The Covenant School (Dallas) fires girls basketball coach (100-0 game)

[RB TexLa]

Dallas basketball coach who led 100-0 win is fired

06:28 PM CST on Sunday, January 25, 2009
By BARRY HORN / The Dallas Morning News
[e-mail]

The Covenant School fired its girls’ basketball coach Sunday, the same day he distributed an e-mail and posted on a Web site that he disagreed with the school’s headmaster as well as the school’s chairman of the board, who have publicly apologized for Covenant’s 100-0 victory over Dallas Academy.

Kyle Queal, Covenant’s head of school, said former coach Micah Grimes “now only represents himself.” Queal said he could not answer if the firing was a direct result of his e-mail and posting.

Grimes’ e-mail and posting said, “In response to the statement posted on The Covenant School Web site, I do not agree with the apology or the notion that the Covenant School girls’ basketball team should feel embarrassed or ashamed,” Micah Grimes wrote in an email sent to The Dallas Morning News. “We played the game as it was meant to be played. My values and my beliefs would not allow me to run up the score on any opponent, and it will not allow me to apologize for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with honor and integrity.”

On its Web site Thursday, the school posted a statement that said it “regrets the incident of January 13 and the outcome of the game with the Dallas Academy Varsity Girls Basketball team. It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christ-like and honorable approach to competition.” It was signed by Kyle Queal, the head of school and Todd Doshier, board chair.





http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/012609dnspocovenantnu.2781526.html

[EFerrari]

1. I hope those girls get a better coach. n/t

[Vincardog]

2. A$$ hole

[Buzz Clik]

108. Total asshole.

I absolutely guarantee that the three top girls' teams in our small community would show this anus "how the game should be played."

Good luck finding a job in this economy, shithead.

[emilyg]

3. Good.

[madrchsod]

4. good....he deserves what he got

i would`t think of pulling that crap when i was a coach.

[WolverineDG]

5. What a hypocrite

My values and my beliefs would not allow me to run up the score on any opponent

BUT YOU DID!

it will not allow me to apologize for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with honor and integrity.

BS. I'm a Christian & I know of no such teaching that prohibits apologizing if my actions (intentional or otherwise) harm another.

dg

[Goblinmonger]

6. I'll be devil's advocate

What should he have done? Would it have been more honorable and sportsmanlike to just let them score. To not even try to play? I have not seen anywhere that he still had his first string in there (I could certainly have missed that which would change my position). If he had his bench in there and they were still scoring like crazy, should he have played with only 4 on the floor?

There are times when there isn't much more you can do. My son's middle school football team was killing this other team about 40-0. I was doing chains so I was right by the other team (I knew a couple of the coaches on the other team from my son's wrestling). They said something about us keeping in our first string QB. I let them know that we only had two QBs and the other one was the better one and I could probably get him put in if they wanted (it was one of the guys I know so there was a little bit of good-natured ribbing in the comment). But what should that coach have done? We had the second string defense in and, with the exception of QB, the second string offense. Should they have just taken a knee and then handed the ball over to the other team and let them score so they'd feel better? I realize this is football and not basketball where the scores get higher more quickly.

I went to a private catholic seminary high school. Our basketball team sucked. I believe we still hold the ND record for longest losing streak (about 7-8 years). We would have been pissed if the other team had just stopped playing to take it easy on us. We sucked a lot, but we were there to play. Granted, it was never 100-0, but I don't think you do the other team any favors by patting them on the head and telling them they are so bad that you aren't even going to bother playing.

I know this looks bad. Maybe the guy is a prick. But I don't think it's all as easy as we are saying it is. My son was at a wrestling tournament yesterday and pinned a guy in 12 seconds with a banana-split cradle. That's kind of mean. Other kid didn't have time to do anything. Should he have let him up and let him wrestle for the whole three periods?

[aikoaiko]

9. That was my reaction too at first, but 100-0 is total dominance.

It was a difficult situation, but he could have talked to the coach about allowing them to forfeit or he could have had the team do what would have amounted to passing and dribbling drills with no scoring (moving the ball in and out of zones).

The coach was trying to score 100 points apparently for vain glory.

