Running up the Score

I spent some time this Saturday on the other side of the fence. Gridiron football, that is. A friend of mine plays in a rough tough league so I watched a game and then adjourned to have lunch with these football players. Lucky for me, their coach was there and I was able to pick her brain.

Despite all the obvious differences, there are bigger ideological differences in respect to the game, what sportsmanship is, and what it is to show respect to your opponents. They had recently played in a match and received an ass kicking (ps, there are some very athletic women out there playing rec football). The other team, every single time they went on offense, tried to score. This, apparently, was a bad thing, and this wasn't just one person's opinion. From what I could gather, once you've sufficiently run up the score, the appropriate thing to do is just take a knee on offense and run through the downs. When I asked why, I was told "why risk someone getting hurt when the game is essentially already won?". This practice of "taking a knee" is apparently pretty standard in all levels of football.

Now of course I had to share the rugby way of doing things (sidebar: My friend Bekah, also a rugby person, was with me, and I could FEEL the tension rising as she anticipated what sort of incident-causing-comments I might make. I believe I did a wonderful job keeping a meaningful, non-judgmental dialog going)

I told them that in rugby, every second on the pitch is a privilege, and shouldn't be wasted. Games like this are an opportunity to work on things, and the losing team now has an opportunity to work on defense. We can play all our subs. We can try to develop aspects of our game that need work. Bottom line, I said - Saturday's a rugby day, and we want to spend every available second playing rugby.

So then what about the team getting their ass kicked, they said? Isn't it unsportsmanlike to embarrass them like that? Well, personally I think its unsportsmanlike to ever take it light on your opponent. We've all been on both sides of the 80-5 game. If you were on the winning side, don't people who normally never get a chance for glory suddenly find themselves in the tryzone? Isn't it a time where maybe you can see that rookie #3 has amazing foot skills? If you were on the losing side, wasn't it amazing to score that one try?. If you were on the losing side playing against some really amazing players, doesn't it feel great to have shared the pitch with them? And, if you're on the losing side, even though you got your ass kicked, don't you walk away feeling as if your team, together, has faced something really hard, and come away tougher and wiser?

So ... it's an interesting difference between us and them. I know I don't speak for all rugby players or coaches, but to me, "taking a knee on offense" is about the same thing as handing the ball to the other teams #9 at the next scrum down saying, "Here you go - why don't you guys just play offense for the rest of the game?".

Would anyone ever do that?

Match Day: How much coaching is too much coaching?

I've watched hundreds of rugby matches, and every coach has their own particular style .

Here are a few diverse examples ranging from maximum coach involvement to minimum:

• Two coaches on either sideline, communicating by radio to call each and every phase of play , offensively and and defensively, verbally communicating with captains and decision makers non-stop.
  
  
• The coach who yells non-stop, positive, negative, pretty much everything there is, moving up and down the sideline with the play.
  
  
• More reserved, the coach who moves up and down the sidelines, dialoging at stoppages, words of encouragement here and there. On-pitch meetings during injury stoppages and in the try-zone (when a try has been scored)
  
  
• Occasional try-zone only intervensions.
  
  
• Use of messengers (ie coach doesn't personally address players during matches, rather, he/she uses trainers, subs, or water carriers to convey information)
  
  
• Silently watching from behind the try-zone. Half time adjustments only.
  
  
• The international coach, in the stands during a match.
  

What's your preffered method and why? Do you believe that you, personally, adhere to the method you prefer?


--- Coach