Editing Running up the score (section)

==In other sports==

===Basketball===
In [[basketball]], some coaches of vastly superior teams team will keep in their starters in the latter stages of a grossly one-sided game (e.g., less than ten minutes left in the second half of a college game; or well into the fourth quarter of a high school or [[National Basketball Association|NBA]] game). Players may be told to continue to aggressively apply full-court pressure (in order to steal the ball), block shots, break away for slam dunks, or try three-point baskets and other fan-pleasing shots.

A team that is trailing by an undefined margin sometimes may prolong the game by fouling the opponent on every possession, in an effort to extend its chances of a comeback — although teams that utilize this strategy often do so only when the game is still somewhat competitive. However, this strategy does not always work, particularly if the fouled players or team is able to connect on free throws.

In cases where the score is lopsided much earlier in the game, the most common option is to just "play it out" as if it were a scrimmage, by trying to take the best shot possible and also attempt some sort of defense (without any taboos against fan-pleasing shots and plays). This is usually referred to as "[[garbage time]]", and while generally frowned upon for a lack of excitement it is considered to be the best way of ending a thoroughly uncompetitive game with minimal amounts of pride lost by the weaker side.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://girlshoops.scout.com/2/491610.html |title=Elite 11: Running It Up |date=January 22, 2006 |work=Scout.com |author=Nelson, Glenn |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070207232733/http://girlshoops.scout.com/2/491610.html |archive-date=2007-02-07 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Running up the score was a key element in the [[Knicks–Nuggets brawl]] on December 16, 2006, as [[New York Knicks|New York]] coach [[Isiah Thomas]] accused [[Denver Nuggets|Denver]] coach [[George Karl]] of implementing it late in the game. Karl defended himself by citing many games where his team had lost large leads late.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18047387/ |title=Angry Knicks accuse Bulls of running up score |date=April 11, 2007 |work=MSNBC (from Associated Press) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070524002036/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18047387/ |archive-date=2007-05-24 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Former [[Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball|Oklahoma Sooners]] basketball coach [[Billy Tubbs]] was often accused of running up the score against inferior opponents. On November 29, 1989, [[1988–89 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team|Tubbs' team]] went so far as to score 97 points in the first half of a game against [[Alliant International University|U.S. International]]. Oklahoma won the game in a 173–101 rout. Asked repeatedly about running up the score against opponents, Tubbs once famously replied, "If they don't like it, they should get better."

Occasionally, teams will run up the score because of crowd encouragement. Crowd encouragement can occur whether or not there is a physical incentive involved. Often, a crowd will start chanting "X more points" near the end of a game, where X is the number of points needed to reach 100. This usually occurs when the team is within 5 points of reaching the 100-point mark.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0WmW7K7ZA8 |title=Lutheran High Just Misses 100 pts In A Game |work=YouTube|date=11 January 2009 }}</ref> Also, crowd encouragement can happen as the result of a promotion for ticket-holders. In a [[Bradley Braves men's basketball|Bradley]] home game against [[Wichita State Shockers men's basketball|Wichita State]], coach Jim Les put in some reserve players during the last 1–2 minutes of the game after the score got to 62–50. During the final possession, the crowd started to yell "Shoot shoot shoot" because the season ticket-holders would get a buy-one-get-one-free rib-eye steak dinner at a local restaurant if the score reached 63. One of the Bradley players launched a buzzer-beating 3 because of the crowd encouragement and it went in, making the final score 65–50.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pjstar.com/sports_bu/x869016682/Bradley-snaps-Shockers-winning-streak |title=BU zone tenderizes Wichita |work=Journal Star |location=Peoria, Illinois |date=January 29, 2009 |author=Reynolds, Dave  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103001312/http://www.pjstar.com/x869016682/Bradley-snaps-Shockers-winning-streak |archive-date=2014-01-03 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.pjstar.com/index.php/wessler/article/live_wichita_state_at_bradley/ |title=Live: Wichita State at Bradley|date=January 28, 2009 |author=Wessler, Kirk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427120342/http://blogs.pjstar.com/wessler/2009/01/28/live-wichita-state-at-bradley/ |archive-date=2014-04-27 |url-status=live}}</ref> Similarly, during a 2014 game against Southern Virginia, [[BYU Cougars men's basketball|BYU basketball]] led 98–48 with the clock running down. In response to chants of "Hundred! Hundred!" from the student section, Cougar reserve guard Jake Toolson launched a deep three-pointer as time expired. It was good, making the final score 101–48. Although the BYU fans and bench reacted with delight, Cougar head coach [[Dave Rose (basketball)|Dave Rose]] was upset by the incident.{{Explain|reason=Why?! | date=August 2019}} Toolson himself was privately reprimanded.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://byucougars.com/m-basketball/byu-vs-southern-virginia-notes-quotes |title=BYU vs. Southern Virginia Notes & Quotes {{!}} The Official Site of BYU Athletics |website=byucougars.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141201180413/http://byucougars.com/m-basketball/byu-vs-southern-virginia-notes-quotes |archive-date=2014-12-01}}</ref>

