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
See 55.
Which doesn’t include missed shots. You rarely see a girls high school game in which the shot % is greater than 50%. I’d like to know how many shots each team put up.
You can shoot fish in a barrel, but it’s not very sporting nor fun to watch.
“Other accounts say the scoring stopped at four minutes left when 100 was reached. So 75 points in 25 minutes.”
Which only proves the coach was intent on hitting that 100 mark (plus unverified reports he was yelling “100” from the sidelines). He infers it would have been the wrong message to send to his players if he told them to ease up but it was perfectly reasonable once he hit 100 at the 4 minute mark.
This guy seemed intent on avenging the previous blowout from another season.
Sounds about right to me. Assuming that they used the entire shot clock, and scored more or less every time (not at all a ridiculous assumption, assuming that the team likely rebounded at will, as well). I don't know what the shot clock is for HS....figure 35-45 sec...actually, this score sounds about right if the game was total mismatch.
Actually, throwing out the first 3 minutes where the team put up a 25-zip lead, figures out to 75 points in 29 minutes, or just slightly better than a basket a minute.
My advice to Dallas Academy...get better.
Agreed - he even said the previous loss “changed him”. I guess 1 a-hole creates another.
Suffering a bad loss is one thing. Skunking your opponent 100 - 0 is childish, humiliating, and disrespectful.
Paying it forward...heheh.
"They are really good," Civello said. "Their point guard is terrific. This is what it came down to in the second half: steal at half court and layup. Steal and layup. Steal and layup. It was a layup drill. They finally eased up when they got to 100 with about four minutes left." Covenant's point guard had 48 points.
2-3 zone or attacking at midcourt? A video would be nice.
>>Sheesh, its unbelievable that people think this is a life lesson for anything except bad sportsmanship.<<
I get the feeling the definition of the word “sportsmanship” depends on the person.
If teams have that much of a disparity in their quality than any matchup is a “charity case” game for the better team. They are not their to play basketball. They are there as free therapy. That, frankly, sucks.
Maybe they SHOULD get the Harlem Globetrotters to play them.
The idea of REAL sports is that you do the best you can.
When I was playing girls HS basketball, 18 years ago, there were four 15 minute quarters and the shot clock was 24 seconds.
If you try to run up the score in an NFL game you just might get get clipped from behind and maybe end up a paraplegic. I saw one game like that this year with the Bengals where this hotdog with an interception with 30 seconds left tried to score even though his team was leading by 3 touchdowns. He ended up with a crossface from Hell, and almost had o be carried off the field. Sometimes it REALLY doesent pay to be an A-hole.
Also, the losing coach knows the ability of his team (or lack thereof). Why did he allow his girls to play this team?
Plenty of blame to go around here.
“How does one score 31 points while ‘running down the clock’ anyway?”
It would have been insulting to the losing team if Covenant hadn’t even attempted a shot when they had the ball. Even with a large lead you can’t ‘stop’ playing.
Having been in such a situation as this as a player (winning side as well) I can tell you its uncomfortable, at least for me being in that situation it was.
JB
I don’t consider professional sports to be sports. I consider it to be raw business.
It is why I can’t bring myself to watch it. It’s all rollerball to me.
Assuming a 24 second shot clock, and 12 or 15 minute quarters (assuming the teams played 4 quarters and not two half's) I'd say they certainly ran down the shot clock and under-scored on the other school. Look at it this way:
- 24 second shot clock
- 12 minute quarters (typical for high school)
That's 30 posessions per quarter
It appears to me they under-scored, scoring on only every other posession.
I agree this was probably about a desire to score 100 points.
I see you're a public high school student and don't know the difference between halves and quarters, so let me try and explain this to you.
High School Basketball has four (4) twelve (12) minute quarters, at least where I live and went to school. Given a 12 minute quarter and a 24 second shot clock, each team has a minimum of 1 posession per minute available to them, with time left over in that minute.
Do the math, 12*60=720 (that's the number of seconds per quarter.) Divide 720 seconds by 24 (the number of seconds on the shot clock) to obtain the minimum number of posessions available. The answer is 30. Assuming each team used up the 24 second clock on each posession, each team would have 15 posessions per quarter.
Now, given the fact the team scored 31 points in the second half on perhaps 30 posessions using the math above, this would mean mathematically that they only scored on every other posession across 2 quarters.
Gee, it sure looks to me like they gave the other team every opportunity to score, and probably did in fact do a good job of running out the clock. If they hadn't, the score would've likely been 200 - 0 at the rate they were going.
With all due respect, youre missing the point. In the NFL, grown men dont put up with the bad (and rude) "sportsmanship" of running up the score, and they do it in a very unambiguous way.... Its just bad form to let your team win 100-0. No bout adout it.
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