More running up the scoreage

Doesn't see the big deal.

 

No reason in soccer. 10 goal lead in the second half, ball game.
No reason in basketball. Up by 45 in the second half? Clock runs except for called time outs until the score comes within 35.
No. reason in football, although machismo won't let teams do it. Same as basketball. 45 in the second half, until you pull within 35.
Softball is 15 after 3 and 10 after 5.
Baseball? see softball.
You want the kids to win, and the argument can be made of don't want to get embarrassed? Improve.
But sometimes, the state association dictates the schedule. And some schools can't compete with schools in their area or district.

 

I always thought college recruiting and scholarships were based on newspaper prep coverage.

 

Well guess what, we're starting to get calls from parents and coaches demanding coverage for summer league baseball, travel AAU basketball, travel volleyball, summer football camps, etc etc etc, because that's where the scholarship decisions get made.

Back to the RUTS issue: In the NFL, point differential is indeed a playoff tiebreaker -- I believe one of the wild-card berths came down to one level above point differential a few seasons ago.

In some college hockey leagues you used to have 2-game total-goals series, which definitely is an incentive to RUTS in the first game (I think that's why they've been mostly done away with).

I don't think I've heard of any playoff formula in any high school sport which uses point differential as a playoff tiebreaker (I am sure there are somewhere).

I do know Michigan's football playoff point tiebreaker formula, way down in the deep deep levels, uses the number of times a team has been leading in the score after three quarters, then two quarters, then one quarter, but it's a yes/no standard: were you leading in the score or not -- doesn't matter if you were ahead 7-6 or 57-0. So there's no competitive reason which compels you to RUTS.

 

Yates is back with a brand-new edition

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/hso/6827488.html

With less than three minutes to go, Peters broke away for a crowd-pleasing, 360-degree dunk to push the Lions’ total to 84.

From that point on, Yates employed a strategy of their own: immediately foul on the inbounds play. Westbury went to the free-throw line seven times in that span, giving the Lions plenty of opportunities to pad their point total to triple-digits, but missed shots and broken plays tripped them up as the clock wound down.

 

Damn. They were fouling the trailing team just to get to 100? Wow.

Sooner or later, somebody's going to call them on shit like that. And there's gonna be one heck of a throwdown.

 

I would laugh at that line if it wasn't so true in terms of that's what people think.

But someone made a very good point - high school sports are becoming less relevant in terms of getting scholarships as AAU programs and summer elite training camps and shit have become more and more the rage in every sport, not just basketball.

Obviously football season matters, but if a kid doesn't go to one of those "combines", he's going to have a hard time getting a big-time offer.

 

If you have ever watched the shitty quality of hoops that comes without a shotclock (cough, Oregon, cough) you wouldn't be. It is so stimulating to watch a team score 25 and then play keep away for the rest of the fucking game.

 

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/hso/6832182.html

Yates is slipping. They only won by 115 on Friday night, 154-39.

 

Karma must have been busy this week working on the Jets and the Vikings. She'll get around to Yates next week.

 

Until you cover a 25-24 game, quit yer bitchin, Bodie

 

In New York, at least in one section, they use a first half point differential as a tie-breaker. Kind of a bummer for those come-from-behind wins, but for the most part the system works.

Petrie, I'm covering a basketball game in the near future that we've joked about the possibility of a double shutout. If either team hits 30, I will be happy.