Sports and keeping score

I have often considered from the players perspective what it would be like to play sports without being able to view the progressive score. For instance if i am playing basketball and my team gets up or down by 20 points there is a good chance that people will start to play the game differently. I see this time and time again where the score actually changes the way the game is played on an individual level. It seems that the score is dictating the play instead of being a reflection of the play. What would it be like to play a full game and have the score revealed at the end?
Without the focal point being the progressive score would the players focus be more towards playing the game and not winning/losing thus producing a better quality expression of physical achievements.
I could use this same analogy with life, would i let the perception (scoreboard) dictate the experience (game) or let the experience dictate the perception?

reply to post by TheomExperience


Initially I could see this taking away much of the strategy of games like football, basketball, hockey, and baseball.
Being that the goal of the game is to win, and not to maintain a certain level/type of play throughout, I'm sure this would take away from the game itself.
Imagine baseball without pinch hitters/closers.
Or basketball without late game fouling/last second miracle shots
Hockey without the goalie being pulled for the last minutes of the game
or football in general. The entire game is strategy and most is based on the time/score of the game.

It's an interesting thought, but just that.

reply to post by TheomExperience


Of course people would play the game differently. A lot on how you coach and play in a specific situation in any sport has to do with the score.

Originally posted by K9millionaire
reply to post by TheomExperience

 

Initially I could see this taking away much of the strategy of games like football, basketball, hockey, and baseball.
Being that the goal of the game is to win, and not to maintain a certain level/type of play throughout, I'm sure this would take away from the game itself.
Imagine baseball without pinch hitters/closers.
Or basketball without late game fouling/last second miracle shots
Hockey without the goalie being pulled for the last minutes of the game
or football in general. The entire game is strategy and most is based on the time/score of the game.

It's an interesting thought, but just that.

Having the score definitely allows for such feats you describe but these could still be achieved without the progressive score available to the players don't you think? Basketball would still have last shots and if revealed that it was a game winner that would be something.
The strategies would be different but i don't see it mattering if the attitude is to play at the highest level and the objective is not to win but to have the win/loss as a reflection of the play.

reply to post by TheomExperience

What would it be like to play a full game and have the score revealed at the end?

No.

I play harder if I'm losing. Good theory on your part but you're wrong in your thinking.

Originally posted by TheomExperience

Originally posted by K9millionaire
reply to post by TheomExperience

 

Initially I could see this taking away much of the strategy of games like football, basketball, hockey, and baseball.
Being that the goal of the game is to win, and not to maintain a certain level/type of play throughout, I'm sure this would take away from the game itself.
Imagine baseball without pinch hitters/closers.
Or basketball without late game fouling/last second miracle shots
Hockey without the goalie being pulled for the last minutes of the game
or football in general. The entire game is strategy and most is based on the time/score of the game.

It's an interesting thought, but just that.

Having the score definitely allows for such feats you describe but these could still be achieved without the progressive score available to the players don't you think? Basketball would still have last shots and if revealed that it was a game winner that would be something.
The strategies would be different but i don't see it mattering if the attitude is to play at the highest level and the objective is not to win but to have the win/loss as a reflection of the play.

edit on 8-6-2013 by TheomExperience because: (no reason given)

While of course there would be last second shots in basketball due to the fact that there is a game clock, the fouling and strategy that goes into creating those last second shots that determine the outcome of the game would be lost, and you would end up with last second heaves from whoever has the ball regardless of who in fact is winning.

Could you imagine the disadvantage a team down by 1 with 20 seconds left on the clock would have? They would simply let the clock run out and hope for the best.

Also, would it be cheating if one team discovers the score from a fan/coach and gains a strategic advantage?

And finally, playing a game strategically is no different than playing at the highest level. It is not playing at the highest level to play aggressively when conservatism guarantees a win, or vice verse. The goal is to win, by whatever means necessary so long as it's within the rules. What's being proposed here changes that goal to "having an attitude to play at the highest level" and hoping to win.

Originally posted by shockedamerican
reply to post by TheomExperience

 

What would it be like to play a full game and have the score revealed at the end?

No.

I play harder if I'm losing. Good theory on your part but you're wrong in your thinking.

This is one of my points. What were you doing before you started to play harder? Could you apply this discipline on your own without an external driving motivator like losing?

Originally posted by TheomExperience

Originally posted by shockedamerican
reply to post by TheomExperience

 

What would it be like to play a full game and have the score revealed at the end?

No.

I play harder if I'm losing. Good theory on your part but you're wrong in your thinking.

This is one of my points. What were you doing before you started to play harder? Could you apply this discipline on your own without an external driving motivator like losing?

I don't think I would but that is the point of competition.....to win.

edit ;

com·pe·ti·tion

/ˌkämpəˈtiSHən/
Noun
1.The activity or condition of competing: "there is fierce competition between banks".
2.An event or contest in which people compete.

Synonyms

contest - rivalry - emulation - race - match

Originally posted by K9millionaire

While of course there would be last second shots in basketball due to the fact that there is a game clock, the fouling and strategy that goes into creating those last second shots that determine the outcome of the game would be lost, and you would end up with last second heaves from whoever has the ball regardless of who in fact is winning.

Whilst fouling is a strategy used to win its not pretty to watch. So the point of winning takes away from the quality of the expression at least in my view.

Could you imagine the disadvantage a team down by 1 with 20 seconds left on the clock would have? They would simply let the clock run out and hope for the best.

I would think that each play would be treated on its own merit. If no one knew the score the objective would be simple. Score and do not let the other team score. Persist in executing with perfection.

Also, would it be cheating if one team discovers the score from a fan/coach and gains a strategic advantage?

I don't believe it would be. Knowing something shouldn't change the objective which is to execute every play to perfection or strive to. If people need to know something in order to motivate them then they are lacking in focus. Its not cheating unless you consider someone having more or less focus outside the rules.

And finally, playing a game strategically is no different than playing at the highest level. It is not playing at the highest level to play aggressively when conservatism guarantees a win, or vice verse. The goal is to win, by whatever means necessary so long as it's within the rules. What's being proposed here changes that goal to "having an attitude to play at the highest level" and hoping to win.

Im not saying there would be no strategy not knowing the score. The highest level would be everything physically and mentally the player can offer. If everyone is doing that what more can you ask for....Hope?
The goal is to win but wanting to win never made me play better or worse. Playing the best i can does that and to be honest for me the score is the most irrelevant because its just numbers on a board to influence me. I don't need that influence myself to know that if i play hard i get the result of my effort.
This probably should have been in the philosophy forum but its just a rant to exchange and share ideas.
Actually this started because my team got whipped the other night and all the players turned on each other making the game less enjoyable and perpetuating the problem. I couldn't help but think damn that scoreboard messed up everyone's attitude and focus big time. No one likes to lose but to give up because of a few numbers on a board before the final buzzer got me in rant mode.