot of crying from other fan bases on 'running up the score' and embarassing their teams during that insane 2007 season.

My question was, why should the Patriots stop playing? We've seen some ridiculous comebacks in sports (ex. Celtics coming back from 18pt deficit in NBA finals, Lions scoring 34 pts in the 4th QTR, ect.) so why should we allow teams to even have the SLIGHTEST of hopes? The team's goal is to win, not to be ahead by a comfortable margin and stop playing.

So anyway, I don't believe in running the score. Keep trying to put up points and play the game right.
I DO believe in purposely trying to embarass your opponent though, which is classless. Like if the score is 56-0 and your going for onside kicks and going for it on 4th and 15, then you have some issues.

[MelMan1486]

Quote: Originally Posted by clutch0ne

As a Patriot fan, I heard a lot of crying from other fan bases on 'running up the score' and embarassing their teams during that insane 2007 season. My question was, why should the Patriots stop playing? We've seen some ridiculous comebacks in sports (ex. Celtics coming back from 18pt deficit in NBA finals, Lions scoring 34 pts in the 4th QTR, ect.) so why should we allow teams to even have the SLIGHTEST of hopes? The team's goal is to win, not to be ahead by a comfortable margin and stop playing. So anyway, I don't believe in running the score. Keep trying to put up points and play the game right. I DO believe in purposely trying to embarass your opponent though, which is classless. Like if the score is 56-0 and your going for onside kicks and going for it on 4th and 15, then you have some issues.

Yeah I don't believe in running up the score but I'm not going to let up. The only thing would be I'd run ALOT more but I'm not going to just ease up. The one goal of the offense is to score, not play it easy because you're up.

[Nintari]

Well, I come from the Buddy Ryan school of thought where you show no mercy and seek for absolute domination of your opponent.

That being said, this is a video game and when I'm playing online I don't behave that way unless the other guy is talking crap or being a jerk. If my opponent is being a fair sport, then I'll be one too.

[Glorious Arc]

Quote: Originally Posted by clutch0ne

As a Patriot fan, I heard a lot of crying from other fan bases on 'running up the score' and embarassing their teams during that insane 2007 season. My question was, why should the Patriots stop playing? We've seen some ridiculous comebacks in sports (ex. Celtics coming back from 18pt deficit in NBA finals, Lions scoring 34 pts in the 4th QTR, ect.) so why should we allow teams to even have the SLIGHTEST of hopes? The team's goal is to win, not to be ahead by a comfortable margin and stop playing. So anyway, I don't believe in running the score. Keep trying to put up points and play the game right. I DO believe in purposely trying to embarass your opponent though, which is classless. Like if the score is 56-0 and your going for onside kicks and going for it on 4th and 15, then you have some issues.

I have no issue with teams running up the score. If the Pats had the chance they should run up the points.

I can only find it wrong when other people start saying that Brady is the best in the world because he put up the numbers he did. When in reality he was running up the score in almost every game just to pull off the same thing Manning did and Manning was forced to stop in several games. Manning could have put up even greater numbers but was not allowed to keep throwing the ball. They are both great QBs but to say one is better because he had one great season where he ran up the score relentlessly makes me laugh.

Doing an onside kick every time is pretty unsportsmanlike. I have ran into players who have done this and its just silly. If you have the lead then you should kick it off. I can understand going for it on 4th down because it is a mentality type of thing(you have to stop me 4 downs to stop me instead of 3) and I have read several articles of coaches doing it IRL. It is extremely risky BUT can be very demonizing for the defense on the other hand.

[TennesseeVols16]

I believe that you shouldn't stop trying your best at all. I mean if the other team can't stop like they are supposed that's their problem. But I also believe that too much is too much, if its late in the game and your blowing your opponent out or up by 3 or 4 TDs, bring out those backups and get them some experience. If the losing team can't stop your backups, then they have more problems than getting the score ran up on them. Now if a team say Washington State ran the score up on USC, I would probably say, "Hey thats what USC deserves for doing it to every one else."

[TennesseeVols16]

Quote: Originally Posted by Glorious Arc

I have no issue with teams running up the score. If the Pats had the chance they should run up the points. I can only find it wrong when other people start saying that Brady is the best in the world because he put up the numbers he did. When in reality he was running up the score in almost every game just to pull off the same thing Manning did and Manning was forced to stop in several games. Manning could have put up even greater numbers but was not allowed to keep throwing the ball. They are both great QBs but to say one is better because he had one great season where he ran up the score relentlessly makes me laugh. Doing an onside kick every time is pretty unsportsmanlike. I have ran into players who have done this and its just silly. If you have the lead then you should kick it off. I can understand going for it on 4th down because it is a mentality type of thing(you have to stop me 4 downs to stop me instead of 3) and I have read several articles of coaches doing it IRL. It is extremely risky BUT can be very demonizing for the defense on the other hand.

THANK YOU! At least I'm not the only one who thinks that.

[clutch0ne]

Quote: Originally Posted by Glorious Arc

I can only find it wrong when other people start saying that Brady is the best in the world because he put up the numbers he did. When in reality he was running up the score in almost every game just to pull off the same thing Manning did and Manning was forced to stop in several games. Manning could have put up even greater numbers but was not allowed to keep throwing the ball. They are both great QBs but to say one is better because he had one great season where he ran up the score relentlessly makes me laugh..

Not to turn this into a Brady vs Manning thread, but I do agree with you that Manning's 49 TD's were more valuable to his team than Brady's 50 TD's. But you can't penalize Brady for throwing those TD's just because his team was up by 20+, while Mannings team actually needed all 4 TD's he threw in a game. In the end of the season, Brady still threw more TD's then Manning. You can't handicap him because his team was that dominant and they rarely needed Brady's 4 TD's in a game. I highly doubt Brady was actually trying to beat Manning's record. BTW: Believe it or not, but there were plenty of times Brady was out of the game because of the score being out of hand...just like Manning was in '04.
Brady is better :P