[Goblinmonger]

19. Sure they were trying to hit triple digits

If he did it with his starters still in the game, then shame on him. If he did it with his bench in the game, it's a harder call for me to get pissed. It's a game, not a practice. They are, I believe, in the same conference. I think passing and dribbling drills would be more demeaning.

[aikoaiko]

40. I recall similar things happening in school sports -- when the win was in the bag

When I ran track and field, after winning jumps were made or runners were far ahead, we do some training during the competition.

Its the same win whether by 1 point or 100. From some reports it does appear that the coach was trying to maximize the score for nothing but vanity.

Nevertheless, I also question the other school putting their players and the other team in such a situation.

[RB TexLa]

11. The team the beat, Dallas Academy specializes in children with learning problems

primarily attention problems. There are only 20 girls in the school and 8 on the basketball team. Most teams that play them didn't bring their starters to the game, they treated it as a JV game.

[Goblinmonger]

20. Hate to be heartless

but if they can't handle getting beat, then maybe they need to become a club team and play lesser teams. I'm not saying everyone should pound on them, but this IS high school ball. And I don't know that I've read anything that says the coach in question played his first string for the whole or even a good portion of the game.

And it's not like Dallas Academy is 8 down syndrom girls out on the floor (some people keep refering to this as a "special needs" school). ADHD doesn't necessarily = can't play basketball. The school i went to, though a college prep school, only had about 45 guys in the school and our team sucked pretty hard, too. We played our hearts out and would have found it demeaning if the other team had run our game like just another practice. Go ahead and kick our asses but don't treat us like we need your pity.

[MilesColtrane]

84. They handled getting beat very well, and didn't ask for an apology.

[LisaL]

106. Apology for what, exactly?

[LisaL]

44. The covenant school also only has 8 players.

Kind of hard to not bring the starters to the game, don't you think?
:eyes:

[.... callchet ....]

53. They could have tried other plays to keep it to a ten point difference.

[Bake]

96. That would be a 10-0 ballgame.

Is there a shot clock? I agree with the poster upthread who said if they played their second sstring, it's a little harder to fault them.

Bake

[LisaL]

103. The team only got 8 people.

Who says they didn't all get to play?

[.... callchet ....]

110. I said "plays" not players.

"They could have tried other " plays" to keep it to a ten point difference " They could have tried little used difficult plays out of their play book.

[lolly]

33. Don't know about the second string

But apparently one of the issues was that they were still high-fiving and celebrating every basket as if it were a game-winner, and kept up a full-court press until the end.

[LostinVA]

48. Yup, and going for three pointers -- he just wanted to break 100 points

And damn the kids, including his own benchwarmers.

[Goblinmonger]

89. I believe the winning team had only 8 people on the team

as well. I don't think there is any indication the 3 bench warmers never saw the court.

[dansolo]

35. They were doing a full court press in the fourth quarter

The coach could have backed off on the aggressive defense, slowed down the pace of the game running out the shot clock, and not shooting three pointers at the end of the game. The coach is a prick.

[Goblinmonger]

45. The reports of the press in the second half

are mixed. I would rather they shoot three pointers than the layups they could probably have had since the threes are a lower percentage shot.

[ProfessorGAC]

49. Walk The Ball Up, Not Run

Insist that his team make at least 5 passes before shooting. That helps run the clock down and prevents the score from getting worse.

Drop the press. Just get back and play half court, no trapping, defense.

They were running the floor, trapping, shooting threes. . .

What he could have done was myriad and obvious. The play of Covenant meets the definition of "running it up" in every way.

I see your point, but there are ways to prevent making things worse and embarrassing the other team.
GAC

[Iggo]

50. Maybe he shouldn't have run a full court press the entire game.

[Goblinmonger]

55. Do we have proof that he did?

I have read conflicting reports. Some say yes, some say no, some say he switched to a new press that they hadn't run in a game but were working on (i.e. he used the game as practice as some people here have suggested he do).

[Iggo]

75. Some say...some say...some say.

Look, you're looking for a way to save this guy some grief. I get it.

I don't care about him, so I'm piling on, and I think you get that.

