Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
November 16, 2007, Washington Post

Sports Laughers: Where's the Fun?

They are called blowouts. . . . Laughers. . . . Routs. They are the games where one team piles up points or runs or goals so fast that the other team doesn't stand a chance. Blowouts can be fun when your team is winning. They are not so fun when you are on the losing end.

Blowouts can happen anywhere. Earlier this season, the New England Patriots crushed the Washington Redskins, 52-7. Some Redskins fans thought Patriots Coach Bill Belichick was a bad sport because he went for first downs and touchdowns late in the game when he could have kicked field goals.

I don't agree. While it would have been nicer for Belichick and the Patriots not to score so many points, you have to remember they are playing professional football. Things are very close to even in the National Football League. All the teams have top coaches and roughly the same chance to get good players.

But just because blowouts are okay in the NFL doesn't mean it's all right to run up the score in kids' games or high school sports. Kids' sports are very different from the pros. There are lots of games where one team is much better than its opponent. One team might be older, more experienced or have much better coaches.

So what is the stronger team supposed to do? Stop playing? Stop trying to win?

No. I coached more than 30 recreational-league teams, and I never told my kids, "don't score" or "don't try to get a hit," no matter what the score was. Sometimes a blowout game gives a kid who might never score a basket or a goal a chance to put one in the net.

Still, there are things coaches and kids can do to keep an uneven game from being a blowout.

• Use substitutes. The winning team should always give its weaker players or bench-warmers more of a chance to play. Against the Redskins, Belichick didn't replace star quarterback Tom Brady until late in the game.

• Change the lineup. Coaches can put weaker players in scoring positions. For instance, in a lopsided soccer match, less-talented players might play on the front line and the team's top scorers could play defense.

• Change the game plan. In basketball, a team that is way ahead should stop playing pressure defense. Instead of running a fast-break offense, the team should pass the ball around and give kids who don't score as much a chance to get some shots. In baseball, a team should stop stealing bases or moving up an extra base on every error by the other team.

Unlike pro sports, where winning is so important, kids' sports should give players a chance to improve their skills and have some fun. Blowouts, where one team crushes another, do not help kids improve and aren't much fun.

Fred Bowen writes KidsPost's sports opinion column and is an author of sports novels for kids.

© 2007 The Washington Post Company