100-0

[The Fallen Angel]

this is ridiculous, fired for a win

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.

 

[CarolinaTickler]

I would have a problem if he were fired for the win but I think he was fired because he strayed from the position of the school. The school put out a statement that said that they apologized for the incident and then he goes out and says that he disagrees with the school publicly. If the school is firing him for publicly disagreeing with them then I have no problem with the firing at all. You don't bite the hand that feeds you and if you call out your employer in a public forum and say they are wrong you probably deserve to be fired.

 

[Goodieluver]

There is a difference between competition and running up the score. The game wasn't even competative after half-time. When that happens it is no long competition, it is called being classless.

I do partially blame the directors for scheduling a game where you have one school that is 4 times smaller than the other with only about 20 girls in the entire high school.

However, there is a difference between Pro Athletes and High School students. Just like there is a difference between high school students and college athletes especially because college athletes are compensated for their play with scholarships. I personally don't think you should ever run the score up on an opponent because it shows a lack of class, but I can understand it more when athletics is your job.

So when the team was up 24-0, what should they have done then?

If they played out the clock every shot and hit, they would have ended up winning 50 or 60 nothing, would that be classless as well?

About 12 yrs ago citadel was 74 point dogs to Florida and spurrier let his third stringer in with 7 seconds left and the kid threw a 50 yd touchdown to end the game 81-0. Now is this "Classless" because a third stringer who gets no playing time wanted to have fun and exploit a crappy team defense?

If a team has a deep bench, they have the right to have some fun if they finally get a chance to play extended minutes

 

[Sandrock74]

I'm of two minds on the subject. I have played baseball alot over the course of my life. Sometimes I was on great teams. Sometimes I was on bad teams. I guess thats why I can see it from both sides.

I am of the mindset that when your behind (no matter how far behind) you don't stop playing. You keep doing your best. As long as you play your personal best, you have nothing to be ashamed of at the end of the night. Its not as good a feeling as winning, but you can still keep your pride. I normally played second base and I have been told by people who beat us that they thought I played a solid game.

If your playing way ahead (where its obvious that the other team doesn't have a shot in hell of catching up, much less winning), you switch from playing offensively to defensive. You protect your lead. Essentially, you play keep away. No need to drive up the score to insane levels. Tempers flare and animosity starts to spill into the play. People (usually from the winning team) get physically hurt that way. Winning, even being dominate, is fine. Humiliating someone isn't cool.

Believe me, if one team hasn't won a game in like 4 years, trust me, they know they suck. The coach being fired was for his stance he took against his employers. He coached for a private school team. The school makes the rules, not him. When I worked for a privately owned company, I was expected to fall into line with company policy and ethics. When I worked for a large publicly owned company, I had more freedom.
That's the real way the world works.

 

[Texas_Tickle]

They should continue playing the game like they are supposed to. its not their fault they are great, or everyone else sucks.

I agree, but this is the same mind-set and sense of entitlement that want to give everybody a 1st place trophy, so nobody feels 'left out'