High School Team Apologizes For Blowout And Asks For Forfeit After 100-0 Win

[rfdrfd]

Saw this on the news.....



http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_31290.aspx

High School Team Apologizes For Blowout And Asks For Forfeit After 100-0 Win
Friday January 23, 2009


A high school girls' basketball team that beat an opponent 100-0 has a case of blowout remorse.

The winning school now says it wants to do the right thing by seeking a forfeit and apologizing for the margin of victory.

"It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened," the head of the school said Thursday on The Covenant School's website. He added that Covenant has made "a formal request to forfeit the game recognizing that a victory without honour is a great loss."

Covenant, a private Christian school in Dallas, Texas defeated Dallas Academy 100-0 last week. Covenant was up 59-0 at halftime.

A parent who attended the game told The Associated Press that Covenant continued to make three-pointers - even in the fourth quarter. She praised the Covenant players but said spectators and an assistant coach were cheering wildly as their team edged closer to 100 points.

"I think the bad judgment was in the full-court press and the three-point shots," said Renee Peloza, whose daughter plays for Dallas Academy. "At some point, they should have backed off."

Dallas Academy coach Jeremy Civello told The Dallas Morning News that the game turned into a "layup drill," with the opposing team's guards waiting to steal the ball and drive to the basket. Covenant scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and "finally eased up when they got to 100 with about four minutes left," he said.

Dallas Academy has eight girls on its varsity team and about 20 girls in its high school. It is winless over the last four seasons. The academy boasts of its small class sizes and specializes in teaching students struggling with "learning differences," such as short attention spans or dyslexia.

There is no mercy rule in girls' basketball that shortens the game or permits the clock to continue running when scores become lopsided. There is, however, "a golden rule" that should have applied in this contest, said Edd Burleson, the director of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools. Both schools are members of this association, which oversees private school sports in Texas.

"On a personal note, I told the coach of the losing team how much I admire their girls for continuing to compete against all odds," Burleson said. "They showed much more character than the coach that allowed that score to get out of hand. It's up to the coach to control the outcome."

Covenant coach Micah Grimes and head of school Kyle Queal did not immediately respond to messages left by The Associated Press on Thursday.

In the statement on the Covenant website, Queal said the game "does not reflect a Christ-like and honourable approach to competition. We humbly apologize for our actions and seek the forgiveness of Dallas Academy, TAPPS and our community."

Queal said school officials met with Dallas Academy officials to apologize and praised the Dallas Academy players for "strength, composure and fortitude in a game in which they clearly emerged the winner."

Peloza said the coach and other parents praised the Dallas Academy girls for limiting Covenant to 12 points in the fourth quarter. She added that neither her daughter nor her teammates seemed to dwell on the loss.

"Somewhere during that game they got caught up in the moment," Peloza said, referring to the Covenant players, fans and coaches. "Our girls just moved on. That's the happy part of the story."

Text of apology:

The Covenant School, its board and administrators, regrets the incident of January 13 and 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.

We humbly apologize for our actions and seek the forgiveness of Dallas Academy, TAPPS and our community. The school and its representatives in no way support or condone the running up of a score against any team in any sport for any reason. The school's board members, Head of School Kyle Queal and Athletic Director Brice Helton have acted to ensure that such an unfortunate incident can never happen again.

Covenant school officials have met with and personally apologized to Dallas Academy Headmaster Jim Richardson and Athletic Director Jeremy Civello and wish to extend their highest praise to each member of the Dallas Academy Varsity Girls Basketball team for their strength, composure and fortitude in a game in which they clearly emerged the winner.

Accordingly, The Covenant School has contacted TAPPS and is submitting a formal request to forfeit the game recognizing that a victory without honor is a great loss.

[sexpuppet6000]

High school girls.. lol

[dragon_drift]

wtf do you need to apologize for winning? the other team must've sucked really bad to be beaten 100-0

[Aznkid2000]

pretty sure there is a video of this

[Mintmaster]

wtf do you need to apologize for winning? the other team must've sucked really bad to be beaten 100-0It's a school with 20 girls across all grades, eight of whom offered to play on a team. It would be impressive if you could get 8 out of 20 random girls to play a pickup game, let alone play regularly to represent their school.

Of course, maybe I have a little more compassion since I'm at this school:
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1108962/index.htm
(BTW, we finally won a game :) )

[v_tofu]

Don't see why you need to apologize. If anything, that school shouldn't be in the same league.

What are they suppose to do? stop trying?

geez.

