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.
In response to your blog, I really think this was such a controversial topic to blog about and I think you did justice with the way you went about it for the most part, however I see things from a different perspective.
ReplyDeleteA sports game should not be altered in anyway regardless of how much better one team is over the other. I think every team should play to their best ability and not worry if their best performances ridicules’ the other team and make them look really bad.
If a team down plays their abilities then what is the point of playing games? Why not games just be decided based on whom the general public projects to win the game. I think firing the coach was unnecessary and sent out mixed signals on what the school really desires in a coach. Do they want a coach that wins them games or not?
Although 100-0 is an absolutely ridiculous score, this is a sports event. Teams should go out and try their hardest regardless of the score. I read another article on this and it said the coach did not take the full court press off and put in subs until the last 4 minutes of the game. To me this is wrong....although it is incredible to beat a team this bad, this was uncalled for. Even after all of this I still think the coach should not be fired. I believe that the ADMINISTRATOR scheduling the games should have been in just as much trouble. Why schedule a game with a team like this, unless they are in your conference. Besides the fact, the other article I read said the losing team has not won a game in 4 seasons..What did they expect other than a major beat down.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the winning team should have taken the full court press off they still have to play. Maybe they should of quite playing defense or shooting. ha . Maybe they should have just passed the ball around until the shot clock expired each time down the court. So then the crowd could have watched the losing team run around helplessly. To me passing the ball around and taking only one shot when the time clock is expiring would be, more humiliating than getting beat 100-0. The article further said the winning team was sorry for this so they are going to forfeit the game. Wow. After reading this article they made it sound like the losing teams players weren’t even that distraught over the situation..they were used to it
other article
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,481854,00.html
In response to your blog, I think that 100-0 would be very embarassing to the losing team. However, if the other team is that bad maybe it would just make them want to work that much harder. I was in sports all through jr. high, and high school, and it is just in me to be competitive in whatever I do. No matter what the score was our coach always wanted us to give it 110% as he always said. Leaving it all out on the floor is something I was accustomed to in sports and even if we were beating another team by 25-30, then we would put in our reserve players who usually did not get much playing time.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dan Ryba that had the team, which was up so much just passed the ball around and taken the shot just before the shot clock expired would have been more humiliating to me as a player on the losing team.
After reading the article the losing team was so used to being blown out that they really were not that affected by it, since they were used to losing by large amounts every game. So why punish a good team and tell them not to give 100% and just let the other team hang around in the game and maybe get lucky and beat them when they could have easily won? It just would not make sense to me being an athlete.
I believe that the school that won by 100 should not have forfeited the game or fired their coach. This team they were playing was a “guaranteed win.” As a coach you never want your team to intentionally keep the other team in the game. You want to keep your players playing hard the whole game. A game like this is a good practice for a team to try out their offense and defensive strategy. The team they were playing was a very small school that specialized in learning disabilities. They are not exactly the Boston Celtics. Notice how when the coach put in the substitute players the opposing team still didn’t score. It is exciting for any high school team to score a hundred points. Don’t steal their thunder.
ReplyDeleteOne-hundred points!? Sounds to me that the other team quit trying before the game ended. I believe the coach should not be fired but he maybe should have ended the game himself or talked to the other coach at half-time to see if his team would agree to ending the game early. I don't care how bad the other team is, they should have been able to score at least 2 points during a full game. I'm sure my highschool basket ball team could have played the Chicago Bulls and at least had one basket! THe losing team should be put in a different class bracket or just not play other teams and just play intermural basketball. I do think the full court press the whole game looks bad for the winning coach, but I think that is the only thing he did wrong. I believe that if the losing team would have tried just a little harder they could have scored at least one basket.
ReplyDeleteI can relate with Annie because I did go to the same school as her and we had good days and bad days in sports. I think this is a very controversial issue. I do think there could have been a better way to have dealt with this game so it didn’t humiliate the team so bad. And I think it’s crazy that no one could even score! There must be more to the story that isn’t coming out.
ReplyDeleteLetting your team win by 100 points as a coach is just wrong in my opinion. I came from a bigger school and we were pretty good at sports for the most part. My coach was very good about not letting us think we were so much better than other teams because that is when they end up beating you. He only let us get ahead by so many points and then we would hold back a little to show respect.
