# Sports that grade you based on what "should have happened" **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 9, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-grade-you-based-on-what-should-have-happened/937531 "2021-03-09T14:46:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-grade-you-based-on-what-should-have-happened/937531/61 "2021-03-15T03:24:46Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > in (ice) hockey. The goal is awarded to the last offensive player to touch the puck and assists to the previous two offensive players to touch it Hijack: so for every goal half the team on the ice get a stat? And also, with a goal assist wizz like Gretzsky playing centre, what proportion of goals were scored when he was on the ice didn’t he get 2nd or 3rd last stick on it? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-grade-you-based-on-what-should-have-happened/937531/62 "2021-03-15T04:03:36Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Hijack: so for every goal half the team on the ice get a stat? Only three players can get a point. There’s up to six guys on the ice for a hockey team (and it’s unusual to score a goal shorthanded.) > [@penultima\_thule](#): > > And also, with a goal assist wizz like Gretzsky playing centre, what proportion of goals were scored when he was on the ice didn’t he get 2nd or 3rd last stick on it? During the height of his powers, he was involved in about half the goals his team scored. It will perhaps not surprise anyone that this is rather an astonishing accomplishment. Remember, he’s not OUT there on the ice half the time. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-grade-you-based-on-what-should-have-happened/937531/63 "2021-03-16T16:45:53Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Hijack: so for every goal half the team on the ice get a stat? Actually there is also a statistic called plus/minus. During even strength play, every player who is on the ice, excluding the goalie, is awarded +1 if his team scores a goal and -1 if the opposing team scores. It’s possible, and does happen, that a player who gets an assist does not get a +1. A defenseman passes the puck to a wingman, then steps off the ice to be replaced (substitution while the puck is live is permitted in ice hockey). The wingman skates down the ice and passes to the center who scores. The original defenseman gets an assist. The replacement gets the +1. ---
**Author:** ![FastDan1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fastdan1/32/427_2.png) [@FastDan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FastDan1)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-grade-you-based-on-what-should-have-happened/937531/64 "2021-03-16T17:02:49Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Hijack: so for every goal half the team on the ice get a stat? Up to 2 assists can be awarded. There may be 1 assist, or a goal may be unassisted as well. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-grade-you-based-on-what-should-have-happened/937531/65 "2021-03-16T17:29:29Z")
In bicycle road racing, riders involved in crashes or held up by crashes less than 3km from the finish will be awarded the same time as the group they were in at the time of the crash, provided they do eventually cross the finish line. This is less for the purposes of making the results what “should have happened” and more to de-incentivize general classification riders and their teams jockeying for position at the front of the peleton at the end of sprint stages in order to decrease the likelihood of crashes in the first place. Crashes remain distressingly common in these sorts of finishes despite that. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-grade-you-based-on-what-should-have-happened/937531/66 "2021-03-18T19:40:30Z")
In horse racing, the judges can disqualify a horse and change the order of finish to what it would have been without the foul. So if Paul Revere interferes with Epitaph, Epitaph is declared the winner even if he finished second. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-grade-you-based-on-what-should-have-happened/937531/67 "2021-03-19T13:20:03Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > This is less for the purposes of making the results what “should have happened” and more to de-incentivize general classification riders and their teams jockeying for position at the front of the peleton at the end of sprint stages in order to decrease the likelihood of crashes in the first place. Crashes remain distressingly common in these sorts of finishes despite that. And for the same reason, I understand that if a big group crosses the finish line, everyone in the group gets the same time, whether they’re at the front or back of the group (and in a big group, it could actually be a significant time difference). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sports-that-grade-you-based-on-what-should-have-happened/937531.md?page=3)