Posted on 01/26/2009 11:33:04 AM PST by GeronL
DALLAS (CBS) ―
The coach of a Texas high school basketball team that beat another team 100-0 reportedly was fired Sunday, the same day he sent an e-mail to a newspaper stating he will not apologize "for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with honor and integrity" and posted a detailed explanation on a hoops Web site.
The Covenant School girls basketball coach Coach Micah Grimes, along with girls from his team, released a statement on the website of the Flight Basketball Academy.
Kyle Queal, the headmaster for Covenant School, said in The Dallas Morning News online edition that he could not answer if the firing was a direct result of Grimes' e-mail disagreeing with administrators who called the blowout "shameful."
(Excerpt) Read more at cbs11tv.com ...
he coached a basketball game by the rules that were agreed upon.
Damn him to hell.
I think the school is unsportsmanlike for trying give up the win and claim it forfeited. Lets teach kids that the world is just pretend and reality is meaningless.
The school responded apprporiately. The coach could have used the game to get playing time for his 2nd and 3rd string players and as a learning experience by introducing drills into the game. He should NOT have been pumping three's and running a full court press in the 2nd half.
I am also equally disappointed with the parents of both schools in attendance at the game. They should have let the coaches and the officials know that they were both ultimately in charge and highly displeased with the goings on.
I expect him to coach a basketball game by the rules that were agreed upon. I expect the kids to play basketball the way it is supposed to be played.
I do not expect the winning team to let the other side score to make it ‘nice’. That is not teaching them about real life is it?
Well, bottom line, the coach got what he deserved.
In the end, the authority for the school and team team decided they could get a better coach.
Just another decision in the marketplace of ideas.
I am a high school basketball coach and do find it disgraceful that a coach would keep full-court pressing in that situation. Heck, I once beat a team 66-6 and we stopped pressing in the 1st quarter ahead 20-0. I had to tell my girls to make 5 passes before shooting and to let the other girl’s team shoot so that we could work on our rebounding and outlets (but no fast break). I still got yelled at by the administration. So, it can go both ways. But there is no need to humiliate and to press when way ahead like that.
>>He should NOT have been pumping three’s and running a full court press in the 2nd half.
Doesn’t sound like he was.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2172117/posts
Not true. The following is from the coach...
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 coach's full response can be found here: Coach's Response
This is a lesson those kids will take with them. And it's far more important to learn than the particulars of a sport, because few of them will play a sport after HS or college, but they are all going to need good character.
At what point does the winning team become nothing more than bullies?
He later became the High School coach and led his team to a Regional State Championship.
On the other hand, if you subscribe to the belief that sport is supposed to inculcate a set of values, over and above the actual result, then you're well off the mark.
Even boxers "get it". When a man is taking a thorough beating and can't defend himself, the referee steps in and ends it.
Explain to us the benefits of administering a thorough and merciless beating to a defenseless opponent.
Non nobis, domine, sed nomini tuo da gloriam. -Psalm 115:1
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory!
That's why the coach was fired!
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O well maybe they already forgot.
I think they should play by agreed upon rules. Thats all.
I think firing the coach is a bad lesson. Success is bad, hard work is bad, victory is bad, welfare is good.
Not much of an athlete are you?
He did let them play most of the game. The other team had absolutely no business being on the court.
In real life if a person punched you then you turned around and kicked his butt 100-0 style you’d go to jail.
Even the rules of war forbid the ‘take no prisoner’ mindset.
There is a time for all things...victory with grace.
Something my parents taught me is that it is just as important to be a good winner as a good loser.
Winning 100-0 against mismatched teams doesn’t give the winning players anything to celebrate.
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