[flexwong]

i read this article on yahoo. the school that lost 100-0 is a school that caters to those with learning disabilities and such. they've also withdrawn from the tournament in the future. the coach said that he doesn't care if his team lost 100-0 because he was proud that his girls played hard throughout the entire game, nor does he blame the other team for "running up the score".

i always thought there were mercy rules in high school sports.

[CSK'sMom]

No such rule here in Ontario Flexwong. But with that said, most decent coaches will not run the score, even in sports where total points scored or against can and are used for playoffs. At the highschool level, the mandate should be about winning or loosing gracefully and with dignity and that surely did not happen in that game.

That was poor coaching and poor sportsmanship, no question about it in my mind....

[Paranoidandroid]

Sounds like they're rubbing it in.

[Spor 13]

There's definately something to apologize for. It's a totally classless act. If at halftime, it was already 59-0, and you still go out to use the other team as pylons and STILL cheer as you're nearing 100-0...there's something wrong with that picture.

[BongoBong]

If they were actually full court pressing a team (as it seems they were from the article) that has 0 points , then yes I would definitely say there is something to apologize for.

[nfnx]

lol this is nuts... they should play the raptors

[rfdrfd]

lol this is nuts... they should play the raptors

+1 best idea ever! Even if the girls lose to the Raptors (maybe impossible given their track record so far), it would definitely be more pleasant to look at the ladies vs. sweaty ugly men !

[AmmoWasted]

Pretty classless to be running up the score like this. Our football team last year beat another school 67-0, but even so we had all our second string guys in and just kept running up the middle every play...we probably could have beat that team 200-0 if we had kept our best guys in. :lol:

[beetfarm]

Unless they were taunting and actually showing unsportsmanlike conduct, I see no reason to apologize.

It's sports - you play to win, not to have a tea party and hug and kiss one another. Like someone else said in this thread, what are they supposed to do, stop trying?

[HBP]

Unless they were taunting and actually showing unsportsmanlike conduct, I see no reason to apologize.

It's sports - you play to win, not to have a tea party and hug and kiss one another. Like someone else said in this thread, what are they supposed to do, stop trying?

Have you played sports?

This is a very classless act, especially in basketball where it is SO EASY to take off your full-court press.

Once we played a ****** ass team, with FCP on, in about 6 minutes the score was 23-2 or something. Starters came off, full court press came off, man coverage came off, and the bench played zone for the rest of hte game.

[Vashin]

You play to win--but they already won a long time ago. It's a sign of respect. Even in the NBA if the other team is getting blown out in the last minute the winning team usually won't shoot to score anymore then they have to.

[Dash]

You play to win--but they already won a long time ago. It's a sign of respect. Even in the NBA if the other team is getting blown out in the last minute the winning team usually won't shoot to score anymore then they have to.

Tell that to Rondo...:rolleyes:

[ChampUz]

I feel sorry for the coach. Probably the team was Crap.

[LonesomeDove]

I feel sorry for the coach. Probably the team was Crap.

Read post #7. The losing team had learning disabilities. I saw the team on TV and they even failed to make a basket during practice. The girls have obvious physical and mental disabilities and should not even have played against a "regular" team. Why should the coach be fired for having to play against a team with disabilities?

[rfdrfd]

Read post #7. The losing team had learning disabilities. I saw the team on TV and they even failed to make a basket during practice. The girls have obvious physical and mental disabilities and should not even have played against a "regular" team. Why should the coach be fired for having to play against a team with disabilities?

Agreed.

Although, that coach should also realize that they are going to play against the top team. Why did the coach allow that? Obviously the disability team is way below the other team's playing level.

I think the coach deserves some blame for allowing this match up. Its good that the girls kept trying and didn't give up. But somewhere in their hearts, they probably feel bad they lost by so much and being humiliated infront of so many people at the time of the game.

[skategoat]

Have you played sports?

This is a very classless act, especially in basketball where it is SO EASY to take off your full-court press.

Once we played a ****** ass team, with FCP on, in about 6 minutes the score was 23-2 or something. Starters came off, full court press came off, man coverage came off, and the bench played zone for the rest of hte game.

+1 on that.

I heard this on a radio station and the DJs were talking about how the winning coach was just doing his job. What a joke. A big part of coaching is instilling a sense of fair play and sportsmanship.

The fact that the coach allowed this blowout to happen and the fact that a lot of people support his actions is a sad indictment of the state of sports today. Taunting, trash-talk, boorish behavior become more and more accepted each day.

