Posted on 01/23/2009 5:33:27 PM PST by Sergio
DALLAS -- A Texas high school girls basketball team on the winning end of a 100-0 game has a case of blowout remorse.
Per the rules, only an excerpt allowed on AP stories. Read the full story at the link.
(Excerpt) Read more at highschool.rivals.com ...
That game must have been brutal to the losing team...
The losing team is made up of girls with learning disabilities.
“It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened,”
Oh, brother.
It seems that “backing-off” in this case would have meant leaving only one or two players on the court about ten minutes into the game.
Was the other team there?
Winning is shameful in today’s America.
Question is: how much are we willing to lose to make-up for all the shameful winning we’ve done?
Gotta love the left.
a teachable moment...
WWJD? Drive to the hoop!
Okay... since when did it become bad to win?
Why is there this idea that Defeat must be snatched from the jaws of Victory?
Ok, I’ll agree that it showed good character for the girls on the losing team to keep playing to the end; but why are these people whining about coaches who “shouldn’t have let the score become so lopsided”?
When did it become that everyone was guaranteed equal outcome? And doesn’t such a system oppress the particularly gifted in any area, whether beauty, intelligence, or aptitude?
“The losing team is made up of girls with learning disabilities”
The coach of this winning team should absolutely never, ever coach another game and should not be working with children. This ahole is lucky a parent, or some other adult from the losing team, didn’t knock his teeth out of his head. I have seen that happen to guys for doing less than this. What an idiot!
A little late for remorse, isn’t it? The time to think about it was when you were up 59 to nothing.
The losing team was made up of girls with learning disabilities. So naturally, the winners want to show some sympathy — in part to make up for their 76-0 win last year in soccer against the school for the blind.
This doesn't mean you don't drive to the hoop on a breakaway or take a shot if you are open.
Something tells me trophy night for the winning team is gonna be a little uncomfortable.
There is a long standing golden rule of sportsmanship that you do not blowout your opponents if they are hopelessly overmatched. You bench your A players and give your B or C players some floor time (which happens to give them needed opportunity to improve their game, duh!).
This coach was egging them on to humiliate the other side. Very bad form.
They should feel remorseful. The team should have been “working on passing” well before the score ever hit 100.
That sounds like bad form and you want to teach sportsmanship to young people.
OTOH I do not believe holding back in pro sports. When adult pro teams mentally are not ready to peform they deserve the spanking.
So you think what the Patriots did last year was okay? When up by a couple scores with minutes to go, you don’t pass the ball deep, or do an onside kick. I hate stat padding.
Maybe so.
Though, that does seem like a place where the group dynamics of men & women differ...
- With a guy you can have `em ready to beat the stuffing out of each other, and then... after that’s taken care of, have a drink together. (Take a look at old soldiers reminiscing, they could have been on opposing sides and find some shared experience/companionship/comradeary... {The exception being those places where POWs were routinely mistreated & dehumanized as in Japan and Viet Nam}.)
- With women, it seems that once it comes to violence, they ALWAYS hate each other afterwords.
Now, I AM speaking in generalities here... but I think it is interesting.
Oh, and I almost forgot... perhaps it would have been a teaching moment to have the winning girls treat the losers to dinner. There are such things as graceful winning. (We should use these moments, not squander them away.)
Fully agree!!! When my Brother-in-law was in High School, he was the star football player, and they would cream the other teams. The best game I ever went to was one of the state championships where they were clearly ahead. Coach made sure EVERY kid played that game - even the worst ones. My B-I-L got a lot of bench time that game, and the score was a lot closer than they probably would have liked - but they still won, and everyone got to play in the state champs. Kudos to that coach. Most of those kids sat on the bench that season!
Those other girls didn't win because of a fair game - I think they wanted it to be a total knock out. Sometimes victory doesn't taste so sweet!
