First, I don't really think anybody has said anything about the winning team being a "juggernaut."

 

But regardless, your logic is flawed. If sportsmanship was defined as you define it, then it is OK to purposely do everything possible to publicly humiliate a team just because they have the "audacity" to agree to play a game with you... It's the same mentality as blaming the victims of crimes for being victims... :ohbrother: Bottom line: The losing team didn't tell the winners to keep pressing for four quarters with their starters.

 

In this team's case - using your philosophy - this team wouldn't have scheduled anyone, but would have simply folded their program. They haven't beaten anyone in four years. Is this what competition means? Is this what we want competition to teach our kids? Give up?

 

Maybe the winning team should be penalized for agreeing to play an undermanned team...it takes two to make a schedule.

 

 

 

Same mentality maybe, but at the same time, if I put myself into a situation that I know I shouldn't be in and something happens to me, then I should have known better. I might be the victim, but if I had gone home instead of sticking around to see who was fighting, maybe, just maybe I wouldn't have gotten hit with that brick that wasn't meant for me anyways. I don't blame the victim, but sometimes a little common sense goes a long way.:thumb:

 

 

 

I don't even want to get started about quitters.:puke:

 

If that is the best their basketball program can do, then maybe they should rethink if it is even worth it. If they keep losing games like this, their program will be over soon enough.

As bad as what this guy did is wrong, there are/have been coaches around here that did very similar things.

 

Yes, there have been and they were allowed to do it. Fortunately, at least one has retired.

Yes, there have been and they were allowed to do it. Fortunately, at least one has retired.

 

We are talking about the same coach.:thumb:

Funny they complained about no bench as their starters were in and up 30 or more, pressing in the 4th quarter.

Yes and I could stand on my soapbox and preach and cuss, and fuss and it still won't change a thing because that horse is dead and gone. The bad thing about it is has left Coach Butcher in sorry state as far as not having any upperclassmen to go along with a very talented group of underclassmen.

Yes and I could stand on my soapbox and preach and cuss, and fuss and it still won't change a thing because that horse is dead and gone. The bad thing about it is has left Coach Butcher in sorry state as far as not having any upperclassmen to go along with a very talented group of underclassmen.

 

They are improving well as the season progresses.:thumb:

True, it does, and if I know I can beat you 100-0 then trust me, I am going to schedule you. But as I have said, this is where I am different from the politically correct world we live in. I don't want the opposing coach to let up on my team. I want my team to figure out how to stop the other team. I don't want a team that has been pressing to stop pressing and let us get the ball to half court. We aren't getting any better by you letting us bring the ball up the court. I don't want your pity. Whip my team and whip us good. If we meet again, we will play just as hard, but don't give us 2 points just because it is the "classy" thing to do. Don't call off the dogs whether they be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd string(they need game time experience too) because it is the "classy" thing to do. To me that is insulting and disrespectful, and yes, if I can whip you that bad, you better believe I will. There is a scoreboard keeping score for a reason. If you don't want me to score, then stop me because we are coming all game long. Period.

 

The above is fine for an established program/team.

 

My guess is that this particular team is probably a new team and from a small school. If you're the head coach of this particular team you simply don't schedule this type of game. Part of building a program (and clearly this one has a long way to go) is moving forward and not taking huge steps backwards. You have to set them up for success so that they stay motivated and excited.

 

This game probably set the program back and set them back to a point they may not recover for years and years.

 

Purple, your mentality is disappointing regardless of which end you are on of the 100 - 0 score. Its shockingly disappointing if you're on the 100 end. Its inexcusable to continue pressing and it does ZERO for your own team. They absolutely gained ZERO from playing this game and from pressing like they did. It may make YOU feel better but I bet even the girls on the winning team lost interest in the first quarter.

 

If you're a coach, I'd suggest you take a step back and re-evaluate priorities. You seem too worried about how YOU would look and feel as a coach and not how your 15,16, and 17 year old girls might think.

Yes, they are and they ought to compete for a regional in about 2 or 3 years!