What we need are more Mike Singletarys - coaches who will bench their star player rather than let him play in a selfish manner.

I've been on both sides of that scoreboard as a coach and player and even as a 10 year old, I knew that there is an accepted form of conduct.

[dimlight]

I agree with the previous posts about how the coach should have let up on their full court press and aggressive strategy. I have been on the junior and senior basketball team and from what I've learned from my coach is to have sportsmanship is the most important thing in the game.

Being up from 59-0 is quite obvious that the other team will not win. Shutting them down like that is very unsportsmanlike. Though it was a good decision on the coach's part to apologize, but should have been realized from the start.

[purple_rabbit]

Some of the posts here disgust me. The team played against a school that dealt with students with special needs.

Dallas Academy has eight girls on its varsity team and about 20 girls in its high school. It is winless over the last four seasons. The academy boasts of its small class sizes and specializes in teaching students struggling with "learning differences," such as short attention spans or dyslexia.

[Snicla]

Some of the posts here disgust me. The team played against a school that dealt with students with special needs.

Yeah they had learning difficulties, they weren't paraplegics. It's not like basketball is as mentally challenging as algebra.
If the 'special needs' kids weren't fit to play in the tournament they shouldn't have signed up. They came to play, they played, they lost, badly. Why make a big deal out of the fact that the other team whooped them? Learn your lesson from it, such as get a better coach and stop whining and start winning.

[marcroboy]

Some of the posts here disgust me. The team played against a school that dealt with students with special needs.

Your attitudes aren't much better either. A lot of people are treating them as if these kids are ********. I think the girls themselves would be disgusted with these kind of attitudes.

Did you know that Chris Kaman, who plays center for the Los Angeles Clippers, had ADD as a kid too?

Come on, the fact that these girls had learning disability is only a tiny issue here, just the media trying to spark things up. I would still be pissed off had a team of dyslexic kids beat a team of normal kids 100-0.

[beetfarm]

Have you played sports?

This is a very classless act, especially in basketball where it is SO EASY to take off your full-court press.

Once we played a ****** ass team, with FCP on, in about 6 minutes the score was 23-2 or something. Starters came off, full court press came off, man coverage came off, and the bench played zone for the rest of hte game.

Yes, I've played sports, but I don't see the relevance here.

So because their opponents have special needs the other team has to "stop trying"? Keep in mind they only scored 12 in the 4th quarter, and I highly doubt they kept the starters on. The only thing that sounds bad is the full-court press, but if I were a coach, I would encourage 100% effort every game regardless of the opponent, so I can see the reasoning behind that. But to me, the other team just seemed like they deserved to be blown out badly.

And we need to stop treating the girls on the winning team as if they're WNBA players. They're normal high school girls for pete's sake.

Yeah they had learning difficulties, they weren't paraplegics. It's not like basketball is as mentally challenging as algebra. If the 'special needs' kids weren't fit to play in the tournament they shouldn't have signed up.

+1

[purple_rabbit]

Yeah they had learning difficulties, they weren't paraplegics. It's not like basketball is as mentally challenging as algebra.
If the 'special needs' kids weren't fit to play in the tournament they shouldn't have signed up. They came to play, they played, they lost, badly. Why make a big deal out of the fact that the other team whooped them? Learn your lesson from it, such as get a better coach and stop whining and start winning.

Your attitudes aren't much better either.A lot of people are treating them as if these kids are ********. I think the girls themselves would be disgusted with these kind of attitudes.

Did you know that Chris Kaman, who plays center for the Los Angeles Clippers, had ADD as a kid too?

Come on, the fact that these girls had learning disability is only a tiny issue here, just the media trying to spark things up. I would still be pissed off had a team of dyslexic kids beat a team of normal kids 100-0.

The mere fact that the both of you compare ADD to dyslexia just shows your level of ignorance and how uneducated you are. Dyslexia isn't just a learning disability.

Dyslexia manifests itself in various ways including Motor Skills and Coordination which is essential in basketball. In addition speech, hearing and listening is affected which prevents them from communicating properly (also essential in basketball)

One more thing, don't try to put words into my mouth, never did I treat them like mentally-disabled people (or how you would call "********")

Stop defending them just for the sake of trolling. Stop and think before you type.

