Lets just play the game and quit crying

[tbplus10]

Sadly you arent allowed to beat the pants off of another team in sports now-a-days, you have to worry that you may be demoralizing and degrading them if your team is the better team on the court or field.
So what are we learning boys and girls? If we were the better team we should quit and give away points so we allow people that dont train or play as good as us to still feel like winners, because every ones a winner, we dont want anyone to think they have to work hard to be a winner.


VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The Canadian women's hockey team set an Olympic record Saturday night, welcoming Slovakia to its first Winter Games tournament with an 18-0 demolition at Hockey Place. Before you shed a tear for the Slovaks, keep in mind they're the nation that defeated Bulgaria by the score of 82-0 in an infamous game in 2008.

Here's what the Canadian shellacking looked like, as the 18 goals set an Olympic mark for most goals scored in a women's hockey game – a record the team previously set in 2006 in Turin, with a 16-0 drubbing of Italy in that nation's first Winter Games appearance.

CTV hockey analyst Cassie Campbell called Slovakia's inaugural beating in the Olympics a "great moment" for women's hockey – much in the same way, we imagine, a flyweight getting his face punched in by Mike Tyson would be a great moment for boxing.

Other than some impressive stats for the Canadian women -- including a hat trick for Meghan Agosta and a record-tying six points for winger Jayna Hefford -- there's nothing all that great about this moment for women's Olympic hockey. In fact, the Canadian and U.S. players were facing heat over the preliminary-round disparity before the tournament started.

The blowout reinforces every criticism of the women's tournament, such as the need for a mercy rule or the notion that the women's tournament is "essentially an intramural competition between the same group of Canadian and U.S. women," as Jeff Blair of The Globe and Mail opined.

The Canadian and American women have heard this criticism since the IOC officially sanctioned the event in 1998, and they have some canned answers to those critiques. Like the fact that when men's ice hockey first appeared in the 1924 Winter Games, in Chamonix, France, Canada outscored its foes 122-3.

The Canadian Press spoke with women's ice hockey players and coaches about the sport's disparity, and found all of them preaching patience:

"Unfortunately, in the world we live in with all the technology, patience is a word people don't use very often," U.S. head coach Mark Johnson says. "You look back at when women's basketball started in the NCAA in the early days and the struggles they had to go through, and where they are today, it's much different. Women's hockey is still young in my eyes."

International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel told the CP that the IOC "does not have concerns" about the blowouts, partly because it's a sport that sells tickets every Olympiad.

While it's clearly dominated by two participants, it isn't likely to suffer the same fate as softball in the Summer Games because participatory numbers are decent around the world. Non-North American games are competitive, such as Sweden's 3-0 win over Switzerland in women's preliminary hockey on Saturday.

No, it won't suffer softball's fate. The only suffering will be done by teams that have to face Canada in the first round. Some sort of mercy rule would certainly help decrease criticism of the tournament, even if it means sacrificing scoring records.

[Cableguy]

Sorry I must add to this. Did you see the look on the womens US team, WOW. Talk about PO'd

[tbplus10]

If you dont want your butt kicked playing sports maybe you shouldnt be playing.
When I was a kid they used to teach us about good sportsmanship, things like if ya lose dont be a whiner go back and learn how to play better or be a graceful winner.
Now they cry if ya win by to many points, so why doesnt every game end as soon as one team has a 1 point lead.

[Cableguy]

Thats true. We train the same as everyother team would have, so whats the problem.
Nobody is crazy big on steroids or anything. Suck it up butter cup LOL

[TrailLeadr]

It's not getting any better.





In yet another nod to the protection of fledgling self-esteem, an Ottawa children’s soccer league has introduced a rule that says any team that wins a game by more than five points will lose by default.

The Gloucester Dragons Recreational Soccer league’s newly implemented edict is intended to dissuade a runaway game in favour of sportsmanship. The rule replaces its five-point mercy regulation, whereby any points scored beyond a five-point differential would not be registered.

Kevin Cappon said he first heard about the rule on May 20 — right after he had scored his team’s last allowable goal. His team then tossed the ball around for fear of losing the game.

He said if anything, the league’s new rule will coddle sore losers.