[pampango]

52. I have read that they used a full-court press until they reached 100 points.

I've only coached baseball, and we have our own "unwritten rules" for lopsided games (until the run-rule kicks in). I heard a basketball coach describe what they do in situations like this.

They always pass the ball 10 times before taking a shot, no 3-point shots, no full-court press, and, of course, you empty your bench. They don't quit playing the game hard (the equivalent of taking a knee) and scores can still be lopsided but not 100-0.

[Goblinmonger]

54. I no basketball coach

but wouldn't taking threes be better since they are a lower percentage?

I'm not saying this guy wasn't gunning for triple digits, but I don't think he's the devil incarnate people are making him out to be. And this is high school ball. It's not a club team or a Y team.

And I don't know that he was pressing until the end, or until a 100, or whatever people are saying. I have read things that he stopped the press in the first half.

[ProfessorGAC]

57. Not Necessarily

Remember that you have to multiply the 3 point percentage by 1.5 to make it comparable to 2 point shooting.

If i hit 3 out of 10 from 3-range, i score 9 points. That's the same as shooting 45% from closer in.

The other thing to keep in mind is that 3's generally result in longer rebounds, and a dominant team has a much better chance of getting an offensive rebound, which means they keep the ball and get to shoot again.

You can't use the college or NBA game to compare, because the backcourt guys are generally so good that the long rebounds are still more likely to end up as defensive ones. But, in a game between clearly unequal teams, the 3's result in even more chances for the better team.

The more important thing to me was to drop the trapping defense, walk the ball up the floor and milk the clock by "overpassing". There was no reason to continue to try to score and trap the ball when the team is up by 60 or 70 or 80 or 90. It's just silly and the epitome of bad sportsmanship.
GAC

[ChickMagic]

58. On the news this morning

the bobblehead said the asshole played his first string the entire game. The girls Covenant played against were troubled - dyslexia, ADD, emotional problems, etc. He should have played his benchwarmers.

[Goblinmonger]

68. If I remember correctly

both schools only have 8 kids on the team. So there really isn't a second string.

And dyslexia, ADD, and emotional problems do not equal problems playing basketball. Look at the NBA, there are people there that discuss their dyslexia and ADD problems and do I need to go into the emotional problems realm?

[ChickMagic]

111. I see your point

But why a full court press when it became obvious they were winning
by an extreme score?

[MilesColtrane]

83. First article I read says that he coached the team to play a full court press...

...and to keep trying for three pointers until sometime in the middle of the fourth quarter.

There's beating an opponent soundly, then there's running up the score for the sole purpose of humiliation. This sounds like a case of the latter to me.

[LisaL]

104. And that is not what the coach says.

He says there was no three pointers at all in the fourth quarter, and that he stopped the full court press.

[aikoaiko]

7. He coached poorly.

Adios.

[Botany]

8. 100 to 0 over a school for "special needs" kids

:puke:

[swishyfeet]

10. But were they "special needs" kids?

I watched a news clip of them and they seemed every bit like normal teenage girls.

[fishwax]

12. the school is for kids with dyslexia, ADD, etc.

It's a school that's designed for kids with learning differences.

[Goblinmonger]

21. That kind of shades the truth, doesn't it?

Dyslexia = "special needs" on the basketball floor? Please. Plenty of kids with dyslexia learn to function quite well and normally in society. You make it sound like they have an IQ less than 70 or something.

[LisaL]

31. Some famous NBA players are supposedly dyslexic.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

27. ADD and dyslexia is not "special needs"

They're learning disabilities, but shouldn't affect someone's ability to play sports in the slightest.

I HAVE ADD, and I'm certainly not "special needs." Many people in my family are dyslexic and they're not "special needs." They all have jobs making a lot of money.

They won over a team that clearly just couldn't play. Nothing to do with having ADD or dyslexia.

[LisaL]

29. I think a lot of posters here want to call them special needs

to get more sympathy for them. Beating "special needs" students by 100 points doesn't sound too good.

[JVS]

34. Yeah, they make it sound like this basketball team formed a "Dream Team" at the Special Olympics

[Midlodemocrat]

42. ADD and dyslexic kids are not 'special needs'.

The running up of this score was a disgrace, but not because of who the opponent was.

