Connecticut's 50 Point Rule
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The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference passed a 50 point blowout rule in 2006. Click here to read about this 50 Point Rule In Football - 2006. Under this rule, a coach of a high school football team gets a one game suspension for unsportsmanlike conduct if his team wins by more than 50 points. Click here for opinions on this rule from: Arizona Republic, May 31, 2006 by Ben Stapley; Hartford Courant, May 27, 2006 by Jeff Jacobs; Lower Hudson Journal News, May 25, 2006; New Jersey Star Ledger, Jersey Coaches Not Buying into Connecticut's New 50 Point Suspension Rule, May 25, 2006 by Mike Helfgot.
The 50 point rule seeks to legislate a fundamental tenet of good sportsmanship that holds that we don't run up the score. The clear flaw is that football teams don't have total control over the score, and could inadvertently reach the 50 point mark without offending our sensibilities or being unsportsmanlike. For example, a team could be ahead 44 to 0 and run back an interception in the fourth quarter. Most people would not ask the defender to intentionally run out of bounds.
How do we get a 50 point rule? Well, we get it because some people are so unsportsmanlike that they offend their colleagues' sensibilities and their colleagues overreact in reigning them in. The Connecticut rule addresses Jack Cochran, a New London High School Football coach. Here are some of the problems people had with Coach Cochran last season.
Cochran accused of recruiting his former players at New Britain High School: cleared of charges (Hartford Courant, Nov. 30, 2005 page C1 by Jeff Jacobs). Click here for story on initial charges against Cochran. (Hartford Courant, Oct. 21, 2005 page B1 by Roberto Gonzalez and Loretta Waldman).
New London wins game 90-0 (Hartford Courant, Nov. 13 page E13 by Gary Bunko). It is worth noting that a team can win a game by this score without being unsportsmanlike. The ethic is that you play your subs and you run the ball up the middle on every play. However, if you win by this score often or if you're passing the ball or appear to be running up the score you will enrage your fellow coaches and most people will view you to be unsportsmanlike.
Cochran calls time out with 40 point lead - opposing coach launches into unsportsmanlike tirade and gets suspended (Hartford Courant, Sept. 29, 2005 Page C9 by Paul Rosano). Clearly, the opposing coach deserved a suspension for a verbal and physical outburst. Equally clearly, Cochran did not comply with the accepted ethic of not running up the score by calling a timeout with a 40 point lead going into halftime.
Running up the score is an administrator's nightmare. It's an ethical breach, but it's not the type of act that a coach gets suspended for. It enrages opponents, who often get frustrated and commit an act that you get suspended for. Administrators then feel pressure to do something to rein in the coach who's running up scores. Here, Connecticut took an action, and took an action with so many flaws that they're now the subject of national criticism and controversy.
MORE FROM CONNECTICUT - Cochran is Defiant - "I will probably have to take a suspension next year." (See Rule Tackles Blowouts In High School Football, Hartford Courant, May 25, 2006 by Shawn Courchesne).
Former Connecticut High School Coach Pleads Guilty To Punching Rival, WCBS Radio, August 23, 2006 (life isn't fair - the coach who the 50 point rule was designed to stop isn't coaching because he punched out a rival coach at an offseason weightlifting event; every other Connecticut will suffer under a rule designed to stop Cochran).
Coach Dan Lawrence Suspended After 60 Point Win By Bill Doak, East Hartford Gazette, October 6, 2006.
Connecticut: 50 Point Rule In The News Again By Hal Levy writing for MaxPreps.com, October 5, 2006 (East Hartford Coach Dan Lawrence gets suspended - and he deserves it!! - indeed, he does!!).
High School Team Tests 50 Point Rule by John Dankosky, All Things Considered Show on National Public Radio, September 29, 2006.
Connecticut: 50 Point Rule Gets Tested, By Hal Levy writing for MaxPreps.com, September 28, 2006 (Bridgeport Central Coach Dave Cadelina wins appeal and doesn't get suspended for 50 point win).
Coach On Ball; Dad Off Wall by Barry Temkin, Chicago Tribune, September 24, 2006 (describing first 50 point rule case).
Coach Could Face Suspension For Blowout By Bill Finley, New York Times, September 19, 2006. (more on Dave Cadelina's case).
50 Point Rule Quickly Turns Into A Laugher by Sean Bowley, Connecticut Post On-Line, September 21, 2006.
A 50 Point Rule That Makes The Wrong Point by Mike LoPresti, USA Today, September 20, 2006.