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From: citrin@ucbvax.ARPA (Wayne Citrin)
Newsgroups: net.sport.hockey
Subject: Re: Edmonton "No Class" Oilers
Message-ID: <6870@ucbvax.ARPA>
Date: Wed, 8-May-85 17:56:29 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.6870
Posted: Wed May  8 17:56:29 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 9-May-85 02:11:03 EDT
References: <5201@ucla-cs.ARPA> <480@alberta.UUCP>
Reply-To: citrin@ucbvax.UUCP (Wayne citrin)
Distribution: na
Organization: University of California at Berkeley
Lines: 27
Summary: 

I've been reading a number of these flames and I've finally decided to say
something.  You guys defending the Oilers for running up the score to
11-2, haven't you heard of sportsmanship?  (Sportsmanship, you say, what's
that?)  Call me naive, but I think there's even a place for it in 
professional sports.  I've played in 10-0 hockey games (on the winning side,
not the losing side), and I didn't feel particularly good about it.
I have friends who have been on the losing side of scores like 19-0, and 
they claim that it feels worse than losing, say, 7-0.  I admit that in the
NHL, there's more to worry about than hurting your opponent's feelings, 
but there are practical considerations:  in a runaway game, there's
a greater likelihood of fights, and a greater likelihood of serious
injuries, as the losing team decides that playing to win is pointless and
decides to vent its frustration on the opposition.  Also, the winning team 
has to realize that the opponent may come back and humiliate it another
day.

In most professional sports, the threat of retribution is enough to
keep a player from showing up an opponent.  Legitimate efforts to win
a game are respected, but when a game is already won, a baseball player,
for example, who shows up his opponent, can expect to have a pitch thrown
at his head, or to be spiked on the basepaths.

What constitutes running up a score?  It's hard to say, but when it happens,
it's obvious.

Wayne Citrin
(ucbvax!citrin)