[Tansy_Gold]

13. High school football, Indiana, 1969, sore winners

I was newly married and living in the small NE Indiana community of Angola. Nearby was the even smaller town, but arch rival, Fremont.

Fremont High School was almost too small to field a football team and in fact hadn't had one for a number of years, but that fall they put one together and went up against Churubusco for their first game. The final score was 101-0.


http://ifca.zebras.net/ifca/candler/foot-history/nei/churubusco_.htm


My sister-in-law was a cheerleader at Angola, and as much as they despised Fremont as athletic rivals, they even more despised the Churubusco team for being sore winners.


There's a reason why sports like T-ball and (lower case) little league have scoring limits. It's to teach young athletes that it really isn't all about winning; it's also about how you play the game and how you behave in both victory and defeat.

the poster above said it best:

"He coached poorly."


I'm no Indiana Jones, just



Tansy Gold

[liberalhistorian]

14. Being a sports "dummy" I'm really not all that clear

on what went on here or why it's the coach's fault that the team scored so highly. Someone wanna take a crack at enlightening me (I was always the arts, music and humanities type, didn't get into sports).

[Dr. Strange]

16. Apparently...

he had them running a full-court press (playing defense the full length of the court) until they reached the 100-pt mark. That's just uncalled for. (On edit: there is some dispute about that part, though. The Convenant coach says he stopped the press, the Academy coach says they started up with a different kind of press.)

[LisaL]

28. Well apparently winning by that much is not a christ-like

approach to the competition. Gotta be a christ-like approach to the competition, don't you know?

[BlooInBloo]

64. If I recall, the only real thing that was geniunely uncalled for during the game...

was the coach keeping the girls in a full-court press defense.

Other than that, let the girls play. A score that lopsided really only indicates that at least one of the teams should not be in the league that they're in (and I believe the disabled girls school did in fact subsequently disband the team).

[Beregond2]

15. I loathe sports, but I can't understand why it is a bad thing to win.

If the other team was so thoroughly outclassed, why are they in the same league? It seems to me that the problem lies with someone other than the coach. Clearly they should not have been playing this team at all.

As for claiming that a decisive win is "unchristian," well yes; sports are unchristian altogether. So is capitalism, and everything that encourages competition rather than cooperation. But I don't see them saying that anytime soon.

The whole thing is ridiculous, but then, investing time, energy and money in an activity that is utterly arbitrary and meaningless is always going to lead to absurd situations.

[Generic Brad]

22. This story was not about winning a game

It was about intentionally humiliating a team of special needs students. That was the "unChristian" part.

[LisaL]

32. Yes. Exactly. Christ-like approach to competition must be

top priority. One always has to think as to what would Jesus do.

[dansolo]

37. You do realize that they are private Christian high schools?

There is a reason that the head of the school is trying to use Jesus as an example.

[LisaL]

38. No. You don't say.

:eyes:

[woo me with science]

36. I strongly disagree.

First of all, look upthread. These students were not physically disabled at all. They had learning disabilities. Some of the best athletes I have ever met were learning disabled.

More importantly, though, it seems to me that the school is sending absolutely the wrong message about humiliation to the students who were defeated. If you play your best and are defeated, even resoundingly, there should be nothing humiliating about that. It is only a game, and hanging in there and doing your best should be cause for pride. By acting as though these students were too emotionally fragile to handle a bad loss, the district is teaching them that they SHOULD feel humiliated and emotionally destroyed for losing, and that the humiliation in losing is so bad that someone SHOULD pity them and rescue them from the situation. In other words, they should consider themselves victims and losers rather than holding their heads high for sticking out a very difficult situation. If this team is losing this way repeatedly, then something probably needs to be done to restructure the league so they have more suitable opponents. Managing a blowout loss in one game, though, should not be considered a horribly traumatic experience for fragile, damaged children (I get so sick of this patronizing attitude toward both children AND adults in our society), but rather a valuable learning experience for young athletes who are busy learning how to manage big disappointments as well as successes.

