Vikings Poor Sportsmanship

[Adam West]

Not sure if this was brought up or not already but just curious what others thought of the last Vikings touchdown that was scored with less than a minute to go when the game was already won?

I have heard some say that you play 60 minutes, these are professionals, and too bad, the teams should score as much as they want.

I know anyone who has ever played competitive sports knows what it feels like to get spanked....it happens to all of us.

It really bothers me when I watch my son or daughter play a soccer game, they are getting beat bad, and the other team doesn't think anything of running the score up 10, 11, 12 to zero. Back when I coached youth soccer, I tried to teach kids about being good sports as losers and good sports as winners.

If we were winning a game by a substantial margin and the kids were 8 or 9 years old and really don't understand the concept of not playing at 100%, I would usually start out moving the weaker players to offense to try to keep the scoring down and give the weaker kids opportunities to play more time in a position that they need to work on. If the scoring continues, I would quietly remove a child from the pitch and play one down or two down without letting the other team know what was going on so they could lose with dignity.

Now that my daughter is older and plays club, I appreciate that her coach will not allow them to just run scores up on other teams. If the game gets out of hand, she will tell them they have to pass it 3 times before shooting. I can also remember being on the receiving end of a team that already was beating my daughter's team 6-0 by halftime. The coach of the other team kept all the players on the field and basically played keep away only taking a shot every now and then. I appreciated it and it allowed my daughter's team to lose with a bit of dignity.

I don't know if there was a lot of trash talk between the two teams prior to the game which led to the additional score or what was up with that....I just thought it was in poor taste.

I can remember back when the Redskins were the dominate team in the NFL (I have to go back 20 years LOL), I would watch them sitting on the other's team goal line with a minute or so to go and rather than run up the score...they would just take a knee. That was when Gibbs was coaching.

Any other thoughts on this?

[Werewolf]

I think people just like to bag on Farve. Four touch down passes in a game is something to be proud of and it adds to his over all career record. There are people out there that want him to fail and are ticked he is doing well. No one favored the Vikings to win.

[Toy Talk]

My opinion about the NFL Playoffs is that they are the playoffs; only the best teams make it in. I am by no means a Farve fan, but he had the opportunity set a personal best record, so why not take the shot. Minnesota knew they had the win already, it was not about the "W" at that point.
In non-professional sports I agree completely with dialing-it-down if the win is obvious. However, NFL players get paid millions per year to play the game. If the score is getting ran-up and it upsets a player, maybe their team should play harder.

[theantiquetiger]

It does not bother me in the pros. It was 4th down and they were too close to punt and too far for a field goal. I would rather see this instead of what the Colts did their last two regular season games and sit their starters out. People pay $90+ a ticket to go to these games and they do not want to see a team basically lose a game on purpose. Even the announcers of that game said it was funny seeing the fans of a 14-0 team being boo'ed by their own fans.

I do not agree with them leaving their starters in that late in the game during a playoff game. All it would take was for Farve or another starter to blow out a knee, and their chances for the Super Bowl went way down.

[Marvelmania]

In the playoffs I have no problem with scoring as much as possible. You want your team as confident as possible and morale up when heading into the NFC or AFC Championship game.

[Toy Talk]

In the playoffs I have no problem with scoring as much as possible. You want your team as confident as possible and morale up when heading into the NFC or AFC Championship game.

Extremely well said.

[megoapesnut]

I am a rabid Dallas fan and I did not have a problem with it. I don't think there is any such thing as running up the score in the pros. Even in the regular season, total points could end up having a bearing on a potential tie breaker for the playoffs. Now I did have a problem with the "Buddy Ryan" BS from years ago when he had Randall fake a kneel down in the last few seconds and then pop back up and throw a touchdown. That was a classless act from a totally classless coach. Not to mention he is one of the top 5 butt holes ever to walk the face of the earth. But, getting back to the subject. I have no problem with teams scoring points in the pros. If the opposing team doesn't like it, stop em from scoring!

College and grade school sports are a different matter altogether.

[toys2cool]

it sucks cause the game was way out of hand by then, but w/e...you sould've played better D I guess

[Adam West]

So how does one go about explaining to our kids who are watching the game, that it is ok to run the score up in a game that is a blow out, but when they get on the field....they shouldn't do that because it's poor sportsmanship? How are kids going to learn what being a good sport in winning is when they see this type of stuff happening at the pro level?

[Hector]

People pay a lot of money to be entertained...and future hall of famers throwing TD passes...is what people want to see.

There's no crying in baseball...and certainly not football.

Besides...instead of whining about Farve and company...the Cowboys should be apologizing to their own fans for getting spanked.

[Werewolf]

So how does one go about explaining to our kids who are watching the game, that it is ok to run the score up in a game that is a blow out, but when they get on the field....they shouldn't do that because it's poor sportsmanship? How are kids going to learn what being a good sport in winning is when they see this type of stuff happening at the pro level?

Again, I think this is such a big issue for some because it was Farve. Other teams and players have done this and there were no shrill cries of poor sportsmanship. This is pro sports. They are big boys and are payed the big bucks to give it their all. Not to play half arsed to protect the fragile ego on another team.

I do not think we'd be hearing this complaint if it had been in reverse and the Cowboys had outplayed the Vikings. People would be saying that Farve was too old and should have been playing better.

School level sports.

If people are so worried about the self esteem of the losing team, why even bother to keep score. No one wins and no one loses. No one's tender feelings are hurt and there is no sense of acheivement for the victors. Heck, why even grade students anymore. A bad grade can only hurt their feelings and not at make them try harder, right?

[megoscott]

So how does one go about explaining to our kids who are watching the game, that it is ok to run the score up in a game that is a blow out, but when they get on the field....they shouldn't do that because it's poor sportsmanship? How are kids going to learn what being a good sport in winning is when they see this type of stuff happening at the pro level?

You're a more important role model to them, so you do what you always do. You take it as a teachable moment and use it to explain to them why you think what the Vikings did was wrong and why you think it's important they act otherwise.

Personally, I think it's fine. The Cowboys were blitzing on that 4th down, they'd have creamed Favre given the chance.

[Werewolf]

Good sportsmanship is playing by the rules and doing your best.

If I'm going to lose, I'd rather lose to someone who played honestly and gave it their all. It would be much more shameful and embarassing to lose to someone who purposely played poorly.

[thunderbolt]

Well, the Cowboys D did let the Vikings waltz right down the field and score.

[Zemo]

‘It's our job to score points. It's their job to stop us from scoring points,'” Childress said. “It wasn't rubbing it in. It's just taking care of business and being aggressive at the end.”


Keith Brooking-"It's the playoffs. It ain't no regular-season game. If you lose, you go home. We take no pity on them.”