===Baseball===
The [[unwritten rules of baseball]] discourage a team from [[sacrifice bunt]]ing, [[stolen base|stealing bases]], or other [[small ball (baseball)|small ball]] tactics when leading by a large margin late in a game, even though a losing team can theoretically come back from any deficit to win. Batters do not specifically try to make outs (e.g. by swinging at pitches with no intent to hit them) as this would insult the opposing team, violate the spirit of the game, and hurt their own batting average. The bottom of the ninth inning is not played if the home team leads after the top of the ninth inning, preventing pointless score run-ups when the team's victory is already assured.

In a 2021 game where the visiting [[Chicago White Sox]] led the [[Minnesota Twins]] 15-4 late in the game, the Twins put in [[Willians Astudillo]], a position [[utility player]] who normally would not pitch, on the mound for the last inning, a move traditionally seen under the game's unwritten rules as conceding it, to which batters customarily respond by not trying too hard to get hits so the game will end more quickly and without further humiliation to the losing team. After Astudillo had gotten the first two White Sox batters out, rookie [[catcher (baseball)|catcher]] [[Yermín Mercedes]] came to the plate for what was expected to be the game's final out. On a 3-0 count, Astudillo threw a slow pitch over the plate. Mercedes swung his bat, itself a violation of the unwritten rules in that situation, and hit a {{convert|429|ft|m|adj=on}} home run. The Twins were greatly angered, and Sox manager [[Tony LaRussa]] promised Mercedes would be advised not to do so in the future.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31468198/chicago-white-sox-manager-tony-la-russa-upset-rookie-yermin-mercedes-not-showing-respect-your-opponent-victory|title=Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa critical of Yermin Mercedes; Minnesota Twins throw behind slugger night after HR
|first=Jesse|last=Rogers|publisher=[[ESPN]]|date=May 18, 2021|access-date=May 19, 2021}}</ref>

Amateur, high school, and international baseball games often have a [[mercy rule]] so that games end sooner when the lead is deemed to be insurmountable (e.g. by 10 runs after 5 innings). However, since the home team always gets one final at-bat if they are trailing, the visiting team can in theory score unlimited runs in the top half of the inning.

===Cricket===
The nature of [[cricket]] with teams alternating either one or two [[innings]] and how games are limited by time or overs means that running up the score does not exist as a meaningful term within the sport. Teams seek to score the largest amount of runs within their specified time frame or before their wickets are taken by the opposition, as long as the time taken to acquire the runs does not impact on the tactical considerations for winning the game. In [[limited overs cricket]] rulesets such as [[One Day International]] and [[Twenty20]] each team only get one chance to bat and have a set amount of overs to do so, requiring the team batting first to post the largest run total they can produce. Teams may elect to play more aggressively due to conditions or with the aim of increasing their [[net run rate]] in the event a tiebreaker is required for further qualification within a tournament but these attempts may instead cause a team to give away their wickets making overly aggressive shots.

In [[Test cricket]] and [[first-class cricket]] with long hours of play per day and multiple days per match teams can accumulate runs for as long as they can avoid losing their wickets. An excessive accumulation of runs by one team will increase the likelihood of a [[Draw (cricket)|draw]] where the full allocation of innings is not completed. Tactical considerations see teams [[Declaration (cricket)|declare their innings]] closed before all their batsmen are dismissed. The first innings in particular is known for excessive scoring and the "[[follow-on]]" rule encourages teams to stay on the pitch. If the team who batted first have a high enough lead when their opposition are dismissed in the second innings, the team who are still in the lead can elect to "enforce the follow on", requiring their opponents to bat again. If the team batting again fail to reach the total, they lose "by an innings" and the runs remaining and the team who enforced the follow on are not required to bat again.

