Connecticut Bans Blowouts

The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, the governing body of public high school sports in Connecticut, has instituted a suspension penalty for coaches who win games by more than fifty points. The suspension will be, by default, one game; there was no mention of multiple suspensions or any increase in penalties as a result.

The rule is being dubbed the "Jack Cochran Rule", after New London's football coach, who had four wins of more than fifty points last year. In one game that his team won 60-0, Cochran called a time out just before halftime, enraging the opposite coach. who was arrested after attacking a police officer and a New London assistant. In another, his team won 90-0.

Source

• ESPN.com

Date

Thu 05/25/06, 9:29 am EST

Awrigh01All-Star

1286 days ago

Score 3

Is it me or does this just seems stupid?

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Anonymous Fanatic #1

1286 days ago

Score 6

How do they plan to enforce something like this? Is the coach supposed to tell his team to not try once they get up by a certain number of points? I think it would be more of an insult to the other team if they find they can't score against a team that isn't trying...

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DNLLegend

1286 days ago

Score 4

Um.. why don't they just pronounced the game over if the gap is at 50?

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Davis21wylieMVP

1286 days ago

Score 5

Yeah, why not have a mercy rule, instead of suspending coaches for exceeding an arbitrary margin of victory?

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ASwaffAll-American

1286 days ago

Score 1

It's not that you're supposed to tell your team not to try. But you can pull starters, and there are certain things you can do to not try to run up the score. Don't pass, don't call timeouts, etc. I agree with Davis, though. Have a mercy rule. But honestly, you can tell the difference between a blowout and running up the score. Like when Texas plays Rice, they don't have to play their starting players in the second half. It's a big difference between that, and a game like I saw four years ago, when Hawaii's coach was leaving his QB in to get 500 yards passing even though the games were total blowouts.

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DammskippySoccer Kid

1286 days ago

Score 4

90-0? That is incredible! I'd have a hard time doing that on NCAA football 06 with USC let alone real life. I'm not condoning it though, but wow!

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CoreyisarealboyMajor Leaguer

1286 days ago

Score 3

I think an interesting question to ask is this: a team that's down 45-0 is on defense, do you think the coach would tell the team to let the other team score to run the score over 50 to get the other coach suspended? It's pretty childish, but I know some rivalry games that probably could end like this.

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ChachiOSUDraft Pick

1286 days ago

Score 2

I'm thinking back to when I was a kid and I don't remember people being so worried about the poor children's feelings back then. If you got your butt kicked you got mad and tried to practice and train harder so you wouldn't have to suffer that type of humiliation again. When did this change? Did I miss something?

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ASwaffAll-American

1285 days ago

Score -2

It's not just about hurting a kid's feelings. There are other issues. If the opposition pulls their starters because they're getting drummed, it's not fair to anyone that the team doing the drumming is lengthening the game for his own pride. People say it's just a game, but it's hard to think that when a coach won't let up when his team is winning 70-0 in the third quarter. It's not just about feelings, it takes the respect and sportsmanship out of the game when you do things like that.

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ChachiOSUDraft Pick

1285 days ago

Score -2

I understand that point, I just think the score doesn't always accurately reflect the amount of sportsmanship a coach shows.

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XinophDraft Pick

1285 days ago

Score -2

If sports were all about respect and sportsmanship, the Yankees wouldn't be able to take the field

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ChachiOSUDraft Pick

1285 days ago

Score -3

You are really hung up about the Yankees today. Did losing two of three at home to a make shift team make you more bitter or something?

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DNLLegend

1285 days ago

Score -1

Football Outsiders' Michael David Smith had the best idea: "I’ve always thought the best rules to prevent running up the score are the ones where the coach on the trailing team gets to pick players from the leading team who have to leave the game. So once you’re down by 21, you get to pick the other team’s two best players and remove them from the game. If they score again, you could take out a few more players. That’s what they did in the youth league I played in and I don’t remember any major blowouts."

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ASwaffAll-American

1285 days ago

Score -3

So, we start treating high school sports like a gym class pickup game of dodgeball? I think that's an even worse idea.

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EnyboDiv-I Stud

1285 days ago

Score 1

Running up the score is disrespectful but if you get a reputation for doing it you won't get much respect in return. They shouldn't penalize for this. I think it would be worse if the third stringers came in and still whooped the other team. Your supposed to play hard the entire game, they should keep it that way.

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XinophDraft Pick

1284 days ago

Score 2

Is never having sole possession of first place yet this season making you bitter, Chachi?

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