True, it does, and if I know I can beat you 100-0 then trust me, I am going to schedule you. But as I have said, this is where I am different from the politically correct world we live in. I don't want the opposing coach to let up on my team. I want my team to figure out how to stop the other team. I don't want a team that has been pressing to stop pressing and let us get the ball to half court. We aren't getting any better by you letting us bring the ball up the court. I don't want your pity. Whip my team and whip us good. If we meet again, we will play just as hard, but don't give us 2 points just because it is the "classy" thing to do. Don't call off the dogs whether they be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd string(they need game time experience too) because it is the "classy" thing to do. To me that is insulting and disrespectful, and yes, if I can whip you that bad, you better believe I will. There is a scoreboard keeping score for a reason. If you don't want me to score, then stop me because we are coming all game long. Period.

 

Wow. There is a difference between winning and embarrassing someone. If this is how you truly feel, I would never want my child to play for you.

 

Especially your comment that you will purposely schedule teams that you can embarrass.

 

You realize this ain't the Super Bowl you are playing but rather kids.

True, it does, and if I know I can beat you 100-0 then trust me, I am going to schedule you. But as I have said, this is where I am different from the politically correct world we live in. I don't want the opposing coach to let up on my team. I want my team to figure out how to stop the other team. I don't want a team that has been pressing to stop pressing and let us get the ball to half court. We aren't getting any better by you letting us bring the ball up the court. I don't want your pity. Whip my team and whip us good. If we meet again, we will play just as hard, but don't give us 2 points just because it is the "classy" thing to do. Don't call off the dogs whether they be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd string(they need game time experience too) because it is the "classy" thing to do. To me that is insulting and disrespectful, and yes, if I can whip you that bad, you better believe I will. There is a scoreboard keeping score for a reason. If you don't want me to score, then stop me because we are coming all game long. Period.

 

 

Your post is remarkable. As a coach, I wouldn't want to waste schedule time on a team I know I can beat 100-0; you always gain more by playing competitive teams. You're doing your kids no favors if this is how you schedule.

 

You don't know me, so for you to infer that I am "politically correct" is laughable. Anybody who knows me well knows that I'm the furthest thing from politically correct. But maintaining dignity on a basketball court has nothing to do with political correctness. Nor does it require you to quit trying, quit running your offense and defense, or quit trying to score. In addition, if you'll review my posts, you won't find anywhere where I suggested such or inferred even that the winning team should have "let them score". That has no place in competitive athletics.

 

A few years ago, I coached a team that went winless...and actually told the coach of another team (who was beating mine badly) to please continue to press. Why? We needed to work on beating the press. He thought I was crazy, but understood. We lost big. Not very politically correct, as you put it, but it helped my team. We went undefeated the next year. So be clear - I have NO PROBLEM with teams winning big, NO PROBLEM with them continuing to try to score, and NO PROBLEM with them playing solid defense.

 

But if you think those things justify keeping your starters in and pressing until you can crack 100 in a game the other team hasn't scored in, you're missing part of the point of athletics, which is to build valuable members of society. The values exhibited by the winning coach in this instance are the kinds of values exhibited by some of the failed businesses that are in the news of late. Greed, vanity, selfishness - all exhibited amply by this coach.

 

All he had to do was play his subs - they deserve their day in the sun, too, and would have probably scored often in this game - and call off the press, and reasonable people wouldn't have complained about the resultant 90-0 score. You say you want your team to know how to stop the other guys, which is part of your defense of this coach's actions...apparently, the starters already had this figured out. Don't you need subs who understand how to stop them as well?

 

But forget common decency for a minute. Let's assume that we all agree for a moment that what this guy did is a neat idea. This guy was ignorant on a coaching standpoint, too. This was a chance to develop reserves - a chance that intelligent coaches want all the time. By not playing his reserves, he lost valuable experience that those players need - and he may find himself needing those reserves come tournament time! In short, he wasted a tremendous coaching opportunity to play subs for the majority of a varsity game. And what if his star player got injured for the season going for that 100th point? How brilliant would he look then?

 

No, this was wrong on so many fronts. "Political correctness" has nothing to do with it.

Your post is remarkable. As a coach, I wouldn't want to waste schedule time on a team I know I can beat 100-0; you always gain more by playing competitive teams. You're doing your kids no favors if this is how you schedule.