Individual players may feel they have scored enough runs already during their innings and elect to [[Retired (cricket)|retire out]]. This action is considered unsporting when there are no extenuating circumstances such as an illness or injury. It is subsequently extremely rare. It has only occurred twice in Test Cricket, in [[2001–02 Asian Test Championship#2nd Test: Sri Lanka v Bangladesh|the same game]] where [[Marvan Atapattu]] (scoring 201) and [[Mahela Jayawardene]] (150) retired against a highly inferior Bangladesh team.

===Curling===
One of the unique rules of [[curling]] allows for the losing team to concede a match at any time, thereby preventing [[blowout (sports)|blowouts]] from occurring. In fact, it is sometimes considered unsportsmanlike for a team that is losing badly to not concede. For some major events, a game must play a certain amount of ends to be considered complete. As a protest, some teams that would have conceded earlier in the match may not take the game seriously at that point.

Before teams were allowed to concede matches well before the normal end of the game, blowouts were common.

===Ice hockey===
In [[ice hockey]], complaints are quite rare, for the simple reason that unless there is a gross disparity in skill, teams generally do not score large numbers of goals at will against the opposition. A [[mercy rule]] also may come into effect at pre-high-school levels, where such disparities might come into play as a matter of course. Another tactic could be the coach of the leading team telling his team that everybody must touch the puck before a shot is taken.

===Lacrosse===

High scores, and wide margins of victory, are not uncommon in [[field lacrosse]]. While there is no [[mercy rule]] ending the game at a certain point, in American high school lacrosse the game is played in running time, with the clock stopped only for timeouts and injuries, should one team open up a lead of 12 goals or more in the second half.

Teams have been criticized for high scores at the expense of weak opponents. In a 2019 college game, [[NCAA Division II]] [[Colorado Mesa Mavericks|Colorado Mesa]] (CMU) defeated [[NCAA Division III|Division III]] [[Johnson & Wales University#Denver campus|Johnson & Wales-Denver]] (J&W) 52–0, setting an NCAA record for most goals, and largest margin of victory, in ''any'' college men's lacrosse game at any level.{{efn|The previous record for Division II had also been set by CMU's 33-0 victory over J&W the previous season.<ref name="GJ Daily Sentinel CMU-J&W story">{{cite news|last=Arnold|first=Patti|title=Colorado Mesa issues apology for men's lacrosse team's blowout win|url=https://www.gjsentinel.com/sports/cmu/colorado-mesa-issues-apology-for-men-s-lacrosse-team-s/article_88b19560-5ce7-11e9-b52a-20677ce06c14.html|newspaper=[[Grand Junction Daily Sentinel]]|date=April 12, 2019|access-date=June 15, 2019}}</ref>}} Among many of the game's lopsided statistics, Johnson & Wales was unable to get a single shot while the victors recorded 81 (68 of which were on goal), won all but three of 56 [[face-off#Field lacrosse|face-offs]] and picked up all but nine of 81 ground balls. Twenty-one of Mesa's players scored at least once, more than all the players J&W put on the field. The game was ended early in the fourth quarter after a Mesa player was injured seriously enough to require hospitalization following the game's final goal.<ref name="SI CMU-J&W lax article">{{cite news|last=Gartland|first=Dan|title=Bloodbath is an understatement|url=https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2019/04/11/thursday-hot-clicks-colorado-mesa-johnson-wales-lacrosse-record|newspaper=[[Sports Illustrated]]|date=April 11, 2019|access-date=June 15, 2019}}</ref>

''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' said it was "perhaps the most one-sided game in the history of NCAA sports", rivaling the [[1916 Cumberland vs. Georgia Tech football game|Cumberland-Georgia Tech game]].<ref name="SI CMU-J&W lax article" /> CMU was criticized for continuing to [[shot on goal (lacrosse)|shoot on goal]] and not letting the [[shot clock]] (a new rule in NCAA men's lacrosse that season) expire. The university's athletic department later issued a statement apologizing for "the unsportsmanlike nature of the final score", saying that the team's coaches regret the decisions they made which contributed to that outcome and players and fans "deserve better".<ref name="GJ Daily Sentinel CMU-J&W story" />

===Association football===
In professional [[association football]] or soccer, the concept of "running up the score" is mostly unheard of; many league competitions use [[goal difference]] or goal average as a tiebreaker, meaning there is incentive for a dominant side to win by as wide a margin of victory as possible. Nevertheless, large victory margins have sometimes been criticized in the women's game.

