Two undefeated high school football rivals from Long Island met last weekend. Plainedge HS ended up blowing out South Shore, 61-13.
Now the Nassau County lopsided score committee has suspended the winning coach for running up the score.
The losing coach had no issues with the game: “I had no issue with how the game went,” Onesto told Newsday. “I had spoken to coach Shaver, I told him I had no issues.”
Yet the lopsided score committee has taken action.
What? There is actually a “lopsided score committee”??? Are we really becoming that sensitive?
This is high school football, not Pop Warner! And from the looks of the high school field pictured in the article, a pretty serious high school for football. I would suspect South Shore is also a serious program as well. These teams don’t need their egos protected by a “lopsided score committee”!!
Just another example of idiocy that runs in the veins of our culture.
Instead of a “lopsided rule committee” if they are that concerned then they need something like Arizona’s 42 point rule in 8-man football. (or at least it was in effect many many years ago). That is, if one team gets a lead of 42 points or more. The game ends. Doesn’t matter if it’s before half time, or a minute left in the game.
This right here or put in the second string so they get a chance to play. Running up scores is not a new phenomenon, it’s been going on for decades and it’s a non-issue.
One game the radio station I worked for was broadcasting, they had the second string in (in 8 man they have a minimum of 12 players, and usually only 14) so to speak, and it still ended before halftime.
With a regual high school team, might be easier to put in a second string.
Running up scores has been going on for longer than you and I have been alive and it’s a crappy thing to do to another team (even in professional sports)
Even conservative states have an issue with this and are considering a “mercy rule” law.
That’s different from having “lopsided score committee” – with the power to suspend a coach. Almost a week after the fact.
Snow was also talking about mercy rules too. My grandsons are on a traveling baseball team, and the organizing committee institutes run-rules that end a game when the lead is (however much) at the end of an inning.
I generally oppose mercy rules. Life can suck sometimes. Kids need to learn that fact.
Now in baseball or softball, I support ending innings after a certain number of runs are scored due to the need to keep the game within time constraints. But since football, basketball and most other sports have a set time limit, that is not a factor.
If an opposing team wants to be merciful and put in their second and third string players, fine. But it should not be forced by rule.
I heard that sentiment often in 2016 when folks explained why they voted for Trump. It was a reaction against Black Lives Matter and other causes. But guess what? Those groups are stronger and more annoying than ever under Trump.
Unless Trump commented on this via Tweet, I agree his name should stay out of this thread.
Anyway, I hate mercy rules. Kids, AND PARENTS, need to understand how to lose before they can appreciate how to win. That’s life. Protecting these kids in sports will only delay this hard lesson until maybe it is too late.
This is one of those few times I agree with the OP.
First of all, the best way to keep a team from running up the score, STOP THEM.
Here in Maryland when a game is out a hand at halftime, the officials just run the clock. For example, a couple of weeks ago here in my county(Prince George’s) Wise HS beat the brakes off of Bladensburg HS and High Point HS in consecutive weeks, 70-0. It was 57-0 at the half against Bladensburg and 56-0 at the half against High Point. After Half time, the refs ran the clock. If there was a flag, the clock still ran, if there was an incomplete pass, the clock still ran, someone run out of bounds, the clock still ran. The only time the clock stops is when a team called a timeout or if someone get hurt on the field.
I can’t stand the participation trophy crowd. Let these kids deal with losing/defeat. Trust me, that builds character and should make folks work harder. So tired of this sheltered, don’t hurt their self-esteem attitude in athletics. Hell as a track athlete(HS and D1 College level), me and my teammates had out share of defeats, all this did is make us work even harder, train harder and analyze what went wrong previously so the same mistakes want occur again. Some of these parents need to teach these kids how to deal with set backs.
There is no way this coach should have been suspended.
I don’t really see this as “political correctness,” but I agree that getting upset about lopsided scores is stupid. What do we expect the winning team to do? Stop trying in the second half? Let the other team score? Call off the game?
