Even mercy should have its limits

If you have ever participated in a sporting event such as softball, football or basketball, then you have probably been in a game where the score has been lopsided. You might have been on the team dishing out the punishment, or you may have been on the losing end of a blowout.

As long as there have been sporting events, there have been grievances and heated decision surrounding teams who run up the score.

After watching several blowouts over the years in several different sports, I?ve walked away shaking my head pondering the possibility of a mercy rule.

In most cases parents are the first to pass blame, and since Mr. Nunley and I cover sports on a daily basis and sit through several of these games every year, we too express our displeasure of a blowout.

But in reality, no one outside that specific game really cares if team A defeated team B by a million points.

Blowout games have become an increasingly big gripe across the country, however, and finally one state has decided to do something about it.

The Connecticut Athletic Conference, which governs high school sports in the same way as our own TSSAA, introduced the 50-point rule this season in hopes it will stop teams from running up the score in high school football. The rule states if you beat a team by more than 50 points, then your coach gets a one-game suspension. So far, two coaches have been suspended this season.

Though I have to agree there should be a mercy rule in all sports, it should only apply if a coach leaves his starters in the game too long, or returns them to the game after the other team scores a few points.

So when does a team score too many points? It?s hard to say, but you can?t put a mercy rule into play if a team scores while playing its second and third string. If I?m running downfield on my way to the end zone, am I supposed to turn right and run off the field just before crossing the goal line?

If a coach goes to his bench as soon as things start to get out of reach, then he has done all that can be asked to hold down the score. A team should never stop shooting passing or trying to score, as long as the starters are out.

Now I know we already have mercy rules in several sports such as softball and little league baseball, and they even used the rule in the World Baseball Classic. Several states are in the process of putting it in effect on high school and elementary basketball games.

Several states have a mercy rule in football for several years, but it involves a continuous clock. In Iowa, for example, they use a continuous clock in the second half if a team is up by 35 points or more.

There are pros and cons to a mercy rule. The major advantage is it stops a coach from running up the score. Secondly, it allows the losing team not to be embarrassed and it can cut down on unnecessary injuries on both sides of the ball. It also gives teams a chance to play their second- and third-stringers.

The disadvantage is there?s no chance of a comeback. It also effects the point differential when a tiebreaker is needed for a playoff game. It teaches the wrong lesson in life. Life isn?t always fair and mercy rules give the impression that when life gets tough, everyone is willing to give you a break.

I like the rule, but only if a coach hasn?t done everything they can not to run up the score.