Was it Wrong for This Girls Basketball Team to Win 108-3?
- Posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:38pm by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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What’s worse, blowing a team out by 105 points, or patronizing that team by “letting up” so the margin of victory doesn’t become too bloated?
That’s the question plaguing the Christian Heritage High School girls basketball team in Riverdale, Utah. In a game last week, Christian Heritage demolished their counterparts from West Ridge Academy. The final score was enough to make many gasp, but the score doesn’t tell the whole story. And, surprisingly in this era, those who one would expect to be offended, aren’t.
Christian Heritage, nicknamed the Crusaders, head coach Rob McGill said he “absolutely” regrets that the blowout happened, but added it may be better than backing off and patronizing, or “taunting,” the other team.
“I have been on the other side of this equation,” McGill told KTVX. “It was very insulting when teams slowed the ball down and just passed it around. That‘s why I’d rather have a team play me straight up, and that’s why I played them straight up. Because I didn’t want to taunt them, I didn’t want to embarrass them, I didn’t want them to think we could do whatever we want.”
And West Ridge accepts the explanation. “They’ve apologized, and we’ve moved on,” Jamie Keefer, the school’s athletic director, told KTVX. “We know they’re good people and they should be proud of their team. There are no hard feelings at all.”
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, it’s an apology Keefer didn’t ask for. And as for the game, the West Ridge players aren’t embarrassed about their performance.
As Yahoo! Sports points out, this isn’t the first time this has happened. Last year, the boys basketball team from Yates High School in Texas was criticized for a 170-35 blowout during its undefeated, national-title season. Yates coach Greg Wise has regularly been attacked for his tendency to push his team to score as many points as possible no matter what.
But McGill has deflected criticism because of the way the game was played and by explaining some extenuating circumstances. For starters, the Crusaders scored 28 points each quarter, except for the last one, when they scored 24. Consistent point scoring helps McGill’s case. But also, as KTVX reports, McGill‘s team didn’t employ a full court press, and couldn’t pull their starters since they only had nine players total available for both the junior varsity and varsity games.
In the end, however, McGill says the incident is about teaching his players a lesson.
“Too many people in the world right now allow the youth to not be as good as they can be, allow them to be lazy,” McGill told the TV station. “Here, I‘m giving them an opportunity to live up to the best of their abilities and be proud of what they’re able to accomplish. If that‘s what I’m being blamed for, then OK, I accept it.”
(H/T: Yahoo! Sports)
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Comments (165)
skittish
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:28pmQuestion: Why should they have to apologize for playing so well? I don’t get it. It could have been the other team just had a bad night and the scores reflected that. The next time they meet, it could go the other way around. This makes no sense to me whatsoever.
Report Post »fatsomann
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:28pmThere was nothing to apologize for. As stated no one expected an apology. No controversy here.
Report Post »Roll on…….next……
joesample
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:27pmHow can a team only score three points in an entire game? They must be absolutely horrible.
Report Post »ASillyman
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:22pmNo it is not wrong. On offense it is your job to score. On defense you keep the other team from scoring. Play out the entire game with all your effort. period. It’s a blowout…don’t schedule them next time.
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:19pmone team must win, one team must lose, that’s what made America great. just ask every Super Bowl fan.
Report Post »Spawnomite
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:14pmI hope the 2012 election is such a landslide against the Democrats, the people will actually feel bad for them.
Report Post »Might be a little unrealistic to think there would actually be anyone out there who could feel any degree of pity towards a Democrat though.
NJProud
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:09pmI’m a coach and have been for 20 years. Some years I have great talent, and other years I don’t. I have had winning seasons and loosing seasons…seasons without a single win. When ever I’ve been asked by the other coach “do you want us to slow the game down?” or something to that effect, I have always said “no”. I would never embarrass my players that way. An good ass-kicking is the perfect time to raise your game, learn by watching and show pride. Every time we have dug-in, we left knowing that we gave our best and got theirs. That’s what builds character. The day I‘m told otherwise is the day I’m done coaching youth sports.
Report Post »ravinginfidel
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:43pmThis is a parable of world behavior. It‘s why it’s a good idea to have an effective defense policy. The team or army with an advantage will destroy the opposition and in sports or war nobody wants to be on the losing side. In sports you rebuild your team. In war you could end up speaking Chinese. It pays to be the best and to excel. If you look at our schools and home schooling the Asians are going to playing the tune. I sure hope our varsity team will be able to beat their varsity team.
