Mercy Rules in Football. What do you think of it?

[WV Cowboy]

when they're just looking forward to the juice boxes after the game.

This brings up something else that irks me. I think we are starting these kids waaaaay too young.

Around here they are starting T-Ballers at 5, and depending on when your birthday is, you may be 4 !

I have also heard recently that in a neighboring town they are playing full tackle football in pads at 5 !

Both examples are ridiculous.

In T-Ball and C ball (which is the youngest minor league) they have a circle around the pitchers mound that whenever the defense gets the ball in the circle, play stops.
They have a line partway between 3rd and home, that if the runner gets past that line he gets to go home automatically, but if not he has to go back.
Everybody bats, .. only 5 or 6 runs per inning.

What are we doing? We are introducing them to a totally different game than I learned.

Why don't we just wait until they are 8 yrs old, and then play baseball the right way, straight up.

We have organized them from such a young age to the point that they only know - - everybody wears the same color hat, everybody wears the same color shirt, parents and grandparents sit in lawn chairs, have to have an umpire, field has to have pretty white lines and three bases. Every kid has his own batting helmet and his own expensive bat.

They don't know that they can use any vacant lot, with no umpires, no parents or grandparents, and use an old glove for second base, a paper plate for first and a brick for 3rd. Everybody can even use the same bat.

They don't know this because we have organized them since they were 4 yrs old. It is our fault.

[/rant]

 

[daschoo]

As many here know, I have coached youth sports for 25 years.
I have been on both ends of butt-whoopin's. (Fortunately I have had very good players so it wasn't me very often)

If I'm down big, I NEVER expect the other team to help keep my team close. That is our job.

If we are up big, I will try to keep the score down, but I will not tell my players not to play hard. At some point, your team needs to make the plays.

I also don't think any mercy rule should be invoked until later in the contest.

I have been leading 12-0 in the first inning of a 15 yr old league, and had parents/coaches from the other team angry because I didn't let up in the second inning.

That makes me mad.

Sports are competition, .. if you can't handle that, find something else to do.

I pretty much agree with all of this. When I was younger I played football (soccer), swam and briefly played rugby competitively. Over the years I was involved in some very one sided events sometimes when I/we won and sometimes lost. Its part of sport and like it or not also a life lesson.
The bit in bold I also think is a point that is seldom discussed. When I was playing football as a wean I was always taught the importance of committing to a tackle (bear in mind that a tackle in this sport is two people trying to win possession of the ball with their feet) as going in less than fully committed was much more likely to result in an injury. Seems crazy to me that guys playing american football would be asked to stop giving their all - the impacts involved are surely more likely to cause injury? - just because they have done their job so effectively they have a big lead.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

that isn't fair, sometimes the other team is just better and no matter how hard you work, you are going to be killed. My son's hockey team when he was 7 played a private club. The boys all worked their hardest but they still lost 21-0. The others were just superior players.

It's completely fair. In life, you may work as long, as smart and as hard as you are capable of working but there is still a chance that you lose out to somebody who may work harder, may be smarter or maybe they are just luckier. Whatever the case, you may not win and it will cost you. No reason at all that this lesson can not be learned or taught in Athletics.

The poster's statement was completely fair IMO.

 

[Doomsday101]

I don't like the idea, only because I feel like it's MORE embarrassing to be pitied. I'd rather lose by 70 than have the game called after 50 because people took pity on us.

With little kids, I'm ok with it, but in high school, it's ridiculous.

Exactly how I feel, losing sucks having someone show pity sucks more. I tend to believe winning and losing and understanding how to act and deal with both is what helps mold us as people but when you say hey your not good so we are going to stop the game then that would make me feel worse and it would be insulting to me. Then again that is me, I'm a competitive person always have been even as a little kid, you may beat me but I will fight you to the end, I never quit and I don't want someone quitting for me.

 

[WV Cowboy]

Plus, .. when we show/tell our kids that it is ok to quit because the other team is better, or because your team is way behind, .. then it becomes, "when is it ok to quit?"

Is it ok when you are behind 21 - 0 in the second quarter of a football game? If so, you will NEVER taste the thrill of an improbable comeback.

Is it ok to quit in a baseball game if the score is 15 - 1 ? I once coached a team facing that deficit, .. and we came back and won 19-18.

If kids feel that it is ok to quit, or the other team should feel sorry for us because we are way behind, you steal "competitiveness" from them.

And what is sport without it?

