Photo: NY Times By: Josiah Reed-Spratley Should blowouts be allowed in youth and amateur sports? Blowouts occur when a team wins by a significant margin.This question has been a hot debate for a very long time, especially nowadays with teams winning by such a large margin. For example, a high school basketball team beat a team by 97-27, and left in all their star players. Another case like this is was with a youth soccer team who beat a team 13-0. Now there is a rule put in place for these kinds of blowouts in youth sports. It’s called the mercy rule, and what it does is it just turns off the scoreboard if a team is getting blown out that bad. However, in high school sports they don’t have a “mercy rule.” However, some teams have a rule of their own. Over in Long Island’s Nassau County, they have a rule in place for football teams. The rule is that if a team wins by 42 points or more, they must answer to a committee why the score was the way it was. Weird, isn’t it? This rule is only about 3 years old, which is fairly new. Coach Robert Shaver has received the first punishment for this rule after his team, Plainedge Red Devils, beat the South Side cyclones by 48. He received a one game suspension for the win. Plainridge superintendent Edward A. Salina Jr says, “Who said they are experts on sportsmanship?...Why are you teaching children to play fairly, but now you are playing too well, don’t play anymore for the rest of the game. Where’s the life lessons?” As well as calling the committee a “kangaroo’s court.” Many see the rule as a waste. Matt McLees, the high school football commissioner, argued that the rule was a great idea, especially with not allowing too many blowouts by 42; plus it has made the games more worth watching. Honestly, blowouts are just part of the game. If you can’t handle it then you shouldn’t be playing the sport. You have to have the mentality as an athlete that you’re gonna win some and lose some. Those loses may be by a lot or a little. Getting blown out should only make you want to work harder. The mercy rule, in my opinion, is not a fair or helpful rule. Blowouts should give people motivation to want to work to get better and not lose by 30, 40, or 50 points.
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