I was listening to the BBC. They were asking a media commentator in New York about Katie Couric vs. Sarah Palin. The guy said it was a draw. The BBC guy then asked ‘Score draw?’ I do not think the media commentator understood that term but still talked a lot.
Question is do Americans understand the term ‘Score Draw’?
“I didn’t get where I am today by selling ice cream tasting of bookends, pumice stone and West Germany.”
No, the term “score draw” is not used here. If a game comes out even, we call it a draw.
Americans don’t have any sport that regularly finishes 0-0, so “score draw” would be a redundant term for them.
“All right, we’ll call it a draw.”
So a score draw is where the teams actually score, rather than a 0-0 draw?
“Come, Patsy.”
Agree with this. We do use the term “draw” to refer to a tied score, but not the term “score draw.”
Familiar constructions are sentences like:
They played to a draw.
The game ended in a draw.
Let’s call it a draw.
So in BBC-land, how does “score draw” differ from “draw” by itself?
A score draw is any draw other than a 0-0 draw. Say 1-1, 2-2 etc. The main reason for the distinction is the football pools, a form of betting pool based on soccer results. Points were awarded for home wins, away wins, no-score draws and score draws on the selected matches, with score draws having the highest points value.
The iconic (for those of us that grew up with sport on the BBC) football results on Saturday afternoons would announce how many score draws etc there were. In the event of matches being cancelled, the “pools panel” would decide the outcome, and the BBC announcer would declare “Pools panel result: score draw” or whatever. 
How could the intellectual equivalent of a silly slap-fight give any other result?
In score draws both sides have scored. A no-score draw is 0-0. That only happens in soccer so the terms are mostly redundant in the US.
"So in BBC-land, how does “score draw” differ from “draw” by itself? "
I am not actually sure. Anyone out there know?
Colophon and isaiahrobinson just told you.
I didn’t see the original interview but in this case I’d assume he was asking if both parties landed some blows rather than just being “bleh”.
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Yes, blows landed but honours even, as opposed to just bad.
If this a reference to Couric’s famous interview with Palin before the 2008 election, I do not see how it can be described as any kind of draw. It was not a contest, and there is no reason to think that Couric was trying to “win”. She was not even trying to conduct a “tough” interview. Somehow, Palin managed to lose anyway.
Can’t it happen in hockey (ice or field)? What about other goal scoring based games such as lacrosse?
Come to that, soccer is, in fact, quite widely played in the U.S.A., even if it does not have the mass appeal of baseball, (ice) hockey, and what Americans like to call football.
As Colophon said, the term “score draw” probably gained its currency in Britain because of its relevance to football pools, a once very popular (but weirdly complex and indirect) way of betting on the sport. (Or perhaps, more accurately, harnessing the results of multiple matches as a sort of quasi-randomizer for a sort of lottery.) My mother, who had absolutely no interest in or knowledge of the sport, as such, used to play The Pools religiously, every week, for many years. I think The Pools have largely been superseded, now by the National Lottery.
Not to hijack, but did they have a fight, or what? Why didn’t anyone tell me?
They were both guest-hosting on competing network morning shows. Couric is doing a week on ABC’s Good Morning America, so NBC countered by bringing in Palin for a one-day gig on the Today Show.
Here’s a preview story I found by typing “katie couric sarah palin” into Google.
http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/04/02/katie-couric-sarah-palin-morning-showdown/