100-0 Coach unapologetic

eelgrass

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http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=904726

Should the coach have been fired? I say no way.

Eel

DALLAS ? The coach of a Texas high school basketball team that beat another team 100-0 was fired Sunday, the same day he sent an e-mail to a newspaper saying he will not apologize "for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with honor and integrity."

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 coach Micah Grimes' e-mail disagreeing with administrators who called the blowout "shameful."

Queal did not immediately answer phone messages or e-mail from The Associated Press.

On its Web site last week, Covenant, a private Christian school, posted a statement regretting the outcome of its Jan. 13 shutout win over Dallas Academy. "It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christlike and honorable approach to competition," said the statement, signed by Queal and board chair Todd Doshier.

Grimes, who has been criticized for letting the game get so far out of hand, made it clear in the e-mail Sunday to the newspaper that he does not agree with his school's assessment.

"In response to the statement posted on The Covenant School Web site, I do not agree with the apology or the notion that the Covenant School girls basketball team should feel embarrassed or ashamed," Grimes wrote in the e-mail, according to the newspaper. "We played the game as it was meant to be played. My values and my beliefs would not allow me to run up the score on any opponent, and it will not allow me to apologize for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with honor and integrity."

A phone number for Grimes could not be located by The Associated Press. The Dallas Morning News said Grimes did not respond to their repeated e-mail requests for a telephone interview.

There was no answer at a number listed for Doshier.

A parent who attended the game said Covenant continued to make 3-pointers? even in the fourth quarter. She praised the Covenant players but said spectators and an assistant coach were cheering wildly as their team edged closer to 100 points.

Covenant was up 59-0 at halftime.

Dallas Academy has eight girls on its varsity team and about 20 girls in its high school. It is winless over the last four seasons. The academy boasts of its small class sizes and specializes in teaching students struggling with "learning differences," such as short attention spans or dyslexia.

There is no mercy rule in girls basketball that shortens the game or permits the clock to continue running when scores become one-sided. There is, however, "a golden rule" that should have applied in this contest, Edd Burleson, the director of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, said last week. Both schools are members of this association, which oversees private school athletics in Texas.

The story has received national attention, and the Dallas Academy team has been recognized for refusing to give up during the lopsided contest.
 
Sounds like the coach knows how to coach his team.

I'm guessing if he were to play the game again tomorrow, he may not run up the score so much.

Then again, just to be a smart guy he may run it up to 200.

Is that ethical?
 
Good for him!

Last I checked the point of the game is to score points while on offense, and to stop the opponent from scoring while on defense.

Sounds like they played a good game!
 
I may disagree. The goal of any game is to play hard a win, not stand over the opponent and gloat. If the winning coach played his second and third string players the whole second half, that's one thing. To leave the first team in and run up the score long after the outcome was decided, is another. Sportsmanship, citizenship, and integrity play large rolls in any athletic program, a winning one or not.

Joey
 
I would have to side with the covenant coach. You can't just shut your team down for a whole half. Sounds as if the 3rd string could have run up the points on the other team.
The only thing I can think of that the coach could have done differently, is to tell his team to use more of the shotclock. That way the game would have gone faster, and the scoreing may have been a bit less.
 
It doesn't sound like the coach told his girls to back off TOO much and that is rather jerk-ish. However; maybe the other team just SUCKS that much. I coach a girl's church basketball team and I've got some pretty good players. They kick butt. Last game, they weren't even trying and they won 70-2. The other team just couldn't shoot. We gave them plenty of chances, gave them 1/2 court, told my tall girls not to rebound, wouldn't let my girls steal the ball...etc. The other team had shooting chances, they just didn't make it.

Wonder what was the deal w/this team. Obviously they're pretty bad anyway, but maybe they had plenty of scoring opportunities.
 
The Covenant team did only score 12 points in the 4th quarter. He may have pulled them back a little too late. ESPN is making a big deal on WHO scheduled this particular game for the Covenant team. Obviously an inferior opponent to say the least. The coach should ve kept his mouth shut and just agreed with the schools apology. Instead, he disagreed with it publicly and that is why he got canned....insubordination. He'll sue and be awarded a hefty sum of money.

