Is Running Up the Score Acceptable?

By Noah Eck

Sometimes everything goes right for a team and the game gets out of hand very quickly. That being said, is it acceptable for a team to keep making baskets or scoring touchdowns when the winner is clearly decided?
Argument For: Imagine you’re a player for a high school soccer team and you don’t get very much playing time. Now imagine your team is crushing the opponent and your coach decides to put you in. Here’s the catch, your coach tells you, “We clearly won the game and I don’t want to embarrass the other team or make any parents angry so please don’t try your best.” This is your chance to show your coach why you show get more playing time and yet you’re told not to give 100%. It doesn’t seem right for a team that gets destroyed to complain about the score when it’s their job to stop the other team. They should use the lopsided score to motivate them to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I know if I were on the team that is getting destroyed, I wouldn’t want any free “charity points” from the other team just because they already won. That almost seems more disrespectful and humiliating than losing by 100 points.
Argument Against: If the game is clearly decided why does the winning team’s coach still have his starters in? Don’t get me wrong winning is very important but so is sportsmanship. If the motivation for running up the score is fueled by humiliating the other team and proving how much better you are compared to the other team that is disrespectful and unacceptable. If the other team’s bench players are really trying and happen to be having a great game that’s fine by me. But when the other team still has their starters in, and they’re running their best plays just to destroy the confidence of the other team, then it just seems wrong.

What do you think?  Leave your comments for me below.