To start off this post, I will ask, it is ethical to score over 100 points against your opponent in football? No, as agreed on by the majority of sports enthusiasts, no it is not. It is important to note that the scoring of 100 points in a football game is a reflection of multiple parties in the event: the coaches of winning and losing team, players of the winning and losing team, fans of the winning and losing team, and the IAHSAA officials.
The coaches of the winning team are looked at poorly for continuing to call plays when in possession of the ball and not instructing their players to perform clumsy acts in order to give the opposing team a chance to touch the ball, not for spending countless hours day and night planning and preparing their players to play the game of football to the best of their abilities.
The coaches of the winning team are looked at in pity for being the leaders of a team who did not play as well as the opposing team, not for a difference in coaching styles and/or effort in preparing their players in all areas of training and preparation in order to compete at their fullest potential.
The players of the winning team are looked at poorly for continuing to advance their position on offense or hold their position on defense (the object of the game) and also for not performing a host of clumsy, uncoordinated, self-defeating acts so that the opposing team may have another attempt to score, not for continuing to play the game of football until the final buzzer sounds signifying the contest is over.
The players of the losing team are looked at in pity for being on the losing side of the game and suffering a murderous loss to a well-prepared team, not for their possible lack of preparing to play the sport to the best of their abilities by training in the off-season by lifting and running, or training during the season by memorizing plays and repeatedly executing them at practice until they make no mistakes and all technical aspects of every position are properly executed.
Finally the fans of the winning team are looked at poorly for any slightly negative or boastful comments that may be made during the competition while their kids are competing in a sport that they have watched them progress from flag football to high school football (or beyond) and are proud of the sacrifice of their player/s and themselves.
The point that I am trying to make through all of this is the SACRIFICE that comes with success. No person is history has ever truly succeeded at the highest level without making some sort of sacrifice in order to reach a higher level of success. Successful high school football players wake up early at 5:30 am 3-4 days out of the week so that they can get a lift in before school starts to make themselves stronger on the field (this is in addition to the regular 2-3 hr. evening practice after school. They sacrifice free time in the off-season (which is usually accompanied by an additional sport/s) so that they can continue lifting to get stronger, and run monotonous plays to be perfect and efficient, while also attending regular wrestling, baseball, track, or soccer practice depending on the season. The sacrifice of a dedicated high school athlete who also excels in the classroom sets a foundation for a successful life that the athlete can follow for the rest of their life. They juggle multiple sports and training schedules and coaches’ expectations with demanding classes and teachers, all of whom expect 100% effort and continuing improvement in every aspect of your life.
Just think about trying to get better athletically at any combination of football, wrestling, basketball, baseball, track, or soccer (attending regular in-season and off-season practice for multiple sports simultaneously), while also trying to learn A&P, calculus, Spanish, English composition, history, etc. It’s not easy, and any evaluation of improvement and success by the individual and/or team should be rewarded and compounded.
Lastly the suggestions of other posters saying that players should “fumble the ball, throw an interception, take a knee, run out of bounds, etc. Do you think the losing team really wouldn’t care if the winning team did those things? Any competitive athlete, successful or not, does not want a win or loss to just be handed to them. The last time any high school football player was on the receiving end of those antics was in 1st grade when they were playing football on thanksgiving and they’re older cousins are just doing the right family thing and including them and letting them have a little fun. The high school playing field (mat, court, track, etc.) is not the place for such demeaning actions. You would not expect a wrestler to go out and lay on their back, or a baseball player to swing at a ball in the dirt, a track star to jog around the track, a basketball player to just stand under a hoop and not rebound or dribble a ball off their toe. Then why would you recommend such antics in a game of football? Winning competitors earn their success. I have been on the winning end of numerous 84-0 dual meet blow outs in wrestling and nobody batted a critical eye after the winning team’s JV squad went out and stomped the opposing team. I have seen a wrestling team at a 1A school who held a top 10 national ranking dominate every 3A big school opponent and go out of their way to find harder competition. I have seen a baseball and softball team JV players swing at balls in the dirt or step on the plate to strike out, just to get the game over with.
Now before you all fire back on these comments, know that I only graduated a few years ago and have been on the receiving end of a brutal loss in football more than once in more than a few years and the last thing that I wanted was for the opposing team to just hand me the ball on defense. Following those devastating losses, we were not mad at the other program or coaches for beating us so bad, we were mad at ourselves. It was our fault that we failed to prepare for the game by training as competitively as our opponents and failed to work together as a team to score points. If someone doesn’t block the right man, run the right route, fill the correct gap, cover the correct area, then the team is not going to win on a regular basis.
Looking back, it were those brutal losses combined with the heart breaking near-comebacks that brought this program to the competitive level that it is now performing at. The 2011 season was a successful one, but it was full of multiple nearly lossed games and big mistakes. Following the 2007 season (6-3), it was the second winning season in program history, bringing the program record to 20-57 and a 26% win percentage (it was 12-54 at just 18% prior to 2011). The option to move down to 8-man was available following the 2011 season (redistrict every 2 years), and all the school officials had to look at were previous results and future population numbers. That 2011 football team consisted of 11 seniors, most playing both sides of the ball including the majority of special teams. This left the program very uncertain for the upcoming season, but an opportunity to move down to 8-man and hopefully find continued success.
To end this debacle of “running up the score vs. bad sportsmanship vs. child-like antics vs. rude fans”, I will say this. The sportsmanship and character of all fans can be improved, that is for certain. However, the change should not come only from the actions of the winning team. The losing team is held to the same standards as the winning team and players should be expected to make sacrifices for success. The purpose of high school sports is to teach values that cannot be learned or experienced in the academic classroom. Some of these values are not so easy to learn (perseverance, sacrifice, dedication) while others are a little easier (teamwork). These blow-out losses do not define a losing team, or the future of the members of that team. The winning team will win. The critics will talk. A team will not be remembered for just giving the other team the ball when things got “out of hand,” so they might as well win, and win with pride.
This post was edited on 11/3 11:41 AM by GW94JD