Column: Show no mercy
Published Dec. 11, 2009
I distinctly remember last season's NBA playoffs when Denver beat the New Orleans Hornets in Game 4 of the first round to take a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series. I don't remember any other game in that series. Couldn't tell you too much more about that series in general. That particular game stands out because the Nuggets won 121-63.
Now, if you remember, apparently the NBA playoffs is "where amazing happens," or so claimed the commercial. Now, after hearing about a 58-point trouncing over a group of professional athletes, I would say "amazing" fits the bill pretty well. At least if I wasn't a Hornets fan. If that were the case, maybe humiliating? Shameful? Where embarrassing happens?
Playing to win is one thing, but how necessary is it to pummel your opponent by an epic margin? Thus is the question in regard to the "mercy rule" in amateur athletics. Whether the reason is out of courtesy or boredom, many youth leagues have a standard to call a game after a certain run total or point differential is reached.
This completely sends the wrong message to the kids involved. They would learn more having to endure than throwing up the white flag, a far worse crime than running up the score.
I assume this rule started in order to protect the self-esteem of the players on the losing team. I see where they are coming from, but this could not be further from the truth. Yes, no one likes to lose. When your team gets crushed, it hurts. Bad.
But, therein lies one of the most beautiful things in all of sports: the opportunity for redemption. If we let our youth quit early, we are depriving them of something essential. That feeling you get, the one of utter revulsion and disappointment twisted in the pit of your stomach, is what drives us, what keeps us working, what makes us better. That feeling should be endured and remembered, propelling us to work harder than ever before, to make darn sure that something like that will never even come close to happening again. And with enough time, if you care enough and truly commit yourself, it won't.
This being said, once a contest is clearly out of hand, the scoreboard should be turned off and the back-ups should log in some serious playing time, but the game should be played for all nine innings, four quarters or three periods.
Now, some argue that once a game is unwinnable, it is a futile endeavor. Fine. Time is money, I guess. But much can still be gained when all else seems lost. In sports such as track, you can still attain a personal best time in an event long after the meet became out of reach for your team. It is in the most difficult moments when you discover who the true leaders are.
About a year ago, a private school in Dallas garnered national attention for defeating an opponent 100-0 in a basketball game. Less than three weeks later, the coach was fired from his job for not adhering to some variation of this mercy rule standard, forcing him to look for a similar position elsewhere. That's like asking someone to find a needle in a haystack in this difficult economy.
The "mercy rule," huh? Mercy for whom?