 

You don't know me, so for you to infer that I am "politically correct" is laughable. Anybody who knows me well knows that I'm the furthest thing from politically correct. But maintaining dignity on a basketball court has nothing to do with political correctness. Nor does it require you to quit trying, quit running your offense and defense, or quit trying to score. In addition, if you'll review my posts, you won't find anywhere where I suggested such or inferred even that the winning team should have "let them score". That has no place in competitive athletics.

 

A few years ago, I coached a team that went winless...and actually told the coach of another team (who was beating mine badly) to please continue to press. Why? We needed to work on beating the press. He thought I was crazy, but understood. We lost big. Not very politically correct, as you put it, but it helped my team. We went undefeated the next year. So be clear - I have NO PROBLEM with teams winning big, NO PROBLEM with them continuing to try to score, and NO PROBLEM with them playing solid defense.

 

But if you think those things justify keeping your starters in and pressing until you can crack 100 in a game the other team hasn't scored in, you're missing part of the point of athletics, which is to build valuable members of society. The values exhibited by the winning coach in this instance are the kinds of values exhibited by some of the failed businesses that are in the news of late. Greed, vanity, selfishness - all exhibited amply by this coach.

 

All he had to do was play his subs - they deserve their day in the sun, too, and would have probably scored often in this game - and call off the press, and reasonable people wouldn't have complained about the resultant 90-0 score. You say you want your team to know how to stop the other guys, which is part of your defense of this coach's actions...apparently, the starters already had this figured out. Don't you need subs who understand how to stop them as well?

 

But forget common decency for a minute. Let's assume that we all agree for a moment that what this guy did is a neat idea. This guy was ignorant on a coaching standpoint, too. This was a chance to develop reserves - a chance that intelligent coaches want all the time. By not playing his reserves, he lost valuable experience that those players need - and he may find himself needing those reserves come tournament time! In short, he wasted a tremendous coaching opportunity to play subs for the majority of a varsity game. And what if his star player got injured for the season going for that 100th point? How brilliant would he look then?

 

No, this was wrong on so many fronts. "Political correctness" has nothing to do with it.

 

:thumb: Your post is correct on all fronts!

If you do a little research you will find that most of the posts on this thread have been misinformed. There are always two sides to every story. It seems that most people read, and believed, the media report on this game.

 

I'm not saying that what this coach did was "right". He may have had good intentions of slowing the game down - but failed to execute the plan. Maybe he said "lay-ups only" and they got lots of easy lay-ups. Who knows.

 

What I am trying to say is that the media may have taken liberties with the facts. Take a look at what the Covenant School coach had to say about the game and see what you think:

 

 

 

In our own words: The Journey to a 100-0 victory

By: Coach Micah Grimes

 

After counting down the seconds until the final buzzer, I lined up my girls to wish the opposing team well, and then headed into the locker room for our post game rituals. After the girls and I said our goodbyes, I headed home to reflect like I always do after every game. But this was no ordinary game. Little did I know that in the next eight days, Barry Horn would write an article for Dallas Morning News about our 100-0 win over Dallas Academy that would start a firestorm of articles, nationally broadcasted news stories, and hateful email about me and the 8 young ladies that make up the Dallas Covenant School girls basketball team. I’ve always taught my girls to value honesty, integrity, compassion for others and to stand up for those values despite the consequences. So it is for Andi, Savannah, Taylor, Lauren, Wren, Marquita, Blair, Tiffany and our assistant coach Kelly that I tell our story.

 

The Team. We are hardly the “elite basketball powerhouse” that we are described as in the National and local media. Up until 3 years ago, we rarely had a winning season. In fact, during my first year at Covenant four years ago, we experienced one of our worst seasons - a losing record of only 2 wins and 19 losses that sunk to an 82-6 low in a game that forever changed us and how we approached the game of basketball. Two years later we made the first Final Four appearance in the school’s history. Like Dallas Academy, Covenant is a small Christian school, which is why we are in the same district. We don’t have a home gym so we rent out facilities or gym space in the community so we can practice, and then watch game film at the home of one of the players. We’ve never had a full roster. Only about 30 high school girls attend Covenant and only 8 of those girls play basketball. During many of the games this year, we played with 6 girls, and sometimes only 5. When players fouled out, we’ve had to finish the game with 4. But we always finished the game.

