How to stop games getting out of hand
I’m writing after reading about the high school team that beat its opponent by 88 points. This should not happen, but due to conferences, enrollments, etc., it happens all too frequently.
I have a solution, even if it cannot become a rule. Let the referees control these games as an unofficial policy. My father was an excellent baseball player who played on a Yankees farm team after World War II. He later was a baseball manager at the high school and American Legion level. He also was a well-regarded high school basketball official. My friends and I enjoyed many stories he shared about his sports career.
One I always remember concerned a high school championship game that paired two mismatched schools. The weaker team had zero chance of winning, but the game had to be played. The better team was winning easily and was embarrassing the weaker team. They even contested every inbounds play. The game was over by halftime. However, the winning team kept up the same defense in the second half.
My father and his fellow official were concerned that a member of the losing team might get angry, throw a punch and start a fight. My father quietly asked the winning coach to pull back his team and let the opponent at least inbound the ball. The coach ignored him. He asked again and the coach ignored him again. From that point on, every out-of-bounds ball was awarded to the losing team even if they knocked it out. Whenever a member of the winning team got into his defensive stance, he was whistled for a foul. The coach got the message, pulled his guys back and the game ended quickly without incident.
While this obviously cannot become an official rule, it can be implemented by any referee worth his salt. I’m surprised that officials allow games to get so far out of hand. These are high school kids. Imagine how they must feel while playing in a game like this.
If we cannot establish sportsmanship rules to control coaches, than we should look at other means to prevent games like the one in question. It may not be a process that can become a rule, but it does help mitigate the problem.
Gary Matregrano
Fairfield