They will gradually, over time, learn to quit and give up earlier and earlier in a contest.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

It's completely fair. In life, you may work as long, as smart and as hard as you are capable of working but there is still a chance that you lose out to somebody who may work harder, may be smarter or maybe they are just luckier. Whatever the case, you may not win and it will cost you. No reason at all that this lesson can not be learned or taught in Athletics.

The poster's statement was completely fair IMO.

no it wasn't because it implies the team which is better than yours worked and you didn't and that you need to learn the consequences of not working hard. That is not fair to the team that isn't as good.

The Rams worked hard against us, they just aren't as good for whatever reason. It is unfair and extremely simplistic to say that if you lose, it is because you didn't work hard enough.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

no it wasn't because it implies the team which is better than yours worked and you didn't and that you need to learn the consequences of not working hard. That is not fair to the team that isn't as good.

The Rams worked hard against us, they just aren't as good for whatever reason. It is unfair and extremely simplistic to say that if you lose, it is because you didn't work hard enough.

Excellent point. I've never liked that comment "Well you need to work harder". That is often, quite frankly, a complete load of crap.

Just because you work your *** off it won't change the fact that the other athletes are simply better. Now if your team busts their *** all the time and they play a far superior team who just loafs and doesn't work hard themselves then yah you're going to beat them. Which is how you get some of those upsets that no one saw coming.

But if both teams are working their butts off then it's not going to matter how badly you want to win, how badly you want to prove you've worked your butt off, the superior team is still going to beat you down.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

no it wasn't because it implies the team which is better than yours worked and you didn't and that you need to learn the consequences of not working hard. That is not fair to the team that isn't as good.

The Rams worked hard against us, they just aren't as good for whatever reason. It is unfair and extremely simplistic to say that if you lose, it is because you didn't work hard enough.

Don't agree. It's as fair as it gets. The Rams will be a better team for it and the Rams did not get Mercy Ruled. You know why? Because there is no Mercy Rule in the NFL.

If all you got out of that post is "You Didn't Work Hard Enough", then I am wasting my time in this conversation with you. You don't get it.

The poster earlier was accurate.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Excellent point. I've never liked that comment "Well you need to work harder". That is often, quite frankly, a complete load of crap.

Just because you work your *** off it won't change the fact that the other athletes are simply better. Now if your team busts their *** all the time and they play a far superior team who just loafs and doesn't work hard themselves then yah you're going to beat them. Which is how you get some of those upsets that no one saw coming.

But if both teams are working their butts off then it's not going to matter how badly you want to win, how badly you want to prove you've worked your butt off, the superior team is still going to beat you down.

Life is not sports. That's why the call it life and there is no Mercy Rule in life. If you don't learn to deal with loses and accept them and use them to improve yourself, then chances are, Life will beat you down. Played a lot of Sports in my life and it helped me to prepare myself for life but I'm not confused about what is sport and what is life. In all the games, matches, races I've ever been in, very few wins do I remember. However, I remember the loses to this day. I believe that I learned much more from those then I ever did from the wins.

I don't believe in the Mercy Rule stuff and I definitely don't believe in fining or suspending coaches for this kind of stuff. Sends a poor message IMO.

 

[bounce]

If we are up big, I will try to keep the score down, but I will not tell my players not to play hard. At some point, your team needs to make the plays.

That's another good point. I've played sports all my life (33) and I've lost big and won big. Of course, like every other washed up athlete, now I play in a pretty competitive softball league. We're a really good team, and all of us have a lot of baseball backgrounds, so we can ALL play (not bragging, going somewhere with this). There's one team that somehow snuck into our league that is made up of a bunch of guys who threw together a team because they thought it'd be fun. Our first game, we beat them like 35-3 -- and when you're up by that much, it's really hard to "pull off the gas" because the other guys aren't as good. It's embarrassing to both our team and theirs if all of a sudden guys aren't running out hits, or not going for the double play on a perfectly set-up grounder. Or all of a sudden we're stepping on the plate for an automatic out because they can't get an out on their own. Nobody wins in that situation.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

Don't agree. It's as fair as it gets. The Rams will be a better team for it and the Rams did not get Mercy Ruled. You know why? Because there is no Mercy Rule in the NFL.

If all you got out of that post is "You Didn't Work Hard Enough", then I am wasting my time in this conversation with you. You don't get it.

The poster earlier was accurate.

well if you say so, it must be true

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

Excellent point. I've never liked that comment "Well you need to work harder". That is often, quite frankly, a complete load of crap.

