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 ...
I taught at a private school last year here in Dallas that competed in this same league. I shared an office with the boys basketball coach and he told me about a game early in the season where, because of illnesses, he only had 5 boys to play. During the second half of the game (in which he was, of course, soundly defeated), one of his good players got a little too aggressive and behaved inappropriately, so our coach benched him. That’s right. Leaving him with only 4 players. The other team who had a solid lead, went ahead and pulled one of their players so it was an even 4 on 4. The boys all played the game out, no one hung their head in shame and both coaches behaved like “Christians.”
I don’t think everyone here has all the facts when spouting all the typical conservative ‘competition is good for you’ dogma. Sometimes there’s just no point in acting like a horse’s arse. This was one of them. I think the call to fire this guy was appropriate, and probably instigated by parents of girls on the team, if I know these private schools the way I think I do. As a parent, I would have been appalled by this display, and as a paying parent to a private school, I would certainly have complained to the headmaster about the message he sent to my child in his behavior and coaching choices.
Remember, this was a Christian school team, not a private, competitive league. I suspect if you go to The Covenant School’s website there’s a mission statement that explains their philosophy and I’ll bet this coach’s actions violated the spirit of their mission. They can’t afford to lose students over something like this. Private schools are struggling...the very school I taught at last year is closing down after this school year. Reason? Lack of funding.
I hear ya...and if you’d made you’re player play off their knees you’d gotten hell over that, too!
That's not the message they're sending.
The message they're sending is success....but not at any price. Success doesn't have to involve humiliation.
Sorry I just do not get that. Being a Christian does not mean you should throw a game or not play your best.
It is important to learn how to be as gracious in victory as you are when you lose.
I used to be a Defensive Coordinator for a high school team.
My prep was meticulous and we played a team that beat us the previous year but had a coaching change. The coach was not prepared for the beginning of the season. He basically ran the same three plays over and over. It was a route my kids were very physical.
We knocked the snot out of them forcing 4 fumbles in the first half. Our OC was young and was passing late first half. I put the entire 2nd team D in after one series in 3rd quarter. JV/Fresh in 4th quarter...and I put two freshman at DB that wayed about as much as my 12 yr old son and went about 125 lbs.
We still almost got the shutout, They scored on a long pass play over my midgets late in the game...the opposing team went wild, that was an accomplishment for them. For a second I regretted the shoutout being gone, but that was just my pride.
I slept well that night. We dominated them and all of our young kids got huge playing time in a Friday night game. OUr older kids wanted to stay in but got caught up in watching our bench kids and freshman out there fighting to keep our shutout.
I would say that once the score became insurmountable, the winning team could have practiced ball handling skills, dribbled around the court, took low percentage shots. There comes a point where winning becomes humiliation. Scoring 100 points to 0 against a winless and small school borders on humiliation and senseless degradation.
Is there a place in sportsmanship for taunting?
Winning is what we all strive for. To do so without honor is unacceptable.
humiliation? These kinds of scores are routine for this league. This winning team has lost in blowouts before and even had an 82-6 loss. They have finished games with only 4 players because there is no bench.
I’m terribly confused.
In my youth, which is a very distant memory I played on school teams, and community teams, primarily baseball, some football (NOT Soccer), but never basketball (wasn’t interested in it). The objective was to play and win (by the rules of course) in all cases.
Is there some objective other than winning associated with basketball. As I said, I never played it.
“These kinds of scores are routine for this league”
Maybe they fired him because he didnt win by 135.
taunting? There was no taunting. They lined up and congratulated the losing team for playing hard.
The other team would feel mighty worse if their opponents had gone easy on them. Talk about condescending.
Its all part of the “its not fair” doctrine we have allowed to invade all schools, it started back when my now 30 year old was in the 1st grade.
It wasn’t fair that the homeroom mothers for her class brought pizza for one of their homeroom parties and the other classes got something different. This “its not fair” soon moved to the basketball court where it wasn’t fair that some teams won and some didn’t.
My husband was a volunteer coach for her basketball team when they were in 6th grade they won the state championship, first time in the schools history and they weren’t allowed to hang their winning banner in the gym because it might not BE FAIR to the others who didn’t play or didn’t win.
This bull has been around for a l o n g ti m e
he was fired for not being condescending to the other team.
Are you serious?
A score whereby you garner more points than the opponent.
There is winning and there is subjugation. This wasn't a war...it was a basketball game. To what benefit is it to embarrass and humiliate your sports opponent? This is not professional nor semi-pro ball.
Overkill is a display of the lack of class.
Doesn’t matter, I’m still opposed to your earlier attitude of doing anything you need to humiliate an opponent in the arena.
By your logic, when I was in school and had the misfortune of being attacked by a fellow student, I shouldn't have stopped pummeling him until I cracked open his skull. It was enough he went down and was bloodied. There was no need to literally spill his innards.
Winning and subjugation. Look up the definitions.
“he was fired for not being condescending to the other team.”
Just the marketplace of competing ideas. You are not in the position of decision-maker for that school. They made the best decision for their school. Should they be forced to abide by your values?
I agree with you.
No it isn't. The message the school has sent out is if you're too successful you'll get fired.
I sure hope those straight A kids in that school take this to heart or they'll be kicked out of school for continuing that straight A grade stuff. This'll teach 'em.
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