Was Winning 100-0 Wrong?

Posted on January 28, 2009 
Filed Under Life

When the Dallas Academy girls basketball team took the court against the Covenant School of Dallas (another private school), they had not won a game in the last four years.  Their school, rather than focusing on sports, boasts of its small class sizes and specializes in teaching students struggling with “learning differences,” such as short attention spans or dyslexia. They really weren’t expecting to win this game against one of the conferences top teams, but they also weren’t expecting the outcome of the game.

Covenant finished the first quarter up 35-0 and held a 59-0 lead at halftime. They pushed the final score to 100-0. The head of Covenant, Kyle Queal, formally apologized to Dallas Academy saying that he “regrets … the outcome of the game with the Dallas Academy Varsity Girls Basketball team. It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christ-like and honorable approach to competition.”  The school forfeited their final game against Dallas Academy as a gesture of apology, but Dallas Academy had already withdrawn their team from conference play for the rest of the season.

Micah Grimes, the coach of Covenant’s girls team, was in his fourth season at the school and had taken the team from a 2-19 record in his first season to a state championship contender last season.  On Sunday, he posted the following opinion on a popular basketball website:

“I respectfully disagree with the apology, especially the notion that the Covenant School girls basketball team should feel ‘embarrassed’ or ‘ashamed.’  We played the game as it was meant to be played and would not intentionally run up the score on any opponent. Although a wide-margin victory is never evidence of compassion, my girls played with honor and integrity and showed respect to Dallas Academy.”

Coach Grimes was fired Sunday because of the situation.

Now there are more details to the story, and apparently conflicting recollections about the intensity with which Covenant played, especially during the second half of the game. But this is a touchy one for me. I have a son who plays high school basketball. I want him to play well, and to exhibit a Christ-like attitude on the court. And winning is preferable to losing, for players, coaches and parents. That said, I’m not sure how I would react if I saw this kind of game in person…

So how do you feel about this? Submit a comment and let me know. Was this an example of unsportsman-like conduct?  Is it “Christian” to let up and not do your best?  Is it “Christian” to continue to score points when the other team has yet to score even one?  Should the coach have been fired? What would you have done if you were the coach?

What would you have done?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Comments

14 Responses to “Was Winning 100-0 Wrong?”

  1. Johnny on January 28th, 2009 9:47 am

    With the past history of such games drawing the ire of coaches and even the courts, I believe I would have stopped the game at some less humiliating score, talked with the losing coaches, school officials present, and ended it without a lot of fanfare. To do less, for instance, letting the losing team score a few points, is childish in my opinion and obviously patronizing.

  2. Bert Decker on January 28th, 2009 10:07 am

    The coach should not have been fired for the game, but perhaps for his remarks. No grace there.
    And if I was coach, I hope I would have NOT let my teams collective ego increase intensity to push us to score 100. Sure we want 100, but not by picking on helpless opponents. The 100 means nothing – The Denver Broncos could probably score 200-0 in a football game against a beginning team of 12 year olds.
    Practically – you put in your last string players early, you tell them to play hard without shooting threes, you DO show grace and give them the opportunity to score some points – you choose a ‘grace’ strategy for the game vs. a ’100 point’ strategy.
    Good post John, as it’s not an easy issue.
    @BertDecker

  3. Jason on January 28th, 2009 10:08 am

    I’ve read all of this news and am kind of frustrated with the whole thing. Yeah, 100-0 is quite a blow out, but you enter competition expecting to compete. If you don’t want to get beat that bad then don’t play or play against teams that aren’t as good. I think it’s rather cowardly to fire the coach just because he didn’t agree with you exactly. He wasn’t disrespectful; just disagreed. Was it the best form to beat that team 100-0? Probably not, but wouldn’t it have been a slap in the face to allow them to score some points? I did that when my children were young, but they would be upset at me if I did that now. Thanks for the post John! I love the blog…