Steve
 
Wiz, I agree maybe with ESPN. Who scheduled a game like this?

Jenn, I always knew you were a wondeful person. Now I see you're a wonderful coach!

Eel
 
You play to win, you dont play to be nice or accomodate others feelings.....you won they lost. get over it.

Width isnt everything, its the ONLY thing.
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-26-09 AT 05:53PM (MST)[p]I coached girls fastpitch softball for 12 years from Little League, High School Varsity and ASA travel ball. My teams were very good, we won about 95% of our games. I coached as hard as I could to win every game and prepared my teams to win. I would never run a score up like this, to me it teaches the wrong thing to the team. Unforturately sportsmanship has gone by the wayside in todays sports. When playing a team that wasn't very good I would play the girls that might not get a chance to play as much. When I coached and we were way ahead I wouldn't let the girls advance more than one base on any hit. Maybe that is dumb to some of you, but to me it't the right thing to so.
 
>You play to win, you dont play to be nice or accomodate
>others feelings.....you won they lost. get over it.


Ahhh the irony of that statement.
 
I'd like to think hey zeus could score 200 on some little kids, and make them feel good about the azz kicking they just recieved.

48696fc97cd60c01.jpg


the Foundation of Upper Class Know-it-alls for JB....free the man!
 
This has been ALL OVER the radio
down here....he didn't get fired for
running up the score.. he got fired
for not going along with his schools
over'dramatic "I'm so sorryyy"..crap.

I think he got screw'd.

just mine

lrv
 
"Dallas Academy has eight girls on its varsity team and about 20 girls in its high school. It is winless over the last four seasons. The academy boasts of its small class sizes and specializes in teaching students struggling with "learning differences," such as short attention spans or dyslexia."

A little different when you're beating up on kids that aren't on the same level. I have a lot more respect for these kids not giving up than I do for the "winners". Real impressive.
 
I dont think he shoulda let it go as far as 100-0, but i also think they fires the wrong coach!

arm, Boozer is done as far as the jazz are concerned.
 
Have you guys seen some of the scores of wrestling meets, What do you tell your kids NOT to PIN his guy so the team scores don't get to be 78-3 or 84 nothing, sorry I don't buy into that type of thinking.
If the coach had put in his JV or 3rd string and they still kept racking up points you have to let them play. The AD that schedule this game is the one who should pay the piper.


"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
 
There are easy ways not to run up the score without being too obvious. You can tell your team that you want at least 5 touches before a shot goes up. You make your "big men" only shoot with their left hand in the paint...which is good practice anyway. Once it was 25-0 anyone in that place couldve seen where this was heading. You change your game plan at that time.

Steve
 
+1 Wiz

Nobody except maybe a coach need to win 100-0. I stand by my above statement and wonder at some of the comments seen here.

Gator, In all due respect, your analogy sucks ;-) wrestling is much more one on one, yeah there's a team score but it's mano e mano out there on the mat.

That coach should have apologized. He is indirectly responsible for the formation of these kids lives, both the winners and the losers of the game. You don't kick somebody when they are already down. You don't gloat, rub it in, or make fun of. There's a lot more to being a good coach than just winning.

Joey
 
There needs to be a mercy rule. The coach didn't show much class. If it were a pro sport it would be different.
 
Well - I have a little experience with this so here is my take. First, in ninth grade we had an awesome undefeated football team. We played well together and pretty much stomped our competition. The coaches really had us prepared well and we dominated. One of our games was against a team from a school with an majority underpriveleged population. They didn't have a great coach and were actually pretty big but slow and poorly coached. Anyway it was 35-0 at the half. Coach started the 2nd and 3rd stringers the second half, well they scored on the first play from scrimmage and then picked off a pass on the other team's first play and with less than 1 minute into the second half it was 49-0. The second stringers were about to score again and wouldn't be stopped so coach put us 1st stringers back in and told us to not make it obvious but to fumble and stop blocking. I sidestepped and let my man through, my buddy playing RB almost stopped in his tracks to let him catch him, bobbled the ball and dropped it - the kid didn't see the ball but instead went after the QB! It was right in front of him, so my buddy fell on it for a loss. The next play, coach told our QB to throw it right to their corner back, kid dropped the pass. It started to get embarassing. Finally our FB ran one up the middle and fumbled and they fell on it. We let them run the ball the rest of the game - they still never scored on us but it was ridiculous that we had to do all that to try and be fair, but we did it and it was the right thing. After the game our coach apologized to us for asking us to play less than our best to not embarass the other team any further.

