2008 Woodie Awards
No shame for teams' big wins
Patrick Murray
Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: Sports
Overkill, unnecessary, unsportsmanlike.
All these words have been used to describe the play of the New England Patriots over the course of this NFL season. Through the first 11 games, the Patriots have amassed 442 points, outpacing their opponents combined totals by 257 points. The team appears to be well on its way to shattering many of the offensive records in the NFL record book, and may have the best chance of any team in years to finish the regular season with an unblemished record.
However, when rationally debating the issue of "running up the score," the case of the Patriots only muddies the issue at heart. Much of the emotion surrounding the team stems from the issue of "Spygate," the prohibited videotaping of opposing team's sideline signals by the Patriots-giving New England an unfair advantage in their games.
The response elicited by this scandal makes it difficult for fans of other teams to fairly evaluate New England's practice of "running up the score." It has been suggested at times that backlash over Spygate and resentment toward the rest of the league may serve as motivation to the Patriots and Head Coach Bill Belichick to score as many points as possible in order to humiliate the other teams in the league.
A case of a similar phenomenon struck much closer to home for fans of Miami athletics this past weekend. The Miami University ice hockey team defeated Canisius College by a final score of 11 to 1 Saturday night.
Admittedly, football and hockey are different types of sports. The two have very different scoring dynamics, as it may be easier to "run up the score" in hockey, a sport in which points can be scored much more quickly than in football.
In any case, outscoring the opposition by 10 goals is almost unheard of. Once a game gets that out of hand, it is truly up to the opposing team to employ an effective strategy designed to preserve their dignity. In the simplest of terms, if you don't want to be blown out: don't let 'em score.
All these words have been used to describe the play of the New England Patriots over the course of this NFL season. Through the first 11 games, the Patriots have amassed 442 points, outpacing their opponents combined totals by 257 points. The team appears to be well on its way to shattering many of the offensive records in the NFL record book, and may have the best chance of any team in years to finish the regular season with an unblemished record.
However, when rationally debating the issue of "running up the score," the case of the Patriots only muddies the issue at heart. Much of the emotion surrounding the team stems from the issue of "Spygate," the prohibited videotaping of opposing team's sideline signals by the Patriots-giving New England an unfair advantage in their games.
The response elicited by this scandal makes it difficult for fans of other teams to fairly evaluate New England's practice of "running up the score." It has been suggested at times that backlash over Spygate and resentment toward the rest of the league may serve as motivation to the Patriots and Head Coach Bill Belichick to score as many points as possible in order to humiliate the other teams in the league.
A case of a similar phenomenon struck much closer to home for fans of Miami athletics this past weekend. The Miami University ice hockey team defeated Canisius College by a final score of 11 to 1 Saturday night.
Admittedly, football and hockey are different types of sports. The two have very different scoring dynamics, as it may be easier to "run up the score" in hockey, a sport in which points can be scored much more quickly than in football.
In any case, outscoring the opposition by 10 goals is almost unheard of. Once a game gets that out of hand, it is truly up to the opposing team to employ an effective strategy designed to preserve their dignity. In the simplest of terms, if you don't want to be blown out: don't let 'em score.
Be the first to comment on this story