“They should be saying anything is possible. If we can get five goals really fast, well, so can the other team,” said Kevin, 17, who has played in the league for five years. “People grow in adversity, they don’t really get worse…. I think you’ll see more leadership skills being used if a losing team tries to recuperate than if they never got into that situation at all.”

Kevin’s father, Bruce Cappon, called the rule ludicrous.

“I couldn’t find anywhere in the world, even in a communist country, where that rule is enforced,” he said.

Mr. Cappon said the organization is trying to “reinvent the wheel” by fostering a non-competitive environment. The league has 3,000 children enrolled ranging in age from four to 18 years old.

“Everybody wants a close game, nobody wants blowouts, but we don’t want to go by those farcical rules that they come up with,” he said. “Heaven forbid when these kids get into the real world. They won’t be prepared to deal with the competition out there.”

Paul Cholmsky, whose four- and six-year-old boys play in the league, said the intended goal of a default-lose rule might backfire in teaching life skills.

“If there’s one team that’s consistenly dominant and one team that’s not, well, that’s life,” he said.

Mr. Cholmsky said he would be in favour of temporarily handicapping a team, for example reducing the number of players on the field, over ensuring a team loss for a high score differential.

According to the league’s new rules, coaches of stronger teams are encouraged to deter runaway games by rotating players out of their usual positions, ensuring players pass the ball around, asking players to kick with the weaker foot, taking players off the field and encouraging players to score from farther away.

Club director Sean Cale said he is disappointed a few parents are making the new soccer rule overshadow the community involvement and organizing the Gloucester club does.

“The registration fee, rergardless of the sport, does not give a parent the right to insult or belittle the organization,” he said. “It gives you a uniform, it gives you a team.”

Mr. Cale said the league’s 12-person board of directors is not trying to take the fun out of the game, they are simply trying to make it fair. The new rule, suggested by “involved parents,” is a temporary measure that will be replaced by a pre-season skill assessment to make fair teams.

“The board is completely volunteer-run and we do the best that we can to provide a good, clean, fun soccer experience for everyone,” he said.

Although parents are fuming, he said the commotion is coming from “about 1% of the parents.”

National Post

[tbplus10]

Most play games for the competition, and they can be a valuable learning tool for kids about always giving your best to whatever your doing, but rules like this teach kids why try hard the outcome is decided were both winners so we can just go out there and walk around until the end of the game.

[TrailLeadr]

Yeah, I'm thinking I wouldn't want to play in any league with a ruling like that.
My sport in high school was cross country. I'd be appalled if I was told that because I was a 1/4 mile ahead of my closest competitor that I had to wait by the finish line or slow down so he could catch up and not feel as bad about losing. Better still, I'd feel worse if I was the kid who was losing and someone had to hold back so that I could catch up. It's almost like a pity loss. Like we didn't want you to feel bad for being a loser. If you ask me this rubs the kid's face in it even more.
"Hey, you suck, and to prove how much you suck we're telling the other team to ease up on you!"

I completely agree with you, and a statement made in the article, life is hard, and life is not going to hand out any breaks to those who either fall by the wayside due to lack of motivation/desire or ability. Better to learn how to cope with the adversity now while young rather than to make young adults that are whiners because their co-worker landed a job paying more then their lazy or inept self.

This reminds me of a similar story about the a European family where the parents refuse to acknowledge the child's gender so as to not stereotype it. http://www.thelocal.se/20232/20090623/ Kid's have it hard enough. Doesn't matter what generation. Enough of these PC do-gooders.

I know I'm taking this thread kind of off topic from the original post, so sorry.

[Cableguy]

Don't get me started about some of the bleeding hearts in Canada...Sports whiney babies is the least of our worries. Watch the G20 summit this month and you'll get the idea. We have nuts cases from all over the world here and the best we can come up with is a sound cannon? and a water cannon? I was hoping for a mini gun with rubber bullets to start.

[TrailLeadr]

What?! They're not using the pulsating light thing? The flashlight that makes you puke.

Jamie with his mini-gun ready to keep the peace! (see attachment)

Yes, my photoshopping skills suck, but then I don't use photoshop. So there ya go.

[Cableguy]

Seriously thats friggin' hilarious