Caught in the moment?
Watching a scary movie or a close basketball game I get caught in the moment. Winning a basketball game by 100 points…how do you get caught up in the moment? Coming from Valley City and not always having the best sports records in high school I personally know how it is to be on the losing side. But never have I been so humiliated to lose any game with a score of 100-0.
A high school girls basketball team from Dallas, Texas recently had the upper hand in that exact same position. When the head coach was asked how it got to be so out of hand his response was “we just got caught in the moment.” Needless to say the coach was fired. As a coach you are a mentor to the young lives you are influencing. What are you showing them with a merciless win like the one they participated in? It makes you think to yourself did any of the girls speak up and say something? What would you do if you were a player pummeling a team by 100 points? Would you say anything to your coach?
On the other hand, if the opposing team is just lacking any common skills do you tell your players to purposely miss? Or to step aside and let the other team make an easy layup? That to some, would contradict what you are trying to teach: teamwork and hard work.
It is all about the persuasion of what you think is right as a coach back to your players. If as a collective team they think the coach is wrong in running up the score then they should at a time or half time tell the coach their thoughts and try to persuade him to their side. Now maybe the outcome wouldn’t be completely turned around but I am sure the score would not be 100 point difference.
As a parent you also try to instill core values and ethics. Growing up you tell them what is legally wrong and right but also morally and ethically. Players for the most part have good intentions and a brain. They want to do what they feel right and as a whole can get the rest of the team on their side as well with some good persuasion. They maybe just need to bring up a few points on how this will reflect on them as individuals and a school? Is this what they really want to be known for? The team with no heart or consideration.
There are some local examples of this happening right here in North Dakota. Two of the recent “blowouts” were in hockey. Hockey is usually a low scoring game to start with so when a team starts getting into double digits some would think an exciting outcome, but what if the other team’s score was only 1 or 2 points. Do you tell your team to quit trying so hard? When the best team and the worst team are paired together for a match up, what is the cut off line for too big of a margin in point difference?
This is a grey area because winning by 100 is unacceptable but also telling your team to not try hard and let the opposing team make the easy points is not the best thing to do either. Some simple things to keep in consideration are to maybe not drive to the basket every time if you know it’s going to be an easy shot. Maybe it is vice versa and to not keep taking the 3 point shots just to make the individuals personal records better.
That is only benefiting the team individually and there is no ‘I’ in ‘team’. There may not just be one good answer to follow but I think a little common sense will go a long ways.
Watching a scary movie or a close basketball game I get caught in the moment. Winning a basketball game by 100 points…how do you get caught up in the moment? Coming from Valley City and not always having the best sports records in high school I personally know how it is to be on the losing side. But never have I been so humiliated to lose any game with a score of 100-0.
A high school girls basketball team from Dallas, Texas recently had the upper hand in that exact same position. When the head coach was asked how it got to be so out of hand his response was “we just got caught in the moment.” Needless to say the coach was fired. As a coach you are a mentor to the young lives you are influencing. What are you showing them with a merciless win like the one they participated in? It makes you think to yourself did any of the girls speak up and say something? What would you do if you were a player pummeling a team by 100 points? Would you say anything to your coach?
On the other hand, if the opposing team is just lacking any common skills do you tell your players to purposely miss? Or to step aside and let the other team make an easy layup? That to some, would contradict what you are trying to teach: teamwork and hard work.
It is all about the persuasion of what you think is right as a coach back to your players. If as a collective team they think the coach is wrong in running up the score then they should at a time or half time tell the coach their thoughts and try to persuade him to their side. Now maybe the outcome wouldn’t be completely turned around but I am sure the score would not be 100 point difference.
As a parent you also try to instill core values and ethics. Growing up you tell them what is legally wrong and right but also morally and ethically. Players for the most part have good intentions and a brain. They want to do what they feel right and as a whole can get the rest of the team on their side as well with some good persuasion. They maybe just need to bring up a few points on how this will reflect on them as individuals and a school? Is this what they really want to be known for? The team with no heart or consideration.
There are some local examples of this happening right here in North Dakota. Two of the recent “blowouts” were in hockey. Hockey is usually a low scoring game to start with so when a team starts getting into double digits some would think an exciting outcome, but what if the other team’s score was only 1 or 2 points. Do you tell your team to quit trying so hard? When the best team and the worst team are paired together for a match up, what is the cut off line for too big of a margin in point difference?
This is a grey area because winning by 100 is unacceptable but also telling your team to not try hard and let the opposing team make the easy points is not the best thing to do either. Some simple things to keep in consideration are to maybe not drive to the basket every time if you know it’s going to be an easy shot. Maybe it is vice versa and to not keep taking the 3 point shots just to make the individuals personal records better.
That is only benefiting the team individually and there is no ‘I’ in ‘team’. There may not just be one good answer to follow but I think a little common sense will go a long ways.
