coach fired for 100-0 win?

[Ismaqquia]

This is a bit old so sorry if it was posted elsewhere and I didn't see! A friend of mine living in Dallas sent me this article. All I have to say is.. WTF!?

Am I wrong in thinking it's just totally lame to fire a coach because his team won big time and he's glad about it? Who cares why the other team sucks, if they aren't as good in a fair game then they should lose.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6229956.html

Seriously, what is the purpose of playing a competitive sport if you aren't supposed to TRY TO KICK MAJOR ASS? I thought Texans were supposed to be hardcore but it looks to me like they're turning into a bunch of failure-rewarding wussies!

Edit: Why don't they fire the coach of that loser team instead! Apparently they have played what four seasons with not one win?

[Gromgor]

It's called sportsmanship. It's not sporting if you're that much superior to your opponent. You allow them to bow out gracefully (it's called forfeit) so they don't have to endure it.

I'm usually all for the "If you're bigger and badder, prove it" attitude. But a big part of playing sports is being sporting.

This was not.

[Pae]

If this were professional sports I'd probably also be a little bit up in arms.

But this isn't professional sports. This is high school. What are you teaching the kids?

You teach the winners nothing about sportsmanship, nor compassion, nor ethics. While in the US I would agree that high school sports is a big deal (and somewhat out of hand) I will outright refuse to accept the point of high school sports (if boiled down to one point) is anything but about helping high school students be better people.

[Darion]

You know, normally I'd come down on the side of the terminated coach, but this:

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.

makes me feel for him a little less. Still have strange feelings of mixed amusement.

[Riek]

The school 'specializes in teaching students struggling with "learning differences,'' such as short attention spans or dyslexia'. This doesn't necessarily mean the students HAVE learning disabilities.

So the coach was unsportsmanlike. Does this mean he should lose his job?

I'm not advocating what he did, I just think firing him is a little harsh. Maybe they should expel the students on the team also!

[Darion]

High school coach? Yes, probably.

[Gadiantor]

Another aspect to this is that it is a private school, which attracts students by presenting a specific image. If the administration feels that this coach is bad for the image of the school it makes perfect sense to fire him.

[Ismaqquia]

Gromgor:

They're both high school teams and if you check the win record of the winning team they aren't that fabulous. It is reasonable to assume that they should be about equal in skill and saying that they are not is even more insulting to the losing team than them losing so badly.

Of course we know they were not equals, because the losing team lost every game four years in a row. But if anything, that should be another indicator that firing the coach because his team kicked ass was an idiotic decision, which is really what I was up in arms about and thus posting about.

However, to continue to respond to what you posted about.

You make it out to seem like the winners were bad guys for winning. Strange, because the winning team did not bully the other one, they played fair and square. It wasn't like some Hollywood-produced sports thugs movie or a gang of high school female Dennis Rodmans on parade.

In fact if you read the article it goes into great detail about how the winners did many things to "go easier" on the losers, such as putting in bench warmers. It's perfectly reasonable to plow through the opposition if you can, but the coach chose to be abnormally gentle.

Also. You seem to be suggesting that the winning team had a choice in the matter and chose to keep playing or somehow forced the losers to continue, whereas the article specifically stated there is -not- a mercy rule for HS girls bball so that whole point is moot.

Even assuming for a moment that a forfeit was possible, it's never the responsibility or the privilege of the leading team to end the game early. The -loser- has to offer to forfeit. The article also stated that the losers said it was no big deal.

Pae:

Sportsmanship is not about letting the losers "win" a little more or "lose" a little less out of pity for their weaknesses. It's about playing fair by the rules, playing the best you can play and then walking away as friends and peers at the end with the old "good game" attitude on both sides. Even if you disagree on that part, it's certainly not about punishing the winning team for an amazing job well done!

There is nothing wrong with trying to win and playing at your best. What was the motto of the Olympics again? Higher, Faster, Stronger? What's wrong with high school students who have similar ideals? It certainly was PC when Big Money was behind it spinning off neat adverts.

As for high school sports not being competitive or being all about Everyone Is A Winner and compassion, etc. No. Nobody plays sports for those reasons, no matter who they are. Teaching ethics and morals is mainly the job of the -parents- and seriously putting too much of that in the public education system is all part of one big slippery slope.

