Posted on 01/26/2009 12:03:59 PM PST by Colonel Kangaroo
After counting down the seconds until the final buzzer, I lined up my girls to wish the opposing team well, and then headed into the locker room for our post game rituals. After the girls and I said our goodbyes, I headed home to reflect like I always do after every game. But this was no ordinary game. Little did I know that in the next eight days, Barry Horn would write an article for Dallas Morning News about our 100-0 win over Dallas Academy that would start a firestorm of articles, nationally broadcasted news stories, and hateful email about me and the 8 young ladies that make up the Dallas Covenant School girls basketball team. I’ve always taught my girls to value honesty, integrity, compassion for others and to stand up for those values despite the consequences. So it is for Andi, Savannah, Taylor, Lauren, Wren, Marquita, Blair, Tiffany and our assistant coach Kelly that I tell our story.
The Team. We are hardly the “elite basketball powerhouse” that we are described as in the National and local media. Up until 3 years ago, we rarely had a winning season. In fact, during my first year at Covenant four years ago, we experienced one of our worst seasons - a losing record of only 2 wins and 19 losses that sunk to an 82-6 low in a game that forever changed us and how we approached the game of basketball. Two years later we made the first Final Four appearance in the school’s history. Like Dallas Academy, Covenant is a small Christian school, which is why we are in the same district. We don’t have a home gym so we rent out facilities or gym space in the community so we can practice, and then watch game film at the home of one of the players. We’ve never had a full roster. Only about 30 high school girls attend Covenant and only 8 of those girls play basketball. During many of the games this year, we played with 6 girls, and sometimes only 5. When players fouled out, we’ve had to finish the game with 4. But we always finished the game.
The Players. Rarely does a coach find a player who will run the extra laps, do the extra push-ups, or shoot the extra baskets without complaining. I have 8 such players—2 freshmen, a sophomore who is new to the school and team, another sophomore who has been with us for two years, two Juniors who have been with us for 3 years, a Senior who is new to the team and school, and another Junior who is new to basketball and is learning how to play for the first time in her life. My girls believe in each other, motivate each other, and see each other as family. The respect and admiration I have for them and their parents are the main reason why I come back to Covenant each year.
The Game. The game started like any other high school basketball game across the nation. The teams warm-up, coaches talk, the ball is tipped, and then the play begins. We started the game off with a full-court press. After 3 minutes into play, we had already reached a 25-0 lead. Like any rational thinking coach would do, I immediately stopped the full-court press, dropped into a 2-3 zone defense, and started subbing in my 3 bench players. This strategy continued for the rest of the game and allowed the Dallas Academy players to get the ball up the court for a chance to score. The second half started with a score of 59-0. Seeing that we would win by too wide of a margin, running down the clock was the only logical course of action left. Contrary to the articles, there were only a total of four 3-point baskets made; three in the first quarter, and only one in the third quarter. I continued to sub in bench players, play zone defense, and run the clock for the rest of the game. We played fair and honorably within the rules and in the presence of the parents, coaches, and athletic directors for both Covenant School and Dallas Academy.
The Apology. In response to the statement posted on The Covenant School Website, I respectfully disagree with the apology, especially the notion that the Covenant School girls basketball team should feel "embarrassed" or "ashamed". We played the game as it was meant to be played and would not intentionally run up the score on any opponent. Although a wide-margin victory is never evidence of compassion, my girls played with honor and integrity and showed respect to Dallas Academy. We honor God, ourselves, and our families when we step on the court to compete. I do no wish to forfeit the game. What kind of example does it set for our children? Do we really want to punish Covenant School girls? Does forfeiting really help Dallas Academy girls? We experienced a blowout almost 4 years ago and it was painful, but it made us who we are today. I believe in the lessons that sports teach us. Competition builds character, and teaches us to value selflessness, hard work, and perseverance. As a coach, I have instilled in my girls these values. So if I lose my job over these statements, I will walk away with my integrity.
Sincerely, Micah Grimes
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I think you did the right thing in offering the ‘other side’.
Now that we’ve met the moral imperative....
How does one score 31 points while ‘running down the clock’ anyway?
Just askin....
If this letter is at all true, the guy chose dignity and honoring his girls over keeping his job.
I wish there we could see a tape of the game to see what happened for ourselves.
They play with a shot clock, so they are forced to shoot a certain number of times, unless they just give them the ball, which isn't sportsmanlike.
An interestsing article—thank you for posting it.
Interesting to get the other side! Still, I find it a little tough to believe that a score of ONE HUNDRED to zero wasn’t at least partly the result of a run-up score.
Most of the reason for the score, though, must be that the other team was simply woefully uprepared.
“How does one score 31 points while ‘running down the clock’ anyway?”
If A professional team were playing a jr. high team this could happen. There may have been a HUGE disparity in quality/effort between the teams.
The girls are not gonna just stop playing, after all.
Shot clock?
Shot clocks.. You can't just sit there and dribble the ball, you have a certain period of time in which to shot before you get a penalty. His girls where just that darn good that when they did take the shot, they made it. I would love to know the score if he instructed his girls to wipe the floor with the other team instead of run it out.
Ahhh, thanks.
I honestly don’t know what to think about this one. Anyone know if the losing team was interviewed?
And yes, I stand by his 100-0 blowout of the opposing team.
My Sr. year at high school (also a small private school) we had several cases like this. At the main public school in town, there was an incident with a shooting (no one was harmed but it freaked parents out) so we had a lot of transfers, including four from the varsity 5a basketball team. We won the entire season like this, (90-10, 75-5, etc) type games. Many games, we felt like we where just walking around, slowly taking shots, but we so outgunned the opponents, the score just ran up. Like another poster said, the only way it would have been different is if we just handed the other team the ball and stood back- very unsportsmanlike like.
If you play down to the other team, then you are a socialist. Everyone feels good about themselves. On the flipside, I have never heard of a scholastic bowl team playing down to their opponent...why in sports? My two cents worth.
Maybe the next coach should limit the team’s performance such that they do no better than a tie game as not to hurt the other teams feeeeeelings.
I would find this kind of action appropriate for a public school mired in political correctness, ditto for a private school yoked with the same nonsense. A Christian school? Now that raises some questions.
There can be nothing good out of shutting out the opposing team. Absolutely nothing.
Not really, in many areas private schools are populated with kids whose parents send them there so they get babied, none of the social problems(sic) of public schools. They expect their children to have the white glove treatment. My wife has taught at one of these schools, it is almost worse than the very rough public school she teaches at now. The parents are so concerned with the self esteem of the kids, they don't let them face the real world. It isn't as much it is a Christian school it is just a private school thing.
It’s worse than that. They were up 25 3 minutes into the game. That means they scored 34 in the following 21 minutes up to the half then 41 in the following 24.
There was no let up in the second half. Also, getting 100 points meant something to the coach. The fact that the other team didn’t score a single point is also disturbing.
This wasn’t about “being the best” it was about vengeance for an earlier lopsided loss and humiliating the other teams players.
Not very Christian.
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