Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The Covenant School in Texas defeated Dallas Academy, a school made up of students with learning differences, 100-0 in a high school girls’ basketball game on Jan. 13. Covenant administrators issued an apology, and a media frenzy about sportsmanship ensued. On Sunday, Covenant coach Micah Grimes was fired for disagreeing with the school’s opinion on the blowout.
Taylor Bern: My first reaction to this game was disbelief.
Disbelief that a team could play an entire game yet attempt only seven shots. Disbelief that an outcome this drastic was possible in league play.
But as I read more about the story, I found myself falling in the middle. Neither feeling for the zero nor cheering for the 100.
When Grimes was fired, my middling opinion completely shifted. You play to win, and a coach shouldn’t be fired because his team has more talent.
Andrew Wiebe: But there’s the catch.
Grimes wasn’t fired because his team had more talent. He wasn’t fired because his girls won by triple digits.
Grimes was fired because he couldn’t find it within himself to go along with The Covenant School’s apology. He was fired because the private Christian academy he worked for represented more than just wins and losses.
One of Covenant’s stated goals for its athletes goes like this: to foster discernment and wisdom in the use of one’s God-given talents. How much wisdom or discernment is there in a 100-0 victory over a school made up of students with learning differences?
Bern: I have a couple of problems with your argument.
First, why is a school with 50 students that’s designed to help those with learning differences playing in a league with state title contenders? Dallas Academy has 20 girls, and the basketball team plays with eight. Many never played basketball before.
Dallas Academy hasn’t won a game in four seasons and the school never should have allowed this game to take place.
As far as discernment goes, Grimes showed none. He had to foresee the harsh reaction. But he did keep his integrity. Grimes ran a softer zone defense after the score reached 25-0 three minutes into the game.
Pulling his kids back completely would have been disrespectful to Dallas Academy, and just passing the ball around would have wasted everyone’s time.
More important question: Where’s the mercy rule?
Wiebe: True. As easy as it is to pile the blame on Grimes, I think the real problem here is with the system.
It seems a game like this happens every couple years between mismatched girls’ basketball teams. Why haven’t high school athletic associations set out worst-case scenario rules for situations like this? Why can’t athletic directors find suitable opponents for their teams’ skill levels?
It just seems like this could have been avoided with some foresight.
— — Edited by Brandy Entsminger
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Comments
Bern & Wiebe: Girls’ basketball needs 'mercy rule'
Let's see...the goal is not to win?
This is the most ridiculous situation I have ever heard. When you play a game, the goal is to win. Get a dose of reality friends...some teams are better than others. Of course our world would like to teach us that we should all be the same. WRONG. I think it is wrong the coach was fired and right for the team to play to the best of their ability. Maybe the other coach should be the one fired for having a team play that poorly.
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