Who Cares What The Score Is?

When we consider any lopsided victory in any sport, we have to consider that there were a lot of factors adding up to the final score. But two factors almost always appear: You have a very talented team against a much overmatched team. Occasionally (on any given day) two fairly equal teams can produce a lopsided mismatch but that is not the norm. So why the huge media outcry over the Dallas Academy vs. Covenant game?

Of course, part of the outcry arises from the fact that Dallas Academy is a school that specializes in working with special needs kids. So the perception one is given is that there is this super team picking on a bunch of weaklings. Somebody kicking the handicapped. There is a little problem with that here.

I am sensitive to those people who have legitimate handicaps or disabilities. I really am. But I don’t like to see disabilities used as an excuse. I don’t think the school is doing that but some in the media sure have. Why do I say this? Because a few days later the boys team from Dallas Academy beat the Covenant Boys team. Are handicaps only applicable to girls?

And why do parents choose to go crazy in either direction? One article had a parent complaining that Covenant was just throwing up 3 point shots. If I was losing that bad, I would WANT them to throw up three pointers…..They’re harder to make. The problem I would have had was when Covenant was putting on a full court press, stealing the ball and making layups. But is it still that bad? At worse, it was poor judgment and poor sportsmanship.

Every young player on a good team at some time or another has one of those hyper team moments where they have everything going their way, usually against a weaker team, and they start thinking “let’s score 100,” or something like that. Nobody thinks that they may be hurting someone else’s feelings. They just want to “turn over the scoreboard,” or something like that. They want to send the message that on this day THEY are the best team. But sometimes that exhuberence gets carried away and trash talk ensues and then things can get out of hand.
Should the Covenant coach “clear the bench” and use all of his players? Absolutely! That is the one part of this that I totally agree with. Knowing that there was an obvious mismatch based on previous records and games, this is that game where everyone should get to play. Should he have been fired for not apologizing? I don’t know. That’s a school policy thing. But I can understand part of where he may be coming from.

In today’s society, we seem to want everything to be equal. We want moderation. And just like James Caan in the original Rollerball, we don’t want superstars. We don’t want people to be real successful because that means someone else must lose. Where did we get this message? How stupid is it to be thinking in such a manner?

Dallas Academy can definitely be proud of their girls for not wanting to quit. That should be proud of the attitude that they’ve instilled in these girls to give the best effort they could even under the bleakest of situations. Actually I’m a little confused by Dallas Academy’s actions. Why, after having said how proud you were of your girls, would you cancel the rest of your league games? What message are you sending there? I can see perhaps canceling the Covenant game because there could be some bad blood between players or parents. But why the rest of the League games? Your girls didn’t quit but now you did.

Sports are just that…competition. There is a time for just playing for fun and there’s a time when you keep score. Having coached at a small school I know how talent levels can fluctuate on a year to year basis. I’ve seen schools be almost unbeatable one year and within a season or two they are the worse team in their league. But so what? Sports is to teach our young players that you do the best you can in every situation. Attitude and Effort are the only things you can control. You didn’t have parents screaming that David shouldn’t have been battling against Goliath did you? Some days you win and some days you lose. The worse score I know of in organized sports was on October 7th, 1916 when Georgia Tech beat Cumberland 222-0. Cumberland’s guys were proud that they strategized a way to keep Tech from scoring 229. These guys even got together 40 years later in sort of a reunion to reminisce about the event. Nobody was crying poor sportsmanship there.

http://gtalumni.org/Publications/magazine/spr98/div11.html

We should be teaching our kids that their value as human beings has nothing to do with the score of a game. It has to do with the effort they put into the game. As soon as we can get back to that basic we’ll quit worrying about what the score is. Would Dallas Academy's girls felt any better if the other team only scored 30 but was playing on their knees? Give your best effort. One day you will be a winner.

Tragedy and Tribulation in Youth Sports: Why do these things happen?

Two events have occurred within the last two weeks that have provided a whole refrigerator full of food for consumption by any youth sports fan, player, coach, or administrator. There is so much to consider I am actually going to write this blog in three parts.