Perhaps a standing ovation was in order for their perseverence in a particularly difficult game. The main message, though, should have been that IT WAS ONLY A GAME, and that they showed great persistence and courage and fighting spirit for hanging in there.

[Raskolnik]

95. "investing time, energy and money in an activity that is utterly arbitrary and meaningless"

Man, I bet your Superbowl party is *awesome*.

[Belial]

17. They should have fired the other coach for taking them

there to get their asses handed to them.

[rufus dog]

18. It the guy was running a full court press and let his starters touch the floor

at anytime in the 2nd half then he deserves to get fired. It is understandable to have a game plan, but at half time he should have had the time to consider his actions and go into a soft zone and give the starters a rest. It seems that he decided to go for 100 using the superior talent of his team. He didn't need to tell his team to quit playing hard, he did need to tell his team to play a zone and work on passing. It is very simple to give the direction, "play zone, and I want three people to touch the ball before putting up a shot." When and if a kid goes one on one, you pull him.

[Goblinmonger]

24. I don't think we know he did that.

And maybe he was practicing a new press that they have never done before. And shooting threes would be a better option than layups since it is a lower percentage shot.

[Lars39]

23. Long ago and far away in high school,

I remember basketball games that would be stopped if one team was beating the other by 30(iirc)points.

[treestar]

25. He screwed up but firing him seems a little much IMO

Unless they've had other problems with him.

[petronius]

26. I wonder if publicly contradicting the school administrators was the tipping point

They elected to apologize, he went on record saying they're wrong. It's one thing to disagree with your boss in a staff meeting, but once a decision is made it's not so wise to start airing your differences (unless you're blowing the whistle on criminality or something like that)...

[LisaL]

30. I don't know if it applies to high schools, but firing a university

coach who has a contract often leads to "breach of contract" lawsuits.

[bertman]

39. Anson Dorrance, UNC at Chapel Hill head women's soccer coach and the winningest coach

in college soccer says it is a sign of disrespect to the other team to have your players play at less than their best game. In soccer, a 3-0 loss is considered a drubbing. UNC's women have pounded other teams by 7 and 8 to nil. And probably higher, but I can't remember for sure.

Personally I don't give a shit what that school does to their coach, but I agree that the other team deserved a nod of respect just for staying on the floor to the final buzzer.

[DaDeacon]

94. I have that Quote in my office.

I coach Middle school football and I always tell players "Your BEST is the least I ask for, and your most is all you should give" I want to shake the hand of every young lady that plays to the buzzer in a loss like that. That level of heart is sorely missing in many!

[bertman]

99. Good for you, coach. I really get pissed with this "everybody is a winner", "everybody

gets a trophy" bullshit that is so prevalent among kid's activities these days.

Not to say that every kid who plays hard and tries their best shouldn't get a pat on the back and praise from his/her coach, but acting as if the losers are as good as the winners is against my "religion".

A few years ago when I coached travel-level soccer our team had a couple of rivals who would beat the living piss out of us every time they played us. They were really good players and played the game several levels higher than our girls did. Of course, after taking an ass-whipping the girls would come off the field all bummed out, but we coaches would sit them down and compliment them for hanging tough and playing their hearts out. We'd also explain some of the reasons that the other team was so good, and we'd remind them that OUR team needed to work on those skills and tactics even harder than before.

Years later, our team was able to go toe-to-toe with those teams, and we actually beat one of them soundly. Our players were so elated it's undescribeable. Those young women (by then) were so proud that they had worked hard and learned the game and had risen to the level of their former nemeses. Somehow I don't think getting beaten to a pulp had any long-lasting detrimental effect on them, and it may have motivated them to work harder.

And, as the icing on top of the cake, eight of the players on that team that got their fannies kicked so badly were on the state championship high school team seven years later.