I played basketball at a small private school (in fact, we were so small, the boys played all the sports — soccer, track, wrestling, basketball, gymnastics, baseball — whether we liked the game or not). For some insane reason, our coach scheduled a game against a bunch of monsters who beat us something like 76-14.
Embarassing.
Years later, I coached a soccer team that was up 5-0 at the half.
There was no way our opponents were going to come back.
I quietly instructed the team that, in order to make a shot on goal, they had to make 5 consecutive passes in a row in the offensive half, and head the ball into the goal.
Our team got some great skills training, there still was competitiveness and we didn’t run up the score.
There are ways to win. And ways to win gracefully.
I think you are missing the point. No one is saying that the winning team should try to lose or that there anything wrong with winning. But there is something wrong with winning in ruthless, unmerciful manner against a hopelessly-overmatched team.
What is shameful is that so many people cannot understand the idea of winning with class. This has nothing to do with political ideology.
Also...
“Covenant coach Micah Grimes did not immediately respond to a message left by The Associated Press on Thursday.”
For once, I’d like to see a follow up story from AP or anyone else when a non-respondent finally does comment due to their diligence and persistence.
Like that would happen...
Yes I was talking about the Patriots.
I am so glad the Pats did that. Because it made the Giants' victory over them so much sweeter.
If you can’t do more than a short excerpt, how ‘bout just a short summary in your own words?
You DID read it yourself, didn’t you?
Are you saying that the rest of the NFL was learning disabled last year?
If I was the coach on the losing team, at halftime with the score 59-0, instead of drawing up plays I would’ve been writing down the definition of “hard foul” on the blackboard.
I am saying when you are up by over 50 points you don’t go to a full court press and take multiple 3 point attempts.
...brutal to the losing team...
I’m not so sure. Read the last couple paragraphs. It sounds like the girls on the losing side have a mature attitude and handled it very well. The fact that the players aren’t whining and complaining is reason enough to be proud.
They haven’t won a game in four seasons, either.
“It seems that “backing-off” in this case would have meant leaving only one or two players on the court about ten minutes into the game.”
Its obvious you never played organized basketball. You slow down your offense. Tell the girls to make 4 passes before shooting, run your offensive sets all the way through the cycle. Try defenses you’ve not worked on much. They ran it up and now they’re learning a valuable lesson which is good. What the hell do libs have to do with this?
Now - lets look at the game in question... two girls basketball teams. I am assuming that they are in the same conference. Both were private schools, while the victor was a "Christian" school.
So - was the loosing team made up of special olympic rejects? Was the team a new team?
Did the winning school's entire team get to play? When did the starters come out of the game? Or did they keep in the stars with the intent of slamming the other team? Were they just excited about the chance to hit the magic "100"?
There are a lot of things to keep in mind.
But lets look at another biblical example - Some battles Israel fought - they killed EVERY SINGLE enemy - no survivors. Isn't that "running up the score"?
From a PR point of view, running up the score like that was probably a bad idea. And maybe as a Christian school, the lesson of showing mercy and grace might have been do-able without just walking off the court.
And if these teams were not in the same classification - the winner say being several classes higher and more advanced, then I would gripe at who scheduled the game in the first place.
So... make what you will. I don't know enough to condemn anyone in this case.
I liked your post (had similar reference to my experience posted further down below yours. That is, until I got to that very last statement. A "fair game". IF it wasn't a "fair game", then it shouldn't have been a scheduled game. That is what the referees and the rules are for - to make sure the competition is fair.
I will agree that the losers were obviously out-matched. And I have already commented that I am somewhat uncomfortable with "running up the score" for the sake of it. But if the victorious team saw every girl play (and not just a token few seconds or minutes), then I am not as "uncomfortable". Did the coach let the girls play, or did he drive them to make sure they scored as many points as possible? Would have been a good opportunity to practice some ball-control exercises - as well as some other skills that don't often get used or practiced enough. But what is the primary "goal" (sorry) of basketball? To get the ball in the goal.
