# High-scoring shootouts or low-scoring defensive battles? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 26, 2015, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-scoring-shootouts-or-low-scoring-defensive-battles/716020 "2015-03-26T13:21:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-scoring-shootouts-or-low-scoring-defensive-battles/716020/1 "2015-03-26T13:21:36Z")
Are you the type of fan who prefers high-scoring shootouts (i.e., 45-38 in football, 14-9 in baseball, 6-4 in soccer, etc…or do you prefer low-scoring defensive battles (i.e., 1-0 in soccer, 2-1 in hockey, 1-0 in baseball, etc.?) Seems that traditionalists typically prefer low scoring while modern fans like entertaining, high scoring games. ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-scoring-shootouts-or-low-scoring-defensive-battles/716020/2 "2015-03-26T14:43:02Z")
I get enough low-scoring defensive battles in my love life. I want action, excitement when “spending” the time I allot for entertainment, otherwise I’m liable to change the channel or check out something else on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-scoring-shootouts-or-low-scoring-defensive-battles/716020/3 "2015-03-26T15:47:28Z")
Both, of course. Variety and unexpected results are what make sports interesting. If every game was a shootout it’d be dull. If every game was a defensive contest it’d be dull. In the 1993 World Series, in Game 4, the Blue Jays beat the Phillies 15-14, which remains the highest scoring World Series game ever. It was awesome. In Game 5, Curt Schilling shut out the Blue Jays and the Phillies won 2-0, an absolutely wonderful pitching performance. That was awesome too, and those games were awesome in part because you couldn’t expect those things to happen. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-scoring-shootouts-or-low-scoring-defensive-battles/716020/4 "2015-03-26T16:00:28Z")
I like good games. Good games can be either. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-scoring-shootouts-or-low-scoring-defensive-battles/716020/5 "2015-03-26T16:18:13Z")
Like **RickJay** , I like to see some of both. But when I was a football fan, my balance of preferences was much more towards shootouts and away from defensive battles than it was (and is) in baseball. Take [Super Bowl #9](http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197501120min.htm), where the Steelers led the Vikes 2-0 at the half. Cool that it happened once, but I’d have hated to see a steady diet of games like that. OTOH, anybody who was watching still probably remembers that incredible 1984 BC-Miami game where Doug Flutie and Bernie Kosar kept on one-upping each other, culminating in that final [hail-Mary pass by Flutie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Flutie) for the 47-45 win. Baseball’s more the reverse for me. [This](http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197501120min.htm) was first time I ever saw a game in Fenway, on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend in 1977. After being down 10-4 early, the Red Sox’ bats woke up, and they won, 17-12. Damn, what a game that was - but I’d hate to see too many like it. Give me ten 2-1 pitching duels for every donnybrook like that Fenway game. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-scoring-shootouts-or-low-scoring-defensive-battles/716020/6 "2015-03-28T14:43:12Z")
I’m a huge fan of low-scoring defensive battles. It’s funny, because this reason: > [@dba\_Fred](#): > > I get enough low-scoring defensive battles in my love life.\*\* I want action, excitement when “spending” the time I allot for entertainment,\*\* otherwise I’m liable to change the channel or check out something else on the internet. is the _exact_ reason I love low-scoring defensive battles! 🙂 Hockey’s my sport; the very best games are low scoring. The key is that the offense is _also_ strong. Nothing ramps up the tension more than a great offense/defense dance in front of the net. Skilled and intricate puck play, the offense trying to thread the needle between skilled defense and a goalie ready and waiting for the shot… man, nothing else like it. The shot, whether it scores or not, is an explosive release of that built-up tension… what a rush! 🙂