The 2002 World Cup qualification match between Australia and American Samoa ended [[Australia 31–0 American Samoa|31–0]] for the Socceroos, setting a record for the largest victory in an international association football match that still stands today. The vast gulf in quality was known well before the match began, with Australia unhappy at having to play games against small island nations in the Pacific, with this and other lopsided contests contributing towards the reintroduction of a preliminary round for smaller teams in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and eventually the move of Australia out of the Oceanian confederation into the more competitive [[Asian Football Confederation]].

After the [[United States women's national soccer team|U.S. women's team]] defeated [[Thailand women's national football team|Thailand]] 13–0 in the opening round of the [[2019 FIFA Women's World Cup|2019 World Cup]], setting records for both the most goals scored and the largest margin of victory in either World Cup,<ref name="NYT USWNT-Thailand game story">{{cite news|last=Keh|first=Andrew|title=U.S. Takes Apart Thailand and the Record Book at the Women's World Cup|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/sports/uswnt-thailand-score.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=June 11, 2019|access-date=June 12, 2019}}</ref> the team faced accusations that it had run up the score,<ref name="CBS Sports Thailand game story">{{cite news|last=Gonzalez|first=Roger|title=USWNT vs. Thailand score: USA wins 13-0 in the most lopsided game in Women's World Cup history|url=https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/world-cup/news/uswnt-vs-thailand-score-usa-wins-13-0-in-the-most-lopsided-game-in-womens-world-cup-history/|newspaper=[[CBS Sports]]|date=June 12, 2019|access-date=June 12, 2019}}</ref> especially since players had celebrated the later goals, including [[Alex Morgan]]'s fifth goal, in the game's 87th minute, as enthusiastically as they had celebrated the earlier ones.<ref name="WashPost Thailand game story">{{cite news|last=Bieler|first=Des|title=Did USWNT players celebrate their goals with too much gusto? World Cup rout sparks debate.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/06/12/did-uswnt-players-celebrate-their-goals-with-too-much-gusto-world-cup-rout-sparks-debate/|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=June 12, 2019|access-date=June 12, 2019}}</ref> Critics noted that many of the Thai players had been crying as the game ended.<ref name="NYT USWNT-Thailand game story" /> Former [[Canada women's national soccer team|Canadian international]] [[Clare Rustad]] called the American women's enthusiastic celebrations of their later goals "disgraceful" on [[The Sports Network]], while [[Kate Beirness]] called Morgan's holding up five fingers to celebrate her last goal "just unacceptable".<ref name="WashPost Thailand game story" />

While former U.S. star [[Hope Solo]] defended the outcome—"When you respect your opponent you don't all of a sudden sit back and try not to score"—she admitted that some of the celebrations, particularly those that appeared planned, "seemed a little overboard." She found, in contrast, the postgame embrace [[Carli Lloyd]] offered Thai goalkeeper Chor Charoenying after scoring the final goal in the 92nd minute to be more emblematic of the team's values.<ref name="Hope Solo column">{{cite news|last=Solo|first=Hope|author-link=Hope Solo|title=Scoring 13 against Thailand was great, some of the US celebrations were not|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/jun/12/usa-thailand-womens-world-cup-soccer-celebrations|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=June 12, 2019|access-date=June 12, 2019}}</ref>

U.S. coach [[Jill Ellis]] defended her players by noting both the importance of [[Goal difference|goal differential]] in determining seeding for the tournament's elimination rounds and the need to build her team's confidence, as she was able to play some substitutes. "I don't find it my job to harness my players and rein them in, because this is what they’ve dreamed about, and this is a world championship," she told ''[[The New York Times]]''. "When you have a deluge of goals like that, it's important." Her Thai counterpart, [[Nuengruethai Sathongwien]], also defended the American players, who she noted had encouraged her clearly overmatched team to keep their spirits up.<ref name="NYT USWNT-Thailand game story" />

