Do you feel the same about running the football on every down to eat up the clock and limit the other team's offensive possessions? If not, why is it any different? Help me out here. I see an amazingly strong similarity between what Jaime did and what many football coaches try to do when they are matched up against a very powerful offense.

 

What if they hiked the ball and just ran around behind the line of scrimmage for a quarter and the defense let them. Would that be a good game?

 

What happened in this game just violated the spirit of the game and it was wrong for the players, families and fans.

No offense taken, she will have plenty of time to think about her decision as her knowledge of the game and her ability to assess her teams chances against NDA still puts her on the side line until next season.

 

I know Coach R well, and I can assure you there will not be a single thought of "did I do the right thing" or, "did I hurt somebodys feelings". She did the right thing imo.

Now while she sits on the sideline watching I'll bet she is wondering if her team can even compete next yr. We shall see:sssh:

What if they hiked the ball and just ran around behind the line of scrimmage for a quarter and the defense let them. Would that be a good game?

 

What happened in this game just violated the spirit of the game and it was wrong for the players, families and fans.

 

I am just so puzzled by why you continue to complain that families and fans got cheated and why they even play into this equation. :confused: It really has no factor in competitive sports imo.

Pls dont take offense here, but I just dont get this analogy. Sorry..........

I am just so puzzled by why you continue to complain that families and fans got cheated and why they even play into this equation. :confused: It really has no factor in competitive sports imo.

Pls dont take offense here, but I just dont get this analogy. Sorry..........

 

 

You really think there would be sports if families and fans didn't support it? Wow. Of course we matter.

I posted a comment on this earlier but I understand we are on page 11. The very big difference is when the football coach chooses to run the ball, his team has to compete on every play. They have to fight with all their skill and effort every 30 seconds to get yards and compete to get first downs every 3 plays. In stall ball, there is no competing. A team is standing there holding the ball for 4, 5, 6 minutes or more and doing absolutely nothing. That IMO opinion is why it rubs people wrong. A sports contest is a competition and standing still doing nothing for the majority of the game is not competing.

 

Personally, I think the Notre Dame coach messed up by not pressuring Highlands and forcing them to play. The only fault with Highlands' coach is I wonder if she sold her team short. I haven't seen the teams play so I have no real idea if Highlands had any chance versus NDA playing straight up ball. But in looking at Highlands' and NDA's scores of their games this year, it doesn't look like Highlands had no chance. Plus in basketball crazy things can happen. Beechwood only lost by 11 the first time they played NDA and then lost by 55 the second time, a 44 point swing. The fact that NDA beat Highlands by 28 the first time they played doesn't automatically mean Highlands had no chance. Highlands played each of the other 3 semifinalists games within 10 points so they were competitive with the top teams in the region. But as I said, the coach knows her team better than me and she obviously thought her team had zero chance of beating NDA without stall ball.

 

So what I'm thinking my "take away" from this discussion is: if NDA had pressured and forced Highlands to play, then the teams would have been competing. But because NDA choose not to, Jaime is a bad coach, human being, violated the spirit of the game, deprived her kids of the most important moment of their lives, etc., etc., etc.

 

Crazy things happen in every sport. Not just basketball. Maybe Jaime was hoping for a crazy thing happening. Like hitting a last minute shot and winning the game 10-9. I think the last sentence of your post is spot on and is exactly why folks should back off. It might be boring to some; it might violated the spirit of the game to some, but the bottom line is that Jaime obviously felt that stall ball gave her team the best chance of winning. Which should be the end of the discussion concerning her decision.

 

Now a discussion about instituting a 45 second clock or even a 1 minute clock would be of merit.

What if they hiked the ball and just ran around behind the line of scrimmage for a quarter and the defense let them. Would that be a good game?

 

What happened in this game just violated the spirit of the game and it was wrong for the players, families and fans.

 

If it was within the rules and CovCath did such in an effort to beat Highlands because Coach Wirth thought it was CovCath's best of winning, I'd have no problem with it. Zero; none. Heck, I'd be terribly disappointed in him if Coach Wirth didn't do everything within the rules to help his players accomplish what they'd work so hard to do: win the game. I might wonder why the Highlands coaches let them run around behind the line of scrimmage, but I wouldn't begrudge Coach Wirth for doing what he thought would best help his team win.

The bigger issue for Highlands is their level of play as a whole. Are they getting better ? Where is the program headed? How can they get to a point that they can compete with any of the top teams?

 

Now those are all very, very fair questions, to which I don't know the answers. But I do know that at least this is one time that the success of Highlands football won't get blamed for another Highlands sport's lack of success. Then again, there are probably some that will try.

What if they hiked the ball and just ran around behind the line of scrimmage for a quarter and the defense let them. Would that be a good game?

 

What happened in this game just violated the spirit of the game and it was wrong for the players, families and fans.

 

Wasn't the best of circumstances, but a little harsh there. I guess it depends on what side you are on.

Edited March 1, 201214 yr by tdyballgame

As soon as a coach starts caring about what the fans want, they become one.

You really think there would be sports if families and fans didn't support it? Wow. Of course we matter.

 

Bass Fishing.

What happened in this game just violated the spirit of the game and it was wrong for the players, families and fans.

 

It violated nothing. It was a strategy employed by Dean Smith, who by any definition is one of the greatest basketball coaches. Sports at its best is all about game planning, adjustments, coaching decisions. If underdogs play by conventional strategies and follow expectations they will lose a high (dare I say VERY HIGH) percentage of the time; however, that isn't what happened. The coach of Highlands took a team that had been beaten soundly earlier in the season and had them in a position to win late in the game. You can't ask for much more than that from a coach.

 

In contrast, the coach of NDA took a team that was clearly the better team and not only made no adjusments, but seemed rather clueless as to what to do or how to handle it and was fortunate to come out with a win.

 

I realize what happened doesn't fit your paradigm for what a game should "loook like", whatever 'should look like" is, but I would encourage you to rethink the events. As someone earlier in the thread stated it was in stark contrast to other first round games where the coaches couldn't game plan to give their kids a chance to win a the end.

I hope this thread never ends. :clap:

 

Way too much fun.

Perhaps the NDA coach also used a good strategy. NDA moved on in a regional tournament while expending very little energy to do so. Almost as if they recieved a bye.

Perhaps the NDA coach also used a good strategy. NDA moved on in a regional tournament while expending very little energy to do so. Almost as if they recieved a bye.

 

Certainly one way to spin it.

The biggest loser of the night was the water girl for Highlands, not once did she ever have to hydrate her teammates. She was cheated out of shinning her last game as a water girl!