The very next year, some of these players from that team were on a HS varsity team (though none of them were starters and they were now combined with 3 other schools we routinely beat) that beat us 49-7 and had 3 other TD's called back for penalties.

Once in High School while wrestling against mighty Provo High our JV team won 96-6 and our varsity won 38-0. I was the 6. My teammates let me hear about it too. I didn't try and lose either - I was sick and not feeling well and went out and got pinned by a kid I beat 3 times in a row the next year. I shouldn't have wrestled that night as I ruined it for our team. Wrestling is a different animal - it is an individual effort - no one else is our there on the mat to help you and no mercy is expected since it is so individualized.

Then just this year I was coaching my son's football team and we were playing against an 0-6 team. They barely had 11 players and should have combined with another team (equally bad) from their area. Well we had control of the game but they scored a TD on us - and their crowd went absolutely wild. We still won 24-6 but stopped running our best RB and put in our 2nd string QB early in the third quarter. The other team was very competitive against us the whole game, but by all rights we could have blown them out 50-0. Afterwards the other coach shook our hands and took us aside and told us we were the classiest group of coaches in the league - that was the first time his team had scored a TD all year long, only the second time the mercy rule wasn't applied and the only game where his team walked off the field with more smiles than frowns. Yes, because we didn't win by a larger margin against this tea, this victory hurt us in the seeding for the year end tourney, but we still did the right thing.

So should this coach have let the score get up to 100-0? I don't know, maybe he was telling his girls to take low percentage shots to not run up the score and they made them anyway. It is a tough call and you have to be there. I don't think he should have been fired though.


UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)
 
Well the dyslexic girls probably were'nt helping, scorin at the wrong end of the court and everything.

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
 
Why is the coach only to blame? Where was the Athletic Director, ref's judgment or other faculty to make a decision to stop the game. The other team could have stopped it too. There is more blame to go around. If I was the coach I would sue them. You hired me to win. Now you fire me for winning too big. BS.
 
Define COACHING for me please?????
Is it defined by the number of wins and margin of victory? Is it winning at all costs? In your opinion (think back to who in your life was your best coach- was their success as a coach determined by number of wins or was it the life lessons you learned and the fun you had?

Seriously, unless your coaching in the PROS and going for the Super Bowl, coaching is all about development (teaching the technical and tactical skills), teaching these life lessons and having a little fun along the way. If not, you are coaching for the wrong reasons (for your ego). Coaching is half teaching and mostly parenting.

"What comes around Goes around"
If you play or coach this game long enough, you will have gotten an extremely gifted team with exceptional athletes, plus you will have gotten a marginal team with non-athletic younger inexperienced players. You will have been on both sides of the scoring- winning easily and have gotten beaten soundly. In both cases, everyone readily knows who the better team was, but COACHES determine the margin of victory!!

In my opinion, nothing hurts worse then being thumped unmercifully. The guys on this forum saying that they don't see anything wrong with the coach running up the score and that the wrong coach got fired, haven't been on the losing side. Unless you've been there and felt it first hand, one would never wish it on your worst enemy. Been there, done that....

In most cases when on a poor team, you are powerless as an individual player or as a coach to really impact the outcome of the game. You have to reassign your priorities. Do I quit or do I try and make the best of a poor situation? Competition and winning gets put on the back burner and you go for the life lessons and having fun. That's whats coaching is really about.

AND don't give me this "they need to play harder". Both teams are playing their guts out. Games come down to who has better (or more) athletes, coaching, referees and a little luck.
 

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