ReplyDeleteIn response to your blog, I am fully on your side in the situation. Being an athelete I know how it is to be losing. I also know how it is to be losing by a large margin. Here at VCSU we show respect for the other team. Does it mean giving up and not trying as hard? Not at all. But slowing the ball down, taking less shots, or even putting in backups would be a reasonable way of showing respect. As a coach, you are a leader and are expected to know when enough is enough. The coach totally deserved to be fired and probably shouldn't even be a coach anymore
ReplyDeleteSince I have played sports for many years I know what it’s like losing and winning. I am very competitive at everything I do. If I go play a game of basketball with my friends, you always try to win because losing isn’t fun at all. Winning a game 100-0 is just insane. If I was the coach of the winning team I would have put in my backups in at halftime and let them get some experience and playing time cause they probably put in a lot of effort at practices. Being on the losing side would be different. You just have to go out there and keep working hard and not get down on yourself.
ReplyDeleteNice PR example! This game really gave this school a bad rep and probably will for some time. I heard that the coach sat his starters at the end of the thrid quarter and wasn't trying to be relentless, never the less he got fired. However, I don't think its the coaches or players fault. Its the ahtletic director who scheduled this game against a small private school that barely gets enough players to have a team. He should be fired not the coach. A good coach is never going to tell his players to give up points or not try hard. The should have called the game at half time. I still think the blame falls on the AD of the school.
ReplyDeleteOh Man, I was so pissed when i heard about this game. Seriously, how could a coach keep their team scoring points after the game was out of control. Which was appearenlty from the beginning. In high school, Washburn once beat Max by the score of around 90-40 and once the game got into the 4th quarter, we had to play a 2-3 zone and have atleast 5 passes and we could only shoot from in the lane.
ReplyDeleteNow your telling me that this kind of gamesmenship was not in that game of 100-0. The coach to that team needs to take responsibility for the actions of the team. They could have gone into a zone, and even though it isnt the nature of competitive sports, they could have allowed the opposing team so score atleast 1 basket.
I would have to agree with Dan, that the coach should not have got fired for this he probably should got reprimanded but not fired. He should have put in his subs a long time a before the end of the game. He could have put in, lets say, the 3rd string players making it more of a challenge. I also think the losing team should probably be dropped out of what ever division/district they are in and put into one that more suits the talents of the his players seeing how they have not won a game in 4 season. And yes I too think that the administrator that scheduled the game should have know the out come of this game and should not have schedule for these two teams to play each other.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the topic of blowouts, it is inevitable that eventually one will come across the two team with completely different skill levels. As a coach, it is in one’s best interest to have the kids try 100% regardless of the competition. However, the respect factor comes into play. I feel that it is the coach’s obligation during a blow out to show respect to the other team. This can be done by playing the bench more. Nobody likes a blowout, therefore, I feel it is the coach’s obligation to show respect for the other team.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good topic that you bring up Annie. A game like this one is not a fun game to watch. Even worse is how the other team feels getting beat by such a large score. If one team starts to get so far ahead that it is almost impossible for the other team to catch up, then the whole point of the game is ruined. In non professional sports the main goal of playing should be just to have fun. When one team runs away with the game, the other team might begin to not care anymore and stop having fun. These games are supposed to be fun and build character, but in situations like that, it is hard to have fun.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great subject and something that has been covered extensively in recent weeks. What catches my attention in this story is how our society embraces "losers", for lack of a better word. The team that won the game was ridiculed and the coach was fired. The girls from Dallas academy on the other hand were flown around the country doing the morning show circuit and given free tickets to a Dallas Mavericks game. I am not saying that I think that scoring 100 more points on an obviously over matched opponent is right, but Covenant couldn't control how poorly Dallas Academy played. I would hope that they stopped fast breaking and pressuring on defense, but how are you supposed to tell your players to stop making layups? I think that running up the score was wrong, but I also think that there is something wrong in making champions out girls who weren't ashamed of losing by 100. This society was built on competition and this "Everyone Wins" mentality is why we have grown the reputation of being a soft society.
ReplyDelete