[dubby]

lol this is nuts... they should play the raptors

indeed, and watch kapono dribble the ball off his foot and out of bounce :D

[skategoat]

Yeah they had learning difficulties, they weren't paraplegics. It's not like basketball is as mentally challenging as algebra.
If the 'special needs' kids weren't fit to play in the tournament they shouldn't have signed up. They came to play, they played, they lost, badly. Why make a big deal out of the fact that the other team whooped them? Learn your lesson from it, such as get a better coach and stop whining and start winning.

No one should bother participating in a sport unless they can win? That means, I guess, that Michael Phelps would be swimming every race by himself.

[marcroboy]

The mere fact that the both of you compare ADD to dyslexia just shows your level of ignorance and how uneducated you are. Dyslexia isn't just a learning disability.

Dyslexia manifests itself in various ways including Motor Skills and Coordination which is essential in basketball. In addition speech, hearing and listening is affected which prevents them from communicating properly (also essential in basketball)

One more thing, don't try to put words into my mouth, never did I treat them like mentally-disabled people (or how you would call "********")

Stop defending them just for the sake of trolling. Stop and think before you type.

Actually, you are the one who's generalizing and acting condescendingly, as you have demonstrated yet again with this reply.

All of these kind of disorders are characterized by a broad spectrum of features and symptoms. It's foolish to say if one has dyslexia, then he or she will have ALL of the aforementioned manifestations. I might have not memorized all the symptoms of dyslexia when I made the original post, but I did do a quick wiki on the disorder which states:

Dyslexia is a learning disability that manifests primarily as a difficulty with written language, particularly with reading and spelling. It is separate and distinct from reading difficulties resulting from other causes, such as a non-neurological deficiency with vision or hearing, or from poor or inadequate reading instruction.

Note the lack of mentioning gross motor skills or communication skills, it would lead one to suggest that only a small sub population exhibit these traits. Further more, fine motor skills involved in handwriting has nothing to do with playing basketball at this level.
Logically, since the girls have indeed been on a basketball team, I would tend to believe that they don't exhibit much of the said motor deficiencies or communication problems. Need I also mention that, Patrick Ewing, had a mild case of dyslexia as a kid too. And guess what,Muhammad Ali, arguably the greatest athlete of all time, also has dyslexia. Treating all dyslexic as if they are the same, who's the uneducated one here?
And I would also like to repeat myself that ADD does not interfere with one's basketball skills at this level.

I am not defending anybody, I personally think the 100-0 score is inexcusable but it's not because half of the girls on the court have mental or motor problems, it's because the lack of sportsmanship displayed by the winning team. I don't know why you are "disgusted" by some of the comments simply because these girls have learning deficiencies. Are all of them dyslexic with poor motor development? I tend to believe these girls are fine and capable athletes, it's just that they aren't very good at playing basketball. Of course unless you can produce video-proof of these girls exhibiting any of the things you said, then I would be happily retract my statements.

[nitro]

im sure there is a video out there somewhere...prob some guy trying to sell it to the media for the most money

[beetfarm]

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=jKVmRe3SbHU

"We were scared of the ball" "we don't play to win"...and laughing about the whole matter of scoring 0, and basically admitting that they could have given more effort: "I think if we give enough effort, we can score some points, which is good enough for us"

Again, it seems like they were just brutal to begin with and don't really take basketball seriously at all. Which is fine, I just have a problem with the media blowing this story out of proportion. If you're not even going to try, expect a bloodbath.

And where was the media 3 years ago when this winning team lost 84-6? And you can bet the other team was not letting up in the 84-6 game either...

Also, from one of the students:

When the article was first published I was furious; thinking in my mind that the guy who wrote it wasn’t even there. But as time went on, I started to get sick to my stomach every time someone brought it up. I was sick of talking about it and tired of all the negative publicity. The worst part of it all was that no one asked us how we felt or what we had to say. The school simply responded on our behalf saying that we are sorry and we are willing to forfeit. This was a high school district game in which we played solid defense that resulted in good offense. We were not playing at our full potential and I resent anyone who implies that we did. I missed a significant number of lay-ups and free-throws. We ran the clock and we slowed down our offense and took the press off in the 1st half of the 1st quarter, there was not much else that we could have done. Further Coach Grimes is an amazing Coach and a devout Christian. He has improved my game 100% and I will always give him the credit. I love him with all my heart; he started this family, he is the head of this family, so without him there would be no family. This team means more to me than anyone could imagine, and I wouldn’t change any part of it for the world.

[Petden]

I know when I'm playing a sport, Im thinking more about how we will get our next Try (a touchdown for rugby) more than the score. I start considering the score when I reach the 4th quarter. We've never been blown out.