How Covenant Christian Defeated Dallas Academy 100-0
Unapologetic Coach Of 100-0 Win Fired By School
Let’s say you are the coach, and your High School girls basketball team is ahead 59-0 at halftime. What do you do?
Some things are obvious:
You are not going to lose this game.
The other team is very, very bad.
You could... seek to embrace the rules of good sportsmanship by resting your starters for remainder of game and do your best with second-team players to keep the score down. Perhaps you could run plays in which your poorest offensive players would shoot the ball, or you could practice defense by keeping the ball in the hands of the other team. Of course, such liberties might focus embarrassment upon the opponent. A more acceptable approach may be to talk with the other coach and invoke some kind of mutually agreed “mercy rule” where the game would end with the current score.
Or…you could keep your starters in for the rest of the game, employ a tenacious full-court press to overwhelm the hapless team, and furiously shoot 3-pointers- all with the intent of accomplishing a 100-0 score.
Allow me to make a defense of this coach:
In the final analysis let us not kid ourselves. By and large, competitive High School athletics is about winning, not sportsmanship or the development of character. And money. Ask almost any coach who played by the rules, instilled discipline and respect, set a positive example for his students, made sure his students did well in class, and… wound up with losing more games than he won. Likely he became an ex-coach. Zealous parents, rabid fans, and school coffers require winning above all else.
Now, I am not saying that a coach with the ability to put together and execute a winning ball club is not also a person who reflects and instills character. However, generally speaking, the latter is not required. And so we end up with a man who sees nothing wrong with pulverizing the other team of little girls with a score of 100-0.
The media, community, and school officials wonder from where this man came? Well, he is your creation. He knows it is all about winning. The kind of winning you need necessitates hardness, tenacity, and often pain and seldom mercy. It does not make much sense to expect such a brutal creature to switch off this mentality when called upon by wisdom and kindness.
Fire the coach? Sure, but first fire the system.
01.26.09 (10:33 am) [
edit]
posted by:
OldSchool (
reply)
post date:
01.26.09 (8:36 am)
I had seen this same story last week and was intrigued by it myself.
There was an article on highschool . rivals . com that I think was pretty good. highschool . rivals . com/ content.asp?CID=903780
I am all for competitiveness, but 100-0 is a little too extreme. They did not even allow them one lousy point. Not even a free throw. That is impressive, but at the same time discouraging too.
posted by:
Ladyg (
reply)
post date:
01.26.09 (10:15 am)
Firing the coach is not the answer.
posted by:
bawdy (
reply)
post date:
01.26.09 (10:33 am)
Who is responsible for scheduling such a mismatch in the first place? Therein lies the blame. But you'd think the coach would be tactful enough to display some good sportsmanship given the circumstances.
posted by:
barnabus1 (
reply)
post date:
01.26.09 (12:38 pm)
Think it would have bee great to give some of his lesser players a chance, to help build their skills and morale!! The game would have served him better by building up the poorer players, than being out of work now!!
posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
01.26.09 (2:05 pm)
If he actually kept in his starters, he's just an ass. Winning IS important, but once you've won, only a true jerk would rub it in the face of his opponent(s). To me, that's when the line has been crossed; that's when the guy said to himself, "It's not enough that I win. I need you to LOOOOOOOOOSE."
posted by:
OldSchool (
reply)
post date:
01.26.09 (2:23 pm)
There is another follow up to the original story. The coach has said that he DOES NOT apologize for what he did, so the school fired him. highschool . rivals . com/content.asp?CID=904726
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
01.28.09 (7:00 pm)
Reply to: OldSchool
He the coach of a Christian school, which I think puts added responsibility upon him to behave with a different standard. He's certainly failed in that regard. I think the girls on the other team offer a refreshing attitude of not taking things too seriously, or simply enjoying the game and now the notoriety.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
01.28.09 (7:01 pm)
Reply to: surrogate
Sportsmanship seems to be a lesson he has forgotten to learn or to teach.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
01.28.09 (7:03 pm)
Reply to: barnabus1
He seems to be standing on some misguided principle, as evidenced by his ill conceived letter to the newspaper in which he defended his dignity. Not only is the guy a poor example, but apparently he has not looked in the mirror in quite some time.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
01.28.09 (7:05 pm)
Reply to: bawdy
I think there are just so many of these private schools, so the are kind of forced to schedule one another. Still, there is an obvious difference between beating the other team and pulverizing them into total humiliation.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
01.28.09 (7:06 pm)
Reply to: Ladyg
It seems he was fired more for insubordination than for the game. Sometimes you've got to swallow your pride and do what you are expected to do- such is an inherent part of most jobs. This guy was foolish.
posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
02.02.09 (6:26 pm)
"He the coach of a Christian school, which I think puts added responsibility upon him to behave with a different standard."
In my experience, as a group, "Christians" don't behave any better than anyone else. They like to think they do, but, nah.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
02.03.09 (1:38 pm)
Reply to: surrogate
Well, I think anecdotally, and likely statistically, you are probably correct. Of course, I narrowly define the word "Christian", and I believe Christians who fall into my understanding of the true meaning of the term are truly different. But, the point of the statement I have made it that when we make a statement to the community at large that we define ourselves foremost as "Christian", then we are held to a higher standard by the world and even by the church. So, if you are going to coach a girl's basketball team and mercilessly pummel another hapless team by a score of 100-0, then please don't do so as you proclaim with a big sign that you are a Christian. It's is bad for the name.
posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
02.03.09 (2:07 pm)
Reply to: PastorDave
You're right. Like someone using spoiled meat in the burgers at McDonalds. Bad for the brand.