[cherish44]

41. Part of sportsmanship is being gracious in victory

This game was between two grossly mismatched teams and should have been called. What kind of victory is a 100-0 game? They were just hotdogging and being cocky by continuing to pound on the other team who clearly were not competitive with them at all. Maybe it's the bleeding heart liberal in me but maybe a good way for them to remedy this situation would be for Covenant to offer practice with them. Help them. Scrimmage with them. I mean come on, a team with 8 players? How can they even get decent practice playing against other people with 8 players?....I know, I know WINNING is all important in athletics...I'm so glad my daughter isn't into sports. Anyway I agree poor coaching is at the heart of this

[LisaL]

43. Well, the Covenant school also only has 8 players.

Hello?
By the way this is the coach's full statement.
http://www.flightbasketball.com/100-0-Texas-Game-Response-From-Coach.html

[Dr. Strange]

98. Hmmm...

interesting. It would be nice to see the videotape to confirm some of this, but it certainly puts a different light on things.

[cobalt1999]

46. I'd fire the person who scheduled such an obviously inferior opponent

Nothing wrong with a coach and team playing as hard as they can throughout the game.

[LostinVA]

47. The only thing worse than a bad loser is a bad winner -- good

What a disgusting display of bad sportsmanship.

[ProfessorGAC]

51. I Can't Believe The Number Of Folks Defending This Tool

Surprising and disappointing to see this many folks on this thread defending this sort of behavior as a leader of children.

GAC

[Greyhound]

59. Pretty revealing, isn't it?

When I was playing baseball, we had a couple of games that could have gone like this, our coach brought the team in, told us what he was going to do, and then had the Umpire call the game.

[LostinVA]

92. Tell me about it

I sincerely hope they don't coach any child or teen sports teams.

[LisaL]

105. And I can't believe the number of people who think this guy

should have gotten fired.
Very disappointing to me.
I don't see anything wrong with his behavior, so WTF shouldn't I defend it?

[ProfessorGAC]

109. Unbrilliant

GAC

[.... callchet ....]

56. There is no defense for 100 to 0

[BlooInBloo]

71. You're right. The adults at the special needs (or whatever) school should be fired....

for setting their girls up like that.

[madinmaryland]

60. Sounds like he has been taught by Bill Belichek!!

[BlooInBloo]

61. To all of the representatives of the last-picked here: Letting someone score...

is about the most unsportsmanlike thing one could possibly do; it's also close to the most insulting. Of course to recognize this, a person has to have a little bit of pride.

The root cause of all of this is that there was a "school" of 40 disabled girls, putting out an 8 girl team.

[ProfessorGAC]

62. Who Suggested That, Bloo?

I didn't see anything in the thread about letting the other team score. But, calling off the press when the game is in hand, isn't the same as "letting the team score".

And, since the object is to win the game, "letting the team score" by playing vanilla defense is hardly unsportsmanlike.

I never suggested in this, or the other threads on this subject, that they should "let" the other team score. Just that they used tactics that were unnecessary when the game was completely in control.
GAC

[BlooInBloo]

77. I don't know that anyone said those precise words, in that precise order....

Any in-game response to the losing team's comparative lack of ability could never be more than a bandaid on the fact that this was a "school" of 20-40 girls total, a "varsity" team of 8, and they haven't won a game in 4 years. The root cause of their spanking is the adults who thought it was appropriate to field such a "team".

One relevant thing I never learned from the threads of the last-picked: the winning team cut their point production by 1/3 from 1st half to 2nd half.


The best general view of competition I've ever encountered was a sticker on the wall of my junior high lockerroom:

"About winning and losing: It doesn't matter; it's how you play the game.
About playing the game: Play to win."


No lo contendre on the full court press. There is a such thing as taking one's foot off the gas, which is different from actively braking. And pressing defense most likely (but not certainly) would indicate that the coach didn't let off the gas.

[ProfessorGAC]

100. You and Me! We're Good

When you said "taking the foot off the gas" i knew we were ok on this.

Have a nice evening.
GAC

[snooper2]

63. The girls are not "special needs" and laugh about it...

Seem like great kids to me...

Coach on the other team was a win-win dick - but it's not like the Russian swim team vs. Special Olympics....

Here's a video the girls and their coach made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKVmRe3SbHU

[BlooInBloo]

65. (groan) What word is supposed to be used, then?

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

67. In Massachusetts "504".

Not quite special needs, but not quite "normal."