Ellis also suggested that [[sexism]] was at work, wondering if as many questions about the scoring and celebrations would have been raised had a men's team won so dominantly.<ref name="WashPost Thailand game story" /> "Stop judging these women with patriarchal glasses," another former American star, [[Abby Wambach]], [[Twitter|tweeted]]. "You would never say this about a men's team."<ref name="Abby Wambach tweet">{{cite web|last=Wambach|first=Abby|author-link=Abby Wambach|title=With all due respect: did you see @alexmorgan13 last two goals and her last assist?!!! They were world class. And this isn't rec league soccer. This is THE WORLD CUP!!!!!!!!! Stop judging these women with patriarchal glasses. You would never say this about a men's team. Period.|url=https://twitter.com/AbbyWambach/status/1138559245044125697|website=[[Twitter]]|date=June 11, 2019|access-date=June 13, 2019}}</ref> However, former U.S. defender [[Alexi Lalas]], also now a television soccer analyst, said "yes we would". He feared that the celebrations and the goals had cost the U.S. team fans and "sealed themselves as villains" of the Cup.<ref name="Alexi Lalas tweet">{{cite web|last=Lalas|first=Alexi|author-link=Alexi Lalas|title=After beating Thailand 13-0 & celebrating each goal #USWNT may have lost fans, domestically & internationally...and sealed themselves as villains of the @FIFAWWC. I love it. But the soccer gods can be cruel and vindictive. If US goes on to fail, their behavior will be on a loop.|url=https://twitter.com/AlexiLalas/status/1138614528839770115|website=[[Twitter]]|date=June 11, 2019|access-date=June 13, 2019}}</ref>

Six days later, when the U.S. team beat [[Chile women's national football team|Chile]] 3–0, the scoring players and their teammates celebrated their goals with hugs, followed by [[Applause#Protocol and variations|golf claps]].<ref name="WashPost US-Chile golf claps story">{{cite news|last=Boren|first=Cindy|title=Carli Lloyd and the U.S. women golf-clap back at critics of their celebrations|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/06/16/carli-lloyd-celebrates-two-world-cup-goals-most-dignified-way-possible/|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=June 16, 2019|access-date=June 17, 2019}}</ref>

[[England 20–0 Latvia|England defeated Latvia 20–0]] in the [[2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group D|2023 FIFA World Cup qualifiers]] and were criticized for running up the score. While the English team consisted of full-time professionals, the Latvians were largely amateurs.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wrack |first1=Suzanne |title=Women's football mismatches are happening too often – it is time for action |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2021/dec/01/womens-football-mismatches-are-happening-too-often-it-is-time-for-action-england-latvia |access-date=13 December 2021 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=1 December 2021}}</ref><ref name=EnglandBelgium>{{cite news |last1=Wrack |first1=Suzanne |title='It's not good': Uefa confirms women's qualifying to change after mismatches |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/dec/03/uefa-confirms-womens-football-qualifying-to-change-after-mismatches |access-date=13 December 2021 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=3 December 2021}}</ref> The mother of one of the Latvian players lamented the "unnecessary humiliation".<ref>{{cite tweet |user=AdamGMillington|number=1466000090066259972|date=1 December 2021|title=This is a really interesting comment from a parent of one of the Latvian players. Have to agree when she says there are a lot of people in the country trying hard to improve women's football – their online media presence for the women's team is incredible. }}</ref> The [[Belgium women's national football team|Belgian team]] had defeated [[Armenia women's national football team|Armenia]] 19–0 in the same qualifying series, and though they did not see similar criticism, [[UEFA]] said both incidents had led to the decision to change its qualifying format so that teams would not encounter those of a vastly different level.<ref name=EnglandBelgium/>

===Australian rules football===
There is no negative stigma associated with running up the score in [[Australian rules football]], as the sport lacks any obvious means to kill off a match quickly and painlessly, and time-wasting is both unpopular with fans and discouraged by the [[Laws of Australian rules football|laws of the game]].

The only tiebreaker used in most leagues is the [[goal average|ratio of points for versus points against]] (known in the code as "percentage"), a system that encourages teams to record large scores and winning margins, occurring frequently when there is a large disparity between ability.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Herald Sun|publication-place=Melbourne|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/alastair-clarkson-plots-attacking-plan-to-give-hawthorn-best-chance-of-playing-home-finals/story-fni5f8ge-1227462190838|title=Alastair Clarkson plots attacking plan to give Hawthorn best chance of playing home finals|author=Jon Ralph|date=29 July 2015|access-date=29 July 2015}}</ref> Running up the score occurs in all levels of play, but it is particularly prevalent in metropolitan and country leagues, where weaker teams can often be beaten by margins of 200 points or more.