Of course, the two events I’m talking about are the blowout girl’s basketball game in Texas, and the high school football coach being charged with negligent homicide in Kentucky. The first event has created media frenzy with more storm than Hurricane Katrina. The second event is a tragedy but is also an event that could lead to huge changes in youth sports policies. It has also amplified our need as a society to blame someone whenever someone is hurt or killed, or even when we don’t get what we want. There are many parts of each side of each story that have merit and seemingly an equal number of issues on each side that do not have merit.
In case you somehow have missed either one of these stories, here are a couple of links to each one just to fill you in on the basics of each story.

Kentucky Coach Pleads Not Guilty in Player's Heat Death
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,483027,00.html

School Seeks to Forfeit 100-0 Win
http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=903780

In one story, a high school football coach has been charged with negligent homicide (some consider this to mean “murder,”) in the death of one of his players from apparent heat related issues. In the 47 years from 1960 to 2007 there have been 114 reported heat stroke deaths according to the Fox News articles. And while there were many lawsuits, never, I said NEVER, has a coach been charged with a crime from his or her actions. And in this case, there are a number of reasons to question why this coach has been charged with a crime.

In the other story it is basically one really good team beat a less talented team….really bad. Like, 100-0. The team that lost is from a school that works with children who have various issues such as learning disabilities, ADHD, and other special needs kids. Both schools are Christian schools, which of course, brings out all those who don’t believe in God who love to post wisecracks knocking those who do. The coach of the winning school has been fired for refusing to apologize. And the losing team has now canceled the rest of their league games.

So to finish today’s blog, I will basically list the stories and the questions I have surrounding the events listed. Then in my next two blogs, I will address those questions. In the meantime you can think about the questions I pose as well and see if we come up with the same answers. Dr. Gerald Coy will be my guest on Monday’s show of Kidz n Sports airing at 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM California time on the internet at www.AdrenalineRadio.com. We are in the process of producing a collaboration of articles into a book “Healthy Kidz n Sports.” These two events have many lessons both mental and physical that we can learn from.

First, in the tragic case of 15 year old Max Gilpin’s death during football practice in Kentucky:
1. Why was there not an autopsy performed? This young man took nutritional supplements and some medications. How do we know that this did not play a major part in his death? I used to run Cross Country in Arizona in 100 degree heat. 12 sets of wind sprints in 94 degree heat index isn’t something I’d worry too much as far as being that dangerous for a healthy 15 year old.
2. Why was the head coach charged with a crime and not the assistant coaches?
3. The father of the boy was present when his son collapsed. Why would there be no responsibility on his part for the boy’s welfare? And did he change his story?
4. Did the coach or coaches refuse to allow the players to have water? One report says “yes” another says “no.”
5. Where do we draw a line between what is a “tragedy” and what is a “crime?”

Second, in the case of the basketball blowout:

1. Why did the Covenant Coach not freely substitute his players when the score was so lopsided?
2. If the Covenant Coach was “running up” the score, why did his team only score 12 points in the 4th quarter?
3. Are learning disabilities only found in girls? The Dallas Academy boy’s basketball team beat Covenant Christian School. While I try to be somewhat sensitive about somebody’s handicaps, I also don’t like to see a disability used as an excuse when no excuse is needed.
4. What is the appropriate way to coach or play when such an obvious mismatch exists? Is it more embarrassing to a player to lose 100-0 or to lose 40-10 and know that the other team played “on their knees?”
5. After the Dallas Academy officials stated how proud they were of their girls and how they didn’t give up, they canceled the rest of their league games. Why?
6. Should the Covenant Coach have been fired?
7. Do we place too much importance in the score of a game and not enough on how it is played?

Feel free to post your comments below. I will publish the second part of this blog on Monday, February 2nd, discussing the Kentucky event and the third part of this blog on Wednesday, February 4th discussing the Texas basketball game.

Why nothing on Tuesday? It’s my 19th Wedding Anniversary. I must take my wife out for a nice dinner.