As happens once in a while, a score in a high school athletic contest is making the rounds as the current thing we should all say is just "poor sportsmanship," and shake our heads about, etc. Well, bullsh-t, I say. That's just stupid. The fact that Convenant School is now asking to forfeit their 100-0 win over Dallas Academy is just ridiculous. Why even keep score? Why even have a team? If you're going to have to apologize for pummelling your opponents, then don't even effing play.If you didn't yet hear about this (lucky you), Covenant pounded Dallas Academy -- a school that hasn't won a game in four years, mind you -- by 100 and then backed off. Should they have been pressing and keeping on the pressure into the fourth quarter? Well, maybe not. I suppose there's an "honor" in being reasonable to your opponents. And the school's chairman described the win as "victory without honor," "shameful" and an "embarrassment."
However, if Dallas Academy wants to field a team and Convenant is in your district, then, well, guess what? You need to take your medicine or else disband your basketball program. Sorry, that's the way the cookie crumbles. At least it used to be.
I remember playing on a traveling team of what were loosely described as "All-Stars" from my town (I say loosely because, hey, I was on the team). We played other towns all-star squads, many of which were, let's just say, a bit better than we were. I distinctly recall a road game in which we had a total of two points after three quarters. TWO! We were down something like 50-2. I don't remember the final but it was something like 66-8 or something like that. And I don't remember ever a word being uttered about it being "wrong" that we got shellacked like that. We got run out of the gym, plain and simple. And we lost. And then we went home. And on Monday we went back to school. And life went on.
Convenant also won games this year by scores of 66-7 and 77-27. Why haven't they forfeited those games? Is winning by 50 honorable but winning by 100 is not? Where is the line? I'm just curious.
I just don't agree with all this apologizing and the ludicrous notion of forfeiting the game to the lousy team. It is what's wrong with athletics right now. These are high school girls -- they're not 8-year-olds. The next level is college. And do you know what happens in college? Sometimes you don't succeed -- and I'm not even talking about basketball. Sometimes you get your ass kicked by a biology midterm. And if you get a zero on it and look pathetic doing so, your professor isn't going to decide that you should actually get 100 because failing you wasn't "honorable."
This whole story is so idiotic and it makes me angry.
15 comments:
I agree. I saw this story already and it bugged me a little. Should the coach have kept the full court press and shooting 3's through the whole game? No. I hope the coach played the entire bench more than a couple of minutes. When a game turns into a lay-up drill, it is time to take the foot off the gas. It turns into a practice. But to say they should forfeit the game - dumb.
You need to read Denis Leary's new book - "Why We Suck". It talks about stuff exactly like this.
/Steve Spurrier nods knowingly
Obviously this squad gets more experience at practice than from it's opponents. In that case, shouldn't the coach pull his/her starters simply to make sure no tears up an ankle or knee? Your goal is to win a championship and you're less likely to accomplish that if 2 of your starters are out because they got hurt late after securing a victory in a regular season game.
Running a full court press against a special needs school when the score is 90-0 is just bad sportsmanship. Really it reminds me of something the Patriots would do.
Your argument is a bit misleading because Dallas isn't asking for anything, this is about a school who sees a bad ethical situation and is trying to correct it themselves. If more schools policed their questionable behaviour, wouldn't sports be a better overall?
There shouldn't be TKO's in boxing either. The winning boxer should be allowed to keep pummeling the other boxer until he is dead or knocked unconscious.
WTF did the players on the winning team learn? You can't tell your players to keep trying, to miss shots or stuff like that, but you can control the flow of the game. Make them work on passing, make them pass 10 times before a shot, etc. You know, slows things up a bit when you are up 60-0. I just don't see what you are proving by running a full court press and shooting threes against a school that has a total of 20 girls!!
Call me old fashioned, but sports in high school and below are as much about competing as it is an opportunity to learn. Presently we are so focused on getting athletes to the next level, we are wasting opportunities to teach them valuable life lessons.
I think what everyone forgets (or doesn't know) in this situation is that the team that got beat is a SPECIAL-NEEDS school that probably field a team to teach the girls teamwork and something different than what they're used to. The team that won is a regular high school team with no special needs kids. I think the fact that the coach would continue to rain threes and press when the outcome was decided in the first half is beyond me.
Agreed. We should stop feeling sorry for them and they should start working hard to get better.
@ Big Papa,
I agree. The losing team needs to learn the life lesson that you aren't entitled to anything. You need to work for it. Practice hard and you will get better. You have to earn it. That's a pretty good life lesson.
I just watched the video on the link.
"We don't play to win...."
That is fucking ridiculous. These girls are not being taught the right lessons. You play to win the game. You put in the hard work, to get better, so that you can enjoy a hard earned victory. That is the lesson these girls need to be taught.
Welcome to the new nanny state U.S.A. Where everyone wins and we spread the wealth.
*vomits*
I'm beginning to wonder who the special needs people truly are.
It was a school for kids with learning disabilities. There are 20 girls in the entire school and 8 play hoops. The losing team did not complain.
Why doesn't every team that plays PURDUE elbow Hummel in the back, push him in the back when he goes up for a board or knock him to the floor if he drives. It would help them win which you say is the bottom line.......but should you win at all cost?
In life there are is often more than one way to do something. You can kill a steer with a quick bolt to the head or use a bulldog to bull bate him......either way you get a steak dinner.
"YOU PLAY
TO WIN
THE GAME." -Herm Edwards
Herm Edwards? Hmmm, wonder what he's doing these days?
Did you guys see the coach was fired?
It gets even worse!
This story makes me so angry.
They fired the wrong coach. How about teaching your girls to draw a foul, something, anything to score at least 1 point. The losing coach should be fired.
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