Reference the "politics" classes that Chinese Communist children must take every year of their lives for an hour every day, whose main focus is "ethics and morals"

Even if I'm off on that, gym isn't the place for it.

And have you ever heard of anyone getting a sports scholarship to college for "going easy" on the other team? No. But wow, a 100-0 win on your record, that's sure to turn a few heads.

Regarding the whole learning disabilities thing:

Having dyslexia or ADD or some other learning disability doesn't mean you have to be a bad basketball player. There are countless stories of famous athletes who were disabled in some way and unable to excel in their academics, so they became brilliant athletes.

This shouldn't have any bearing on anything and once again I'd say that's more insulting than the ass whupping, if we're going to go on about how the most important thing is everyone is a special winner.

Darion:

My initial reaction (and still is in a way, I suppose) was amusement too.


Then I thought I'm glad I don't have kids going thru the public school system in the U.S., because if we're getting to this degree of PC lameness now then I'm sure my kids (not to mention the nation, the economy, or any organisation, hello?) would grow up to be much more damaged by the acceptance and even celebration of mediocrity than a little challenge or defeat in their after school activities. If kids are taught to cope with failure by not dealing with it or twisting things around to such an incredible degree..

I'm no psychologist, but I think there's something wrong there. I keep thinking of: CAUTION!! CONTENTS EXTREMELY HOT!

After all this too, I might as well say that I wouldn't be surprised if this is all stupidity and hype due to the media's constant lazy reporting of non-news, or a few PTA moms with nothing better to do than bitch because their kids can't win a silly ball game.

[Pae]

Originally posted by Ismaqquia
Pae:

Sportsmanship is not about letting the losers "win" a little more or "lose" a little less out of pity for their weaknesses.

Another word is courteous. I hate to break it to you, but high school sports are in fact A GAME. Games are meant to be fun. If I got slaughtered 100-0 with the opposing team gloating over my sorely beaten self, I wouldn't think it fun at all. Games (especially not high school games) are NOT meant to belittle/shame/mock your opponent. Yes you can lose with grace, but there is also something about winning with grace. This was NOT exercised and it has nothing to do with the score.

The Biggest Difference you are arguing comes with assuming the coach in question had good intentions. As if he was just some hero coach trying to win a game. Gromgor and I are believing he was intentionally being malicious. As if he was a coach living vicariously through his team and wanting to embarrass the other team.

Article quote
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.

Upon rereading the article I am even more convinced this coach is the second.

Even if you disagree on that part, it's certainly not about punishing the winning team for an amazing job well done!

Nobody is punishing the winning team the coach is being punished. Gadiantor makes the perfect point. Every school has an image, being a Christian school I can guarantee sports is not about BEING the best. It's about doing your best. Which includes knowing when to let up a little, give some of your fourth string a chance to play, talking with the other coach about possible options.

There is nothing wrong with trying to win and playing at your best. What was the motto of the Olympics again? Higher, Faster, Stronger? What's wrong with high school students who have similar ideals?

They are not in the olympics. You are trying to convince me that their grades and morals are not more important, if so we'll have to agree to disagree.

Teaching ethics and morals is mainly the job of the -parents- and seriously putting too much of that in the public education system is all part of one big slippery slope.

I couldn't disagree more. Parents certainly have a huge impact. But children come to school to... play sports?.. Nope. We send them to school to LEARN. And it is NOT just about facts/figures/formulas. Teachers are (whether you like it or not) role models.

No teacher (even a 'gym' teacher, sports coach, or otherwise) is exempt from being a role model who has HUGE impact on a child's ethics and morals. Whether or not the US is a 'communist' country is 100% irrelevant to this discussion. Check out this video and tell me if you disagree.

Teachers check out the video as well, you will enjoy it.

[Pae]

I once played a card game with my wife. The game was 1 round away from being over and I was CLEARLY the winner. However, on the last play of the last turn, I played one card that put her points to zero and vaulted me up way higher in score.

It was pointless. And I had a wife who was PISSED at me. That was NOT sportsmanlike. That was mean, malicious, and something I had to ask forgiveness for.


I hate to break it to you, but high school sports will never be any different than that. You can play your best, but if you don't teach kids mercy, compassion, and empathy while on the field they aren't going exercise it off the field.