[fr_freak]

Whoever decided to apologize for the game should be fired, then laughed at mercilessly. There is no reason for these girls to apologize. If the losing team was a bunch of disabled kids, or they just stunk to high heaven, that's the fault of the people who scheduled the game, or the crappy coach of the losing team, not the girls who came to play.

For God's sake, people, sports are meant to challenge people and build character. They are not some hippie self-esteem exercise. If I were on a team that was getting beaten that bad, I would either forfeit and go home, or keep playing my heart out and expecting the other team to do the same. A game played with one side throwing the game is a farce, a meaningless dog and pony show. And if I suspected that hte other team was flubbing on purpose because they felt sorry for me, I would be extremely insulted.

Quite frankly, it sounds like the girls of the losing team need to get used to the idea of losing and losing big. They certainly aren't going to learn a thing about reality if everyone keeps propping them up artificially.

[William Tell]

fr_freak said: "For God's sake, people, sports are meant to challenge people and build character. They are not some hippie self-esteem exercise."

I agree with you. Apparently a lot of people "feel" different and think that self-esteem can be provided to people without them earning it.

I have competed in chess tournaments with 800 players. The rating system was used to create rating sections and players were always allowed to play up in order to challeng themselves. The "open" section, in which the grandmasters competed, was just that, OPEN to any player of any rating. But the grandmaster who got paired with a lower rated player did not have the luxury of throwing the game to prevent hurt feelings. Such behavior is forbidden, as I recall, by the federation and a grandmaster couldn't afford the hit to his rating by recording a loss to a lower-ranked player.

If parents wish to protect their children from the harsh realities of life, they may do so. But I would think it a greater humiliation to know that one's competitor was obligated to hold back rather than to suffer a lop-sided loss.

[Twink]

Well said.

I’m curious to the teams/schools. It seems from reading the posts on this thread that the losing team had some disablities. I’ll have to reread the article again. Regardless, the losing team lost. Did the winning team play their starters the entire time?

IMO, this is sports. Not a self esteem exercise. Sportsmanship is paramount and a huge part of sports. I sit at so many games for my kids in so many sports, and as a former athlete, I sometimes don’t get what’s happening in sports today. We have mercy rules. Fine. We have rules to put in the 2nd or 3rd string. But we never tell our players to throw a game or not do their best. We tell them, pull back a bit or jump serve (in volleyball because it’s difficult) but never throw a game or not do your best. In soccer or LAX or basketball, we put in 2nd or 3rd string if we’re winning by that much.