 

The Players. Rarely does a coach find a player who will run the extra laps, do the extra push-ups, or shoot the extra baskets without complaining. I have 8 such players—2 freshmen, a sophomore who is new to the school and team, another sophomore who has been with us for two years, two Juniors who have been with us for 3 years, a Senior who is new to the team and school, and another Junior who is new to basketball and is learning how to play for the first time in her life. My girls believe in each other, motivate each other, and see each other as family. The respect and admiration I have for them and their parents are the main reason why I come back to Covenant each year.

 

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 Apology. In response to the statement posted on The Covenant School Website, I respectfully disagree with the apology, especially the notion that the Covenant School girls basketball team should feel "embarrassed" or "ashamed". We played the game as it was meant to be played and would not intentionally run up the score on any opponent. Although a wide-margin victory is never evidence of compassion, my girls played with honor and integrity and showed respect to Dallas Academy. We honor God, ourselves, and our families when we step on the court to compete. I do not wish to forfeit the game. What kind of example does it set for our children? Do we really want to punish Covenant School girls? Does forfeiting really help Dallas Academy girls? We experienced a blowout almost 4 years ago and it was painful, but it made us who we are today. I believe in the lessons that sports teach us. Competition builds character, and teaches us to value selflessness, hard work, and perseverance. As a coach, I have instilled in my girls these values. So if I lose my job over these statements, I will walk away with my integrity.

 

Sincerely,

Micah Grimes

Bombsquad -

 

Many, many thanks for providing the letter from the Covenant coach. I think we all needed to read that.

 

The letter is well-written, thoughtful, and apparently very sincere. In many ways, I agree with so much of what he's written. I want very much to believe all of it.

 

I have nagging doubts, though. It's very good to hear both sides, and again, I thank you for providing us with that opportunity - but does this ring just a bit hollow and self-righteous to any of you? The more I think about everything I do know about this situation, the less his letter adds up.

 

Since so many witnesses have been quoted as relating an account that is somewhat contrary to this account, it is awfully hard to take the letter at face value. Are we to believe that all these people made up the statements that Covenant was pressing until they reached triple figures? Maybe we're dealing with a bit of "he said - they said", but...at what point does the story of the many outweigh the story of the one in terms of credibility?

 

And how come nobody has come forward to corroborate his side of the story, which decidedly conflicts with those of the witnesses interviewed by the press? He indicates the game was played in the "...presence of the fans, coaches, and athletic directors..." of both schools. Has anybody seen anything from the AD and coaches of Dallas Academy? We already know that his own school does not condone his actions.

 

The number of three pointers doesn't really mean much to me...I don't see why taking a three-pointer matters here... a three-pointer is a harder shot...it would seem that shooting threes is to the losing team's advantage...

 

100-0. Maybe there were a lot of FTs hit with no time running. Maybe Dallas Academy helped them get to the big score by repeatedly putting them on the line. But if there were only four three pointers as the coach says, then how many FGs total were scored? You start to do the math and it sure doesn't sound as if the coach was "running clock" as he says...

 

And now the winning coach believes he's a martyr... even though I totally disagree with his handling of this game, I do feel for him. He probably feels like the world is skewering him.

 

I think this one's done, folks. Stick a fork in it.

 

:deadhorse::deadhorse:

It's a basketball game, a game. From time-to-time many forget that it's a game to enjoy and have fun, this was definatley one of those days. I think it's more to blame than just the coach here. He is the big reason to blame, especially if thre was pressing and many 3's shot going on past half-time, to keep pouring it on. There is also the parnet who cheer for thier kid to score, especially if they don't play all that much, then off course you have the fans rooting for the team to score 100 points, especially if you are getting close to that milestone. Also another big factor is the A/D or coach to even schedule a team like that. There are many to blame here in a situation like this and it's really sad to the game to abuse it like this. This is just a terrible game, that probly should've never tooken place.

This story and commnents by the opposing coach offer a somewhat different version.

 

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/012609dnspocovenantnu.2781526.html

This story and commnents by the opposing coach offer a somewhat different version.

 

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/012609dnspocovenantnu.2781526.html

 

Thanks, Clyde!!!

 

Doesn't sound like the other coach concurs with the "we didn't press after it got to 25-0"...

 

Maybe Covenant should let their parents take over. It sounds as if the parents have the best handle on things.