“Strike first. Strike hard. No mercy!”
I’m not sure if you all have seen the first Karate Kid film, but that was the credo of the Cobra Kai dojo.
The end of the film featured one of the most famous movie quotes ever. Cobra Kai sensei John Kreese (played by Martin Kove) tells Johnny (played by William Zabka) to “sweep the leg.” The meaning was for Johnny to have no mercy on his opponent Daniel LaRusso (played by Ralph Macchio), who was already hurt from one of his previous fights during the “All Valley Karate Tournament.” And of course we all know if you’ve seen the movie, Daniel prevails with the ever-famous “Crane kick.”
Which brings me to my topic, “running up the score.”
According to Wikipedia, it is a term used in American sports to describe the activity of scoring more points than are necessary to win a game. It is a technique that is mostly used in team sports, such as high school and college American football.
The sports world got a dose of it recently. But there was a little irony to this one.
I know I’ve mentioned these guys in one of my earlier columns, but I’m going to mention them again, the New England Patriots. These guys are on a mission. I know Halloween is over, but these guys are monsters on the gridiron. The Patriots must have a sensei of their own during practice yelling “Fear does not exist on this football field!”
The Washington Redskins went into Gillette Stadium October 28th feeling good about themselves and left not feeling so good about themselves. The Redskins were “skinned” by the Patriots 52-7.
Was Bill Belichick trying to run up the score on Joe Gibbs? Redskins’ defensive lineman Phillip Daniels told The Boston Globe he thinks that is exactly what happened.
"Yeah, I felt like they were trying to run up the score," Daniels said. "No doubt. You're going for it on fourth down and we're down, what 38 points, there's no doubt you're trying to run up the score. We've just got to stop them. That's our job, no matter what they do. Most teams would run in that situation, but they threw the ball, and to me, that's running up the score."
Professional teams, usually, do not “run up the score” due to the negative consequences, the main one being injuries to starters. Coaches and players get paid huge salaries to win ball games, not to embarrass their opponent.
If you’re on a team, whether it be player or coach, that is getting pummeled, it’s not their job to stop the pummeling, it is the job of your team.
Maybe coach Gibbs can get Montwood High School head football coach Chuck Veliz to talk to coach Belichick about downshifting his game plan when up 100-0.
Montwood charged its way past Coronado High School 49-20 on October 26th. Not really a blowout when you consider the final score. The Rams were up 42-14 at halftime. Montwood quarterback, David Reza, put up huge numbers in the first half. He was 19 of 22 for 367 yards and five touchdowns. Who is this guy? Tom Brady? Next thing you know Reza will be seen with some Victoria’s Secret model at the mall.
Coach Veliz downplayed the second half with Reza only attempting four passes in the second half.
I have a great deal of respect for Veliz toning down the second half. High school athletes should not be put in an embarrassing situation. But at the same time, I have not lost any respect for Belichick. He is making a point to the National Football League that the Patriots may be the best team ever.
“Running up the score” is, really, only acceptable in college football. College football programs that are in the Top 25 polls or Bowl Championship Series polls can use “running up the score” to place higher in the rankings. The bigger and better an opponent is beaten, the higher a program will be in the polls. Head coaches Bobby Bowden of Florida State and Steve Spurior of South Carolina and formerly University of Florida have made “running up the score” into an art form.
According to Wikipedia, “running up the score” is not a term used in Europe and is acceptable. Ok, now I know why fans were booing the New York Giants at the new Wembley Stadium when the Giants were kneeling on the ball to finish out the clock against the Miami Dolphins.
The movie Forrest Gump has a famous quote, “Run Forrest, run!” Listen closely next time you watch the mighty Patriots, you will hear coach Belichick yelling, “Run up the score, run!”