[BlooInBloo]

70. NQSNBNQN it is!

sheesh.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

72. It's long been accused of being a political construct

that appeases parents of students with learning disabilities that don't quite qualify for special needs status. It was a pain to deal with as it is to explain how exactly it works (it involves hearings, testing, and many lost prep periods that I could have used more productively).

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

66. I'm kind of surprised the ref didn't just call Mercy

At that point, no matter what you do, those kids are going to be embarrassed beyond belief. Take it easy on them? You're not giving them a chance to "catch up" (not that it would have happened). Continue schooling them? They're really not going to want to play when they're down so much. At least if the ref called the game on account of "mercy". At least that way the defeated girls could save face by claiming they could have done something if it weren't for that ref.

Still, the coach mentioned above could have exercised restraint.

[notadmblnd]

69. Losing a game is an embarassment and not christ like?

What else happened at the game?

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

73. I think it's more the complete and total dominance that's "not Christ like".

I just know when I played football in high school nothing irritated me more than being down by a lot and having to face the entire second and third strings. But that's just me.

[BlooInBloo]

79. You should see the section of the bible that covers double-dribbling. Quite inspiring.

[Are_grits_groceries]

74. I'm glad he's gone.

His team should have played hard until the end. However, they could have practiced some drills such as passing at least 5 times before a shot. That's one a coach I had used in practice. They didn't learn anything from this game IMHO.

[LostinVA]

90. Exactly what I was thinking of

What a great chance for the benchwarmers to play a second half, or for certain drills and zone defenses to be worked on in a "real world" situation. But noooo.... the coach wanted to get a century up on the big board.

Jerk.

Sportsmanship is more than shaking hands when a game is over.

[riqster]

76. Good riddance to a hyper-competitive jackass

School sports are not just about winning - they are part of the educational process. Evidently, this 'christian' coach felt that he should teach his kids to grind the faces of their fellow teenagers into the floorboards.

Explains a lot about the attitudes of many young 'christians' I meet these days, if this is how parochial schools teach their charges.

[BlooInBloo]

78. It's amusing to note that a freshman on the losing squad has a better grasp of competition...

than every poutraged DUer:

http://www.dallas-academy.com/page.asp?iframe=about_us_parent_testimonials.asp
(search the page for the quote)

"And although I would not want to single out just one of the girls on the team, I thought the quote by your young freshman player Shelby Hyatt truly summed up what its all about, not just in sports but on a regular basis as we bare our crosses in our daily lives.

"Even if you are losing, you might as well keep playing," said Shelby Hyatt, a freshman on the team. "Keep trying, and it's going to be OK.""


Rock the fuck on, Shelby. Take your lumps, move on without shame.

[SacredCow]

80. I'm wondering who scheduled this match-up....

Yeah, the coach sounds like a grade-A jackass, and the story seems to suggest that there was intent to get to the "100 to 0" milestone. Not a great life-lesson for the winning team, either- "Not only is it important to win, but you should humiliate if at all possible."

I LOATHE kids' sporting events- mostly because of the parents. My high school didn't have a football or basketball team (performing arts and magnet high school), but I went to a few games of friends that went to other schools. At one game (and I should mention that this was for a fundie Christian school), someone on the opposing team was injured- broke his leg in fact. First, parents were cheering over it. CHEERING. Just freakin' evil... THEN (if the cheering weren't bad enough), the medics were working to get the kid's leg stabilized, and put him on a stretcher to carry him off the field; apparently they weren't working fast enough, and some of the parents behind me started cat-calling to "hurry the fuck up and get that little pussy off the field."

I lost my temper and lit into the P'sOS that were yelling this, and it got pretty ugly (I was begging some bubba to take a swing at me so I'd have the chance to break HIS leg!). The coach (who had heard everything, but was helping with the injured kid) broke us up, and sent the parents out of the bleachers and said they weren't allowed back (whooooo, were they mad!). He then nicely said that I probably shouldn't come back either- that he personally agreed with me, but not many of the parents did!

[lies and propaganda]

81. Wow.

I know sports isnt a big hot topic here, but we do get the point of them right?

