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I've only skimmed through this thread but I totally agree with everyone who says people complaining about running up the score are whiny and dumb. I'm English and in our sports culture you play as hard as you can till the final whistle. If you get thrashed you get thrashed, don't cry, learn from it and get better, or don't play next time. If the other team are being douches about winning heavy, fair enough, just more incentive for you to beat their asses next time you meet.
I also agree with the poster who said it would be more insulting that a coach takes out his best players against his opponents, as if to say "you're done, play against the reserves for a while".
Also, I would imagine that the second string would play even harder, to prove to their coaches that they're worthy of a starting place next week, so maybe taking out your big guns isn't taking it that easy anyway? Or is the gulf in quality between starters and reserves that great?
And another thing, blatantly running down the clock sucks too.
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Well, blatently running down the clock is just giving your team the best chance to win (just like playing your starters). Since there is a play clock, and only 4 downs and your opponent may have timeouts available, it can only be done in certain circumstances. However, EVERY football team will run out the clock ANY time they are able to. Otherwise,
this might happen. (BTW, the coach who called this play was fired the next day, and never worked in football again.)