No, I haven’t played “organized” basketball, but I did play football on a HS football team that won the state championship.
We won because we were relentless and viewed the game as war and played for keeps.
We never “ran up the score” but if we had I wouldn’t have minded a bit. I wouldn’t have felt sorry for the other team at all—they dared face me and my team—screw ‘em!
Sorry, I came to play and win by a big margin. So did everyone I played with.
We lost games and suffered the humiliation—didn’t matter how small the difference—it was hard.
My business runs the same way. I’ll take food right off the dinner table of my competitor and sleep like a baby knowing he would do the same to me.
Oh, but let’s “back-off” and leave them with the impression that they didn’t SUCK S**T that day...that’ll help them...that’s reality...stupid!
Let’s really humiliate them by bringing in the 3rd and 4th string to do “battle”. That’s the way to build their confidence and keep them grounded, oh yeah.
They got murdered...so what? Get better, play for another team, anything but whine about it or forfeit your win—left-wing insanity that the universe appropriately recognizes only as a weakness.
But then, liberalism is in fashion these days.
People are such thin-skinned babies anymore—it makes me sick.
I love my fellow man. I do. But when he faces-off with me he will learn very quickly that I mean to take his head off.
The rest is some kind of exercise in de-balling.
“No, I haven’t played “organized” basketball.”
See I was right...as for the rest of your post I think maybe you should go on Dr. Fool..ah..Dr, Phil’s show and you guys can have at it.
Dr. Phil wouldn’t have a chance :)
The only mistake was made long before this game ever got started. These two teams should not be playing in the same league. The schedule is a mismatch.
And they should have dropped the full-court press after they got up by 25 points. The article indicates they used a full court press the entire game.
I agree that the coach of the winning team deserves to be disciplined for this act.
So are a lot of sports teams. There are a lot of students who have ADHD or dyslexia, but who excel athletically (although I am not attempting to stereotype all LD kids as athletic, or all athletes as LD).
Now if the students on the losing team were physically challenged, that would be another story, but I'd first question the sanity of the adults who scheduled the game in the first place.
This is not about winning - its about class.
Everyone who has ever played in amateur sports knows that you do not unmercifully run up the score against a hopelessly over matched opponent.
Even the winning basketball team understands this. They are the ones seeking a forfeit.
Wow. Glad I don't know you.
Wow. Glad I don't know you.
We won because we were relentless and viewed the game as war and played for keeps.
The players are not at fault. The players should not have let up, that's not for players to decide. But the winning coach should have practiced a more passive defense and ball control and late game situations. He threw away a rare opportunity for teaching in a game. A player does not learn a single useful basketball quality by standing and watching a couple of teammates jump an outmatched point guard at mid court over and over. More often than not, basketball teams which run up the most impressive point totals against weak opponents are the ones which collapse the easiest under the pressure of tournament-style play. In this case the hard realities of the sport often provide the best punishment in the end for a lack of class.
Did a search using the exact title of the article, as has been recommended on these forums, and did not come up with any matches. My apologies.
Did a search using the exact title of the article, as has been recommended on these forums, and did not come up with any matches.
I see that the thread you link has a different article title than the one I posted. Guess I have to find a different way to search.
My apologies.
Don’t know why you are angry, but yes, I did read the article, but no, I hadn’t thought of doing a summary. Good idea, I’ll do that in the future, thanks for the suggestion.
I'm not a psychologist but that earlier post read like a cry for help. I think the other post mentioning Dr. Phil was hinting at the same thing.
“I’m not a psychologist but that earlier post read like a cry for help. I think the other post mentioning Dr. Phil was hinting at the same thing.”
Actually I was sorry I was so damn flip with my response because that is the way I read the post.
I hear you, and you make good points.
NO, I apologize...I was not pointing out a dupe, but rather adding to the thread. If you read the original thread I predicted that this story would go national. I live very close to both schools here in TX, so have heard this story for a few days beyond the national scene.
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