  4. Sarah on January 28th, 2009 10:50 am

    I think the school bowed under the secular opinion that Christians are supposed to be “nice” all the time, and since the coach was not “nice,” they fired him to show everyone that the school is “nice” and the coach was the odd one out. There are several approaches the coach could have taken to this game that would have been okay and would not have brought national attention to the game. However, the approach he did choose to take was not wrong. Paul said in I Corinthians “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” Though he was referring to sharing the gospel, clearly the spirit of competition is there. We are not to compete so that others may lose, but to make sure that we win. It’s just a different perspective. Similarly, Ecclesiastes says “whatever you hand finds to do, do it with your might.” Those girls should be commended for doing their best, playing “with their might,” provided it was not with a prideful spirit. Only God can judge their heart.

  5. Chuck L. on January 28th, 2009 11:09 am

    From all accounts on the news, the team that won was never disrespectful to the other team. They just beat them pretty bad. There was no poor sportsmanship involved, so while I’m not sure I would have done the same thing I can’t fault this team for doing their best. I’ve played lots of sports and have been beat pretty bad some times, but you learn from it. I saw a video of the team that lost and they were laughing about the fact that they didn’t even score one point. I think the media is making a bigger deal out of this then the team is. Cool post, dude!

  6. Admin on January 28th, 2009 11:56 am

    Some very good comments here!
    >Johnny, I agree it would be unproductive to “let” the other team score – it would be obvious to all what was happening.
    >Bert, I am with you – my JV and then C team players would have been in the game in a heartbeat.
    >Jason, I have to think this thru when playing any game with my kids…”let” them do well? Help them learn to think/play better – by losing? Exception: My 10 yr-old beats me every time at Wii boxing. I cannot figure out how to avoid her left hook!
    >Sarah, thanks for the Scriptural insights!
    >Chuck, do you have the link for that video?

    Again, thanks for the good conversation!
    John

  7. Amy on January 28th, 2009 12:08 pm

    The title of this caught my attention since I have been at games similar to, yet not quite as bad as this one. My children attend also attend a Christian school where the varsity boys team dominates most of its opponents, even some public school teams. I fully agree with the school’s decision to relieve the coach of his duties since his statement clearly shows his lack of wisdom & sportsmanship. If my child had been on his team, that would have been the last game she played for him. By publicly dissenting with the authority of his employer, he handled the situation poorly and unbiblically.
    I am a very competitive person, but would be embarrassed to do such a thing. Why wasn’t the 3rd string or the middle school team playing. The losing coach should have protected his team by arranging an alternative game.

  8. Jennifer on January 28th, 2009 7:33 pm

    I would say that winning 100-0 is not Christ like whether in sports or not. Yes, we go into sports competively to win but we also play sports for other lessons: being good sports, working together as a team, learning to lose and as Christians- showing Christ in ALL we do!
    We are Christians 24/7/365 on and off the sports field/court.

  9. Brigitte on January 30th, 2009 2:03 pm

    As long as the team did not cheat I don’t see anything wrong with winning a big score.
    I have to agree with Johnny,to let the losing team score is childish and patronizing.

  10. Patty on January 30th, 2009 2:24 pm

    I think the coaches/referees/school officials should have stopped the game at halftime when it was already apparent what the outcome was going to be.
    We should do all things as unto the Lord, including playing sports, but the greatest commandment is to love others as we love God. Compassion, mercy, kindness…those are the character traits that could have been taught that day.

  11. jeff on January 30th, 2009 5:18 pm

    As a girls High School softball coach I have been in a game or two over the years like this, at a certain point when I feel I have the game won, I will “call off the dogs” what I mean by that is I will sit the starters and give the second string players a chance to get on the field, we quit stealing bases, or try to advance runners by bunting, I will put in my least skilled pitcher and maybe try to work on a new pitch that she has not mastered yet. I want my girls to play hard and give 100% yet we are not trying to embarrass anybody.
    The coach could have slowed the game down a bit and tried working on new plays or played girls that don’t get a chance to play much.
    I wasn’t there I can’t say the coach didn’t try but 100-0 is a little out of control!