Report Post »scr_north
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:08pmActually, this is a tough one. Americans have a long tradition of playing to win (although the pregressives are trying to change it from win to tie) but at the same time there is a tradition not humilate the losers (or to put it another way, you don’t rub it in). The winning coach makes a good point in that if he throttled back his team it may look like he was being condecending to the losers but then if the team was that good could he have told them to bring it down a notch nut not be obvious. I’m sure the girls on the winning team were just as embarrased as the girls on the losing team so I suspect that no one was really hurt over this.
Report Post »barrycooper
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:08pmMy daugher got mad when another team blatantly let up when beating them badly. I think the coach was right that it is patronizing and insulting to pull back just because you are way ahead. I think it is more hurtful than just playing your best. The game ends eventually. They all do.
Everyone who steps on any court recognizes they may lose, and that they may lose by a lot if the other team is a lot better than them. What shame is there in getting beaten by more athletically gifted or more experienced players? The only shame is in giving up. If you never give up, and they clobber you, so be it.
It sounds to me like it is whiners in the media (I’m not faulting The Blaze specifically, as I assume the story got “activated” elsewhere), not the players or coaches, who are trying to make a story of this.
Leftists: stop trying to pretend you care about us, any of us. We the People can look after our own damn selves, and you will help us the most by leaving us–all of us–alone.
Report Post »grandma7
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:04pmWin. If the winning team feels awful, mentor the losing team.
Report Post »Supreme Galooti
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:04pmI don’t see much of a problem here except that our population contains a sizable number of weenies who are all FOR self esteem at the same time they are AGAINST competition. Were I the coaches (of both teams) I would have taken this opportunity to get some real playing time experience for my second and third string. Holding back IS patronizing, but pouring it on is poor sportsmanship. Sports don’t build character – they REVEAL it.
Report Post »APEXIdaho
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 4:54pmThe winning team only had 9 players for both the Varsity and JV teams.
Report Post »alrunner58
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:03pmAll I can say if you can‘t lose in life you’ll never grow and will be worthless to society. Give me a break you big cry babies or take up something you don‘t have to compete in so you don’t get your little feelings hurt. Wow!
Report Post »Untameable-kate
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 4:01pmA little Mexican American girl at a tea party had a sign thar read, “let me fail so I can learn to succeed”. Point well made, this team will only get better because of the beating they took.
Report Post »NeoKong
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:58pmWhite girls can’t jump.
Report Post »scott367
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:56pmA teams goal is a win. Once the margin grew to a comfortable point they should have burned up the clock and rested their starters. I think the coach made a poor choice.
I can’t help seeing the comparison to my morals as a hunter. I would never intentionally hurt an animal I did not intend to kill and once the decision to take an animal is made I do it as quickly and humanely as possible.
Report Post »toyguytn
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:54pmThe obligation to stop a 105-3 beatdown is not on the team that scored the 105 points, but on the one that scored 3.
Report Post »toyguytn
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:55pmOr even a 108-3 beatdown.
Report Post »toyguytn
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:57pmOops. 108-3. But the point remains the same.
martinrnelson
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:51pmGetting your butt-kicked so badly will offer you a choice – give up or motivate you to do better next time. In a little league game, when I was 12, we beat a team from Modesto, CA 33-0. I did feel a bit guilty even at my young age as the scorekeeper began to get writers cramp. Howver, that team came back later that year new and improved. We admired them for their “never quit” attitude as in the end, it’s just a game.
Report Post »GFWSR
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:47pmAt first glance, what is wrong is allowing a team so ill prepared to take the floor. I would suggest the coach isn’t doing his job.
Report Post »110john
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:47pmNo!
Report Post »doogan
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:47pm“Just win baby”, I see no problem with winning.
Report Post »Looner
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:46pmIt’s Beck and Palins fault…somebody shoot them…
Report Post »DonnaA
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:44pmThey won you lost. Get over it.
Report Post »FromtheBasement
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:03pmThey DID get over it. There was nothing weird about any of this except the score spread. That’s what the Westridge coach said in the article. There were no hard feelings on either side. I’m proud of both teams. They both played their best, played the whole game without crying or stepping down, and showed incredible sportsmanship. I think our national politicians could learn a thing or two from these girls.
Report Post »BQI
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:44pmI can only think how this defeat will adversely affect their mental and physical development. Oh the pain. I anticipate the left will pass a regulation prohibiting such harsh conduct.
