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“Yeah, I agree with you - having read that, I’d go back and delete some of my previous comments if the FreeRepublic software allowed it.”

I don’t know if I would be so hasty in doing that. I was not at the game so I do not know exactly what went on, but this coach obviously has motivation to spin this information in his favor. I believe I read that once his team reached the 100 point mark there was approximately 4 minutes left in the game and that his team did not score again. If this is true, than it is obvious to me that he did not do all he could to not run up the score prior to that point.

I am a long time HS boys coach who posted my feeling on this situation in a thread yesterday. I won’t repeat myself other to say that there is never a good reason to humiliate your opponent, and that there are many ways to manage a game like this to make sure that doesn’t happen.

“They are really good,” Civello(losing coach) 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.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2172117/posts?q=1&;page=51

there are many ways to manage a game like this to make sure that doesn’t happen

In fairness to the coach, if there was a shot clock in this game, then he could have held the ball on the offensive end for only so long - as the shot clock was winding down, what should he have told his girls to do - refuse to put up a shot?

Obviously you would have to look at the game tape to get a sense of what his "strategy" was, but if there was a shot clock, then he would have had to have ordered his girls not to shoot as the shot clock was expiring, and that would be getting pretty deep into "soft bigotry of low expectations" territory.

I suppose he could have done that - it would be the equivalent of a football team taking repeated quarterback kneel-downs on first, second, and third downs, and then repeatedly punting after that, but I don't think I've ever witnessed such a spectacle on the football field.

It's certainly a tough call, and it was an obscure little game which probably never should have received any national attention.

If this is true, than it is obvious to me that he did not do all he could to not run up the score prior to that point.

It seems to me that there's another possibility--that it was at the 100 mark that his players themselves began to actually realize that there's more involved than just: 'Whee! I get to make another basket!' Doesn't mean he didn't tell them, either, as anyone who's ever tried to tell a teenager something can testify.