  12. MIKE THOMAS on January 31st, 2009 7:43 pm

    I don’t think it was wrong, I coached soccer for a couple of years and we use to get mercy ruled (beat by more than 8 points) all the time, was i happy about it? No, did i wish that maybe the other coach would have “called off the dogs”? Maybe, but it’s my job, my teams job, to stop the other team. The reason I like sports so much is because there are so many good teaching points on life. The reality is 99% of the kids that play in high school sports won’t play in college let alone the pros, so if thats the case whats the point? Exercise? sure, but for me its learning life lessons, sometimes you are going to win in life, how do you handle that in a Christ like manner? Sometimes you are going to lose in life, even a 0-100, how do you handle that in a Christ like manner. If I would have been the losing coach the next day would have gone something like this, “losing hurts, and sometimes its embarrasing, but get over it, no time to cry or have self pity, we got beat, LET’S GET TO WORK!”. Sports has a way of balancing things out, guess whats going to happen the next time someone plays Dallas Acad., that team is going to try and beat the snot out of them, punshiment? maybe, but I tell you if it was my team playing them we would want to play our butts off against them. I just can’t get past the point that its a missed opportunity to teach both teams some important life lessons. I wonder, after its all said and done, what did either team really learn? About responding to winning and losing in life?

  13. Mark on February 6th, 2009 6:00 am

    I’m amazed at the respose’s here, please,people who allow other teams to score are charged with game fixing… for those who gamble on sporting events (I do not gamble)bet on margins… fo0r example 5 to 1 denver by 20 points… or some such thing. It is a real world we live in and i honestly dont see the point in letting people score points… its was a competition. The only thing that needs to be looked at is the attitude of the winning team… where they humble about their win, did they engage in mockery or insults. I believe that everyone can learn something from all sports, answers to some of lifes struggles and how to deal with dissapointment, that their are winners and losers in life and that losing doesnt mean your a loser…just that you didnt win on the day. The losing team on this occasion may need to take a look at their coach or their players …who knows thats an issure for them to work out Im so glad Jesus doesnt let the Devil win a few just for his self esteem… what is the world coming to, are we training people to be sissys or strong men and women who know how to cope with lifes disspointments….sheesh what going on…maybe the coach did need to be spoken to about having a more gracious attitude.. but hey isnt his job to coach a winning team… i would love to see the fine print of the next coaches contract…. poor guy, its ;likly to say… wear a tutu and and a funny hat and dont win incase you offend someone.

  14. Adam on February 6th, 2009 6:57 am

    Maybe Michael Phelps should have stopped winning gold medals and let some of his opponents get a few?

    At the end of the day, it’s a game. While some people say the score wasn’t Christ-like, I don’t believe He cares about the score. How did the team and coach conduct themselves should be of greater importance.

    If the losing coach thought things were really bad, he should have called a time-out and then discussed the options and behaviour with the other coach.

Leave a Reply

Comments are moderated and will not appear on johnfullerblog.com until they've been approved. While we are eager to facilitate conversation by publishing most comments, we may withhold one from time to time if we deem it offensive, vulgar, overly personal, cynical, disrespectful, irrelevant, redundant or unnecessarily contentious.
Comments on John Fuller's blog may not refer specifically to any current electoral candidate, or any measure on a current ballot – at any level of local, state, or federal government. Focus on the Family is a non-profit 501(c)(3) entity, and therefore cannot take a position on specific votes. Nor can we display any such statements on our Web sites. Likewise, we cannot discuss here the personal viewpoints of people like Dr. Dobson or Jim Daly on political candidates or ballot measures. Any posts to this forum which violate these rules will be removed. There is an alternative venue for this type of discussion. Some activities of this nature are undertaken by Focus on the Family Action, a 501(c)(4) organization, and its media outlet, Citizenlink.
Finally, if you would like to contact our ministry directly, please feel free to do so from one of our FAQs.