Report Post »PT69
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:51pmThat is one of the main problems of the progressives. There aren’t supposed to be any losers in their world. The points should have been redistributed.
Report Post »mgibs363
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:43pmHow is this news? A girls team beat another girls team. Good for them!
fertlmind
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:34pmIf the winners hadn‘t been a Christian team everyting would have been fine and the lefty’s would have taunted them as idiots. The news is that the evil Christian team was mean and wanted to win.
Report Post »Petty isn’t it? But it’s the world we live in now!
Snowleopard the artist {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:42pmNow it is too bad for the opposing team to beat the competetition in any shape, form and style?
God above help us against this PC garbage run amok again. Now if it had been Obama losing the game by the 100 or so points, then that would be nice. Unfortunately, Mr Obama is not that good, he would not even score the three points in the first place.
Report Post »Untameable-kate
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:07pmIt is the Van Jones playbook that says we must all have the same score regardless of whether we play well or not.
Report Post »Oh, God!
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:11pmAmen to that. Kids need to learn that you have one winner and one loser, you can’t make it “fair”, what would be the point in playing or competing for that matter.
Report Post »Untameable-kate
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:32pmOh God!
Report Post »They (libs) don’t want to compete. It might encourage people to reject the social justice they are trying to impose.
Snowleopard the artist {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 4:08pm@Untamable Kate
The progressives and liberals do not want competition due to the simple fact it shows their deluded outlook on a myopic nightmare induced by massive infusions of mushrooms and insanity rank among their de-evolved simian lineage WILL SIMPLY NOT WORK!
Egads, I just declared the most profane word known to all of the progressives pantieloomed poppinjay programmers! I just declared the word “WORK!” Oh the horror.
In last two lines sarcasm is quite intentional.
Report Post »KenInIL
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 4:24pmOne of my son’s teams ended up on the losing side of one of these. The coach scheduled an extra out of league game with a “traveling team”. (Our team was chosen from a parochial school class or 26 boys.) The score being about 50-0 at the half, the both teams realized it was a horrible mismatch so the travelers traded points with our team the second half, letting our team shoot until we made a shot, then they took it down and made a shot. The travelers played full out on offense, but did not defend at all. I think this was a better solution than the one in the game above. Incidentally – our team was the Crusaders.
Report Post »Untameable-kate
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 4:31pmTrophies for all, right?
Report Post »teachermitch32
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 6:47pmTo KenInIL,
Tissue? Mamby-pamby-land ring a bell. I can’t believe you said this. Krugman’s “USA not about competition” comment would have fit right in with your situation. We have to return to somethig that says we as individuals “can be better tomorrow than we are today”.
Report Post »klevalt
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:41pmThe nature of the beast of competition is wanting the win… Whatever! They got it!! Probably the rest of the teams in the league beat this team too!
Report Post »godlovinmom
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:53pmI was on a team in high school where we were beaten all the time like this…and we learned to deal with the fact that we weren’t good enough to beat the good teams…didn’t mentally disfigure any of us…the reason this is news now is because we can’t have winners anymore…everyone gets a trophy, everyone is the winner..yeah right
Report Post »historyguy48
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 2:58pmNope. If the team isn’t very good they get beat. But, they still played so they should/will learn from the experience. Toucht/feely nonsense is just that: nonsense.
Report Post »t00nces2
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:04pmIf the other team didn’t want to get beat that bad, they could have given up.
Report Post »EgoBrain
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:27pmI don’t agree with the “mercy” rule. They lost, that’s that.
Report Post »fertlmind
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:30pmThis is obviously due to the intollerance and mean spitited Bush era, and in the new ways of hope and change that our dear leader Obamma has heralded the winning team should be disbanded, the coach banished from coaching, and reparations payed to the losing team players.
The nerve of the better team to win. We can’t have that. All scores in the future should be 50 to 50 no matter what happens, and the term “HOME TEAM” should be stricken from competative sports.
Now things will be fair…
Report Post »TexasCommonSense
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:32pmMy daughter’s team was recently in a similar situation, on the winning side. After half-time, our players were told to pass at least five times before shooting. The parents around me from the opposing team noticed it immediately; I’m sure the players did, too. I’m not sure it made them feel any better. It did seem like the classy thing to do though.
Report Post »TexasCommonSense
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:35pmOh no, I went and said “shooting”. I‘m sure I’ll be blamed for something.
Report Post »click4cheapandeasyweb
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:41pmfertlmind, Obama would support your idea with one exception… All Chicago teams will not be held to the same standard. If they have a higher score of course they win, if not then the fairness rule applies. That’s the Obama way!
