My feelings on the subject of playing hard the whole game while blowing out the opponent are a little mixed, but I generally favor doing it. The coach of the blown out team can use this opportunity to teach his players that life is hard sometimes, and not to whine for people to perform less effectively so that you could look or feel better. Take the loss like a man. Being particularly humane to people who are down or less fortunate is a good message, but NOT when it requires an equal number of people laying down.
I do recognize some merit to not embarrassing the other players, but requiring the winning team to put their metaphorical slippers on is something that might work well with children, since they don't know you're going soft on them, but these guys know who the much better team is.
It's even worse for professional athletes to whine about being blown out. They're full grown men; no excuse.