And no need to be all cute and soccer mom, because it isnt just to 'build character' and shit like that.. the end goal is, um , winning.

Its not only totally asinine that they fired a winning coach, its just beyond futile. What a great message it sends.. "Win,.. but dont be tooo goood. Stop playing once you think they have lost... So they can come back and beat your dumb ass."

*Cant wait for football season.

[THUNDER HANDS]

82. you know they were winning by over 50 points at halftime, right?

they could have blindfolded the entire team and they'd still have won the game. The point was not to embarass the other team and show some sportsmanship.

[BlooInBloo]

85. 59, actually. I.e., DC cut their point production by 1/3 in the 2nd half...

And after 4 years of not winning, it's clearly the "learning differences" school administration that failed those girls, by letting them remain in a league that they were woefully unable to compete at a relevant level within.


The notion, however, that it's one team's job to get the other team to perform better - offensively and defensively - is simply asinine, of course. If a team can't play, they shouldn't be in that league. Really, the only problem is that it took the "learning differences" school administration so long to catch on.


Letting up on the full court press is about the only thing DC could have done. But that's the approximate equivalent of putting a band-aid on a severed limb. It certainly would have helped their PR, of course - but that's mostly because of all of the sports-know-nothings.

[LostinVA]

91. I've done team and individual competitive sports as both a teen and an adult -- you're wrong

Sports are about way more than winning, even if you're in the NBA or the NFL. Discipline, sportsmanship, not letting your teammates down.

And, learning how to win gracefully is just as important as learning to lose gracefully.

[LisaL]

102. I think so too.

[TwilightGardener]

86. A good coach prizes good sportsmanship and is also concerned with

the kids on the opposing team, not just on his team--because they're KIDS, not adults. He wanted the ego boost of having a massive blowout under his tutelage. Not very Christian, I agree.

[Sanctified]

87. The School is Dumb, they have a great team because of their Coach.

Maybe they can hire the losing teams Coach, I hear he is looking for a job.

[DS1]

88. Basketball sucks

/token pissed off short guy

[LisaL]

107. Yea my basketball "career" was cut short because I am just

of average height. I think only one girl on my school team turned out to be tall enough to go on and play after school.

[DaDeacon]

93. "We play to win the game"

Losing 100 - 0 is a message that you aren't that good and should think about field hockey. Sorry to sound like a jock, but that's what I was in High School and as a coach (middle school football in the south) I never EVER want my kids to fell as if the have no hope in a game but sometime you know the "L" is coming before you start the game and you hope that they just give you the best they got and you can hold your heads high after the game. Losing by a big margin is a test of character. Finishing is SO important, to see that the kids played it to the end is really a larger measure of there heart than anything. That's a high score and more than anything but to be honest the "other guy" should have called the game. If his kids are anything like the ones I coach, they wouldn't have let me stop the game is I wanted to.

[marshall]

97. He'll have a great line for his resume

Fired for being too good of a coach.

He needs to get out of the Christian schools. He's tailor made for the dog eat dog world of public school athletics.

[LisaL]

101. Yea he might be better off in a school where christ-like

approach to competition is not a top priority.
What would Jesus do?

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

112. Good On Him For His Statement.

I think the whole outrage over the score is pathetic. I don't care who they played. If the team was in the league then they're fair game. Sports are competitive. If a team is so bad that other teams are morally forced to not score on them, lest there be a huge outrage, then that team shouldn't even bother playing to begin with. If they choose to play then they and everyone else should accept the outcome, regardless of margin of victory. This wasn't some exhibition match.

I'm proud of the coach for holding his ground in the face of irrational outrage.

[ej510]

113. I'm sorry but if you can't stop a team then do something else.

Life is not fair. Everyone cannot play basketball.

[Prometheus Bound]

114. I coached girls that age for quite a few years.

In my last year, we lost every game till the last one. Somewhere in the third quarter, we were up about 18 to 0, even after playing my whole bench, so I called a time out and asked them to lay off and let the other team score a few baskets. My girls were horrified. "Why should we? This is what all the other teams did to us!" We won 28 to 0. I couldn't look the other coach in the eyes after the game, I was so embarrassed.