Just because you work your *** off it won't change the fact that the other athletes are simply better. Now if your team busts their *** all the time and they play a far superior team who just loafs and doesn't work hard themselves then yah you're going to beat them. Which is how you get some of those upsets that no one saw coming.

But if both teams are working their butts off then it's not going to matter how badly you want to win, how badly you want to prove you've worked your butt off, the superior team is still going to beat you down.

this year in tryouts, no matter how hard my son worked, he was not going to be on the top team at his club because there are players in his age group who simply are better.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

well if you say so, it must be true

No, that would be how you look at things. What I have stated is my opinion and true for me. Everybody has there own opinions and they are welcome to them.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

That's another good point. I've played sports all my life (33) and I've lost big and won big. Of course, like every other washed up athlete, now I play in a pretty competitive softball league. We're a really good team, and all of us have a lot of baseball backgrounds, so we can ALL play (not bragging, going somewhere with this). There's one team that somehow snuck into our league that is made up of a bunch of guys who threw together a team because they thought it'd be fun. Our first game, we beat them like 35-3 -- and when you're up by that much, it's really hard to "pull off the gas" because the other guys aren't as good. It's embarrassing to both our team and theirs if all of a sudden guys aren't running out hits, or not going for the double play on a perfectly set-up grounder. Or all of a sudden we're stepping on the plate for an automatic out because they can't get an out on their own. Nobody wins in that situation.

Play every at bat out. That's how you play the game.

 

[Doomsday101]

this year in tryouts, no matter how hard my son worked, he was not going to be on the top team at his club because there are players in his age group who simply are better.

So? There are athletes in the Olympic who know they don't have a chance to win or even be real contenders but they go out and try to do their personal best. Sometimes it is just about getting the most you can out of yourself not just winning.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

So? There are athletes in the Olympic who know they don't have a chance to win or even be real contenders but they go out and try to do their personal best. Sometimes it is just about getting the most you can out of yourself not just winning.

Success in life is seldom measured in wins. A person can be very successful in life if they just learn to never give up and continue to work at it. Get better every day and companies or Business will reward a person for it. Reminds me of that commercial that used to come on TV. "The NCAA has 400,000 athletes who will be going pro in something other then Sports." That's about as good a way to explain why sports and learning how to win and lose big is important IMO.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

One of the hardest things I have to do and have ever had to do, as a Parent, is to allow my kids to fail and then watch them as it happened. This is so important and it's so hard to step back and let the process run it's course but you have to do it. It's part of life.

 

[Doomsday101]

Success in life is seldom measured in wins. A person can be very successful in life if they just learn to never give up and continue to work at it. Get better every day and companies or Business will reward a person for it. Reminds me of that commercial that used to come on TV. "The NCAA has 400,000 athletes who will be going pro in something other then Sports." That's about as good a way to explain why sports and learning how to win and lose big is important IMO.

No doubt about it. I loved sports and to this day I remain competitive but the biggest competition I have is myself it is doing my personal best win or lose. I knew early on that sports would not be my career but I gained so much from sports dealing with success and failures, working with others for common goals being someone who can be counted on and putting goals ahead of my own gains. Sports can teach great ethics that go well beyond winning and losing. I have been lucky enough to play for coaches who understood that and instilled that in myself and teammates.

 

[Doomsday101]

One of the hardest things I have to do and have ever had to do, as a Parent, is to allow my kids to fail and then watch them as it happened. This is so important and it's so hard to step back and let the process run it's course but you have to do it. It's part of life.

I have no kids but my dad always allowed my sports to be my domain without interference, he would help me however he could when I asked and his only rule from pee wee on through college was finish what you start.

 

[bounce]

I have no kids but my dad always allowed my sports to be my domain without interference, he would help me however he could when I asked and his only rule from pee wee on through college was finish what you start.

That's pretty much how my folks were. They were at every single game and practice, and dad would drop everything to play catch with me in the yard, but he never "coached" me. He would give tips and advice, but never in an intrusive way. They had the same rule - you don't have to play sports, but if you start a season, finish it. And never play it again if you don't want to.

One exception was soccer when I was about 7. We had a coach that would scream at us and have us running for entire practices without even kicking a ball. The first few weeks were 'conditioning' to get us into shape. At 6 and 7 years old. He treated it like boot camp and we were in 1st and 2nd grade. There was absolutely no joy in the sport, and I was miserable - as were most of the other kids. I've never played soccer since, and that's exactly the reason parents/coaches can't do that to little kids who are trying to learn a sport. I'm sure soccer is a great sport, but he killed any passion I ever would have had for it.