Posted on 01/26/2009 11:33:04 AM PST by GeronL
I don’t know more about this. The passage I referenced was down into the story. I get the impression the winners were pressing, after all, reporting claimed only 7 total shots for the losers. I don’t mind a beating for fairly substantially composed teams. But most kids I’ve coached don’t like like running up a score. They all remember being on the wrong side of a lopsided loss. A mismatch is time for starters to cheer on the backups and for the coach of the superior athletes to back off.
When a Christian high School beats another school by a 100 to 0 margin, I think that this reflects poorly on the team. I have been on teams where there was a clear mis-match and on those teams, once the final outcome was clear, we would put in the second string and third string players and we would not attempt to run up the score for no other purpose than to massage the first team's egos or to set some kind of world record for a wipe out.
Undoubtedly this coach is a good coach as far as teaching his girls the fundamentals of basketball. But this is a Christian High School and one of the most important lessons that one teaches in Christian School is "good sportsmanship".
Running up a score and deliberately humiliating an opponent by beating them when they are on the ground is a not an example of "good sportmanship".
If anyone other than second and third team members were on the court in the second half, then this coach should be ashamed of himself.
You can win honorably without deliberately humiliating an undermatched opponent. This coach failed to teach that lesson to his pupils. He further embarrassed both the school and his team by not being contrite after being called on the carpet.
I would have fired him too.
too bad is right with many right here on this board.
“Thats bad. How dare he be successful and play by the rules”
Did anyone actually READ the article?
Winning school: Christian school.
Losing school: School for learning disabled (mentally retarted.)
This is one of those games that probably never should have been scheduled (it’s like pitting special olympic kids vs. regular high school kids.)
The rules are for fairly matched teams. These teams weren’t. Given the circumstances, the coach crossed the line by not telling his kids to back off.
Sports are touted as a way to build character in students. What kind of character are you building in a kid when you tell them to go out and beat up on someone that is smaller and weaker than them? The only lesson these students learned was how to enjoy kicking someone when they are down.
That school should not be in the same league then. The rules were played by, there is no mercy rule, they can’t spot another team 90 points to make it ‘fair’. and they cannot, apparently, stop a game early.
“Thats bad. How dare he be successful and play by the rules”
In pro sports, where the teams are more or less even, you’d be right. Win, and run up the score, who cares?
This is a scholastic environment. Sports as part of the school experience are meant to round an individual and teach about more than just the game. Sportsmanship, ever hear of it? In scholastic games, there are typically mismatches that are beyond anyone’s control. What lesson do these young ladies learn from beating a weaker opponent to the point of humiliation? Remember, this is an opponent in a sporting event, not the enemy in a war.
If you want a win at all costs, and win as big as you can environment, I would suggest that sports not be part of the school program. Be like little league baseball, run it separate from the school, and do it however you wish.
I suspect you’ll find this all to be “weak”. Most likely, your zeal for beating another team in such a fashion would have some gensis in overcompensation for your own short comings.
That was an apology?
They offered to declare the losing team the winner of the game. Thats reality-based thinking for you. Whoever came up with that should be fired.
But, on a humane and sportsmanship basis, he could have told the players they had a "3-pass" rule before any shot, or something similar. I've seen that done by coaches in a youth hockey mismatch--the team that's way ahead works on some other facet of the game, and if after that the shot goes in... well OK.
What score would have been acceptable to you? 50-0? 25-0? 1-0?
What circumstances need to exist to justify failing to play competitively?
Who, exactly, has been victimized by the actual result? What responsibility does any other party have to eliminate this "victimization"?
I understand that the losing team has never won a game. Should all of the other teams have refused to play them? Is there no value whatever to playing and losing?
Do you support banning the losing team from playing any more? If not, what guidance do you supply for their opposition? Certainly you owe the coaches of the other teams proper notice of what constitutes cause for them to be fired.
I sense a “Joe the Coach” persona being born...
Extreme success must be punished in Obama’s America.
You have to ask yourself how bad the other team sucked not to score a single point, even any free throws, there would have to have been some fouling going on getting beat so badly. Most likely a parent on the team that lost was connected, got the story out, and had this coach fired. Apparently some people cant handle a little humility.
???
Then the Dallas Cowboys are wrong to quit in the 3rd quarter?? Oh man... maybe their not a pro-team??
Running up the score was a bad move, but he shouldn’t be fired.
Agreed! Lousy sportsmanship! He could have played his 2nd and 3rd string players so they could have gotten valuable experience. Posters on other threads on this suggested other ways of playing the game which would have been more challenging for his team. Here are some of the other threads
Apologetic Basketball Coach: 100-0 Win Not Christ-Like
School seeks to forfeit 100-0 win
Dallas Hoops Team Wants To Forfeit 100-0 Win (Texas - Read the entire story. Kind of sad.)
“well, they did beat a team of disabled people... and rubbed it in”
Hmmmm.....yet no one complains when it’s the Harlem Globetrotters...
*snicker*
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