My son is a competitive fencer.
When he was a lot younger and very new to the sport, he competed in his first tournament. (Where he got his butt kicked)
Anyway, the last kid he fenced that day was much better than him. (The first person to reach 15 touches wins the bout.) This better fencer was beating my son pretty badly. Something like 13 to 0 at one point. This kid then takes it upon himself to “give” my son some free points. Obviously letting my son get 2 free touches. I guess to make him feel better.
First off, it really pissed off my son. (Good for him). He was taught to earn what he received.
Second, the small crowd of onlookers proceeded to boo the better fencer. Myself included.
In fencing, giving someone touches they didn't really win is very wrong.
My son has never forgotten what that “better fencer” did that day.
I have seen my son completely whip someones butt. But he respects his opponents enough to not demean or ridicule them.
Why would a team or individual want something they didn't really earn or deserve?
I would rather lose, accept and learn from the defeat, than be further embarrassed by charity.
I don’t know anything about the customs and ethics of fencing, so I take your word on it. I do know basketball. 100-0 is disgraceful.
In fencing, like in tennis, the winner of the bout is determined by a certain number of points without a time limit.
What if fencing were scored by the highest score achieved within 15 minutes and your son's opponent made a point to score as much and as fast as he possibly could to run up a huge score against your son?
Is such conduct not specifically designed to "demean or ridicule him"?
In un-timed sports, a certain score must be reached and giving away points in both timed and un-timed sports is considered condescending.
In timed sports, unnecessarily running up the score has traditionally been considered low class and unsportsmanlike.