Report Post »Rogue
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 3:49pmReminds me of the 5th grade football team, banned from the playoffs because they were too good: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2622786/posts
The first place I remember learning that life isn’t always fair? grade school sports. Those girls, on both sides, learned a valuable lesson from what happened, and taking it easy on the losing team is not way to enforce the lessons learned.
Report Post »HillBillySam1
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 4:00pmThe tragedy is that the winning team allowed the losing team to score 3 points…..
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 4:07pmAfter you have substituted everyone but the team manager and water person, who aren’t eligible to play, you have done the best you can under the circumstances. It’s a shame the score was so lopsided but, hopefully, sometime down the road there will be more exciting competition between these two teams.
Report Post »Hoosier Daddy
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 4:17pmEven the Detroit Lions are starting to climb out of the pit and will be a contender again someday. So will this team.
Report Post »Xcori8r
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 4:33pmWest Riyadh Academy?? Sounds like a Saudi funded madrassa to me.
Another case of Christian Crusaders prevailing over creeping middle easterm influences.
Go Crusaders!
Report Post »Secret Squirrel
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 5:21pmWas it wrong?
Was it nice? No.
Life isn’t always fair.
Report Post »101
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 5:23pmGrats girls well done…don’t apologize for success
Report Post »xredcoat
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 5:52pmThe only controversy here plays into the “distribution of fairness” doctrine which has destroyed youth sports in the UK.
Report Post »stifroc
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 6:25pmnobody should ever have to apologize for winning. EVER! REGARDLESS of the score.
Report Post »6bears
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 6:44pmIf this were a race and all but one runner tripped and fell, they wouldn’t restart the race or force the one left standing to run slower until the rest of the pack could get back on their feet and catch up… On the other hand, I have read plenty of stories about the runner that tripped, got back up, and finished the race. I applaud the losing team for not giving up when they knew they were beat. They endured until the end of the game, giving it their best.
Report Post »anOpinion
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 7:04pmI don’t blame them at all, its more insulting to be patronized. It is far better to just forfeit the game at the half or sooner if you don’t want the blowout to continue.
Report Post »ishka4me
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 7:35pmYes, next question.
Report Post »ishka4me
Posted on January 25, 2011 at 7:40pmThere is no honor in that. Nothing to do with competition. Would the greats have done this? Time to put in backups and practice passing. For losing team, use it as a teaching moment, forfeit game early and agree to scrimmage with other players all mixed up on different teams.
Report Post »KICKILLEGALSOUT
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 3:02amThat is exactly the mindset that is killing the country. That you don’t want to compete too hard or you might offend someone. This is why we are losing ground quickly in the Global markets because we are to afraid of hurting someone’s feelings. Too bad that other countries around the world aren’t playing by our butt wiping rules and will jump on the opportunity to crush us any chance they get.
Report Post »GoalieMom30
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 8:39amMy son is an Ice hockey goaltender. At age 9 he faced an average of 35 shots per game. During one tournament he faced 45 shot in one game. Although his team was an average team, he never quit and the result of facing so many shots is that he had become an amazing goalie. This season is much different as his team is on top of their game and doing extremely well. The lesson here, is that you learn from losing! Next year may be another losing year, but losing actually makes you a better athelete and a better person. No team should ever have to apologize for winning.
Report Post »Now, there is such a thing as showing class when you are pummelling an opponent. I am extremely proud of our parents and the class they show whether we win or lose. That is where the real lesson is to be learned by our kids. How we, as adults, handle the situation.
GhostOfJefferson
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 9:17amWhat’s wrong is that a school allowed a team on the court that was grossly incompetent. It‘s not the winner’s fault that the loser who volunteered to play them, were comprised of incompetent players.
I‘m tired of competence and excellence being things that we’re supposed to feel ashamed of. If you don’t think that teams should be beaten by those kinds of scores, then petition your school districts to remove sub par sports programs.
Report Post »vigilantpatriot
Posted on January 26, 2011 at 9:23amDid the coach put in the 2nd and 3rd string players? That’s how it works. You start with the best team on the floor and if you do get the winning edge in terms of scoring, then you let the others play. If the ending score was a million to 3, then that what is was. Sounds like giving them a break during the game because they can cut it, is an entitlement. We back down, they feel better. Nope…work hard, play hard, accomplish it. No more entitlements. They are killing our Country.
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