Can We Talk About: Firing the Coach Who Wins By Too Much

There is a psychological epidemic sweeping sports throughout this country, and it is permanently damaging the psyche of our youth:  Coaches, teams and players who are getting in hot water for winning by too much.

There was a high school coach in Texas who was canned after his girls basketball team beat a team 100-0.  It caused a nationwide firestorm and turned news anchors (I know more about theoretical physics than they do about sports) into armchair coaches.  "Shameful", "Disgraceful" and "Unsportsmanlike" the winning team was called.  The media reported that the girls on the losing team were severely depressed, and were suffering socially from the loss

Yates high school in Texas is well known for winning by large margins.  A coach of a losing team even tried to incite violence against the victors, saying "They better be careful doing that...these kids are from the rough part of town."  So what?  I can't whoop your ass because your thugs don't like to lose?  

This has a personal tinge to it because I have personally been accused of "running up the score" in a football game.  I will spare you the details, but rest assured, if I had wanted to score 100 points in the game, I could have.  I scored 46 instead, but even that wasn't good enough.  I took heat for not pulling my starters early enough, for calling **gasp** an option play with my scrubs against their starters (and scoring).  Am I really supposed to tell a player who busts his ass for me day in and day out to just play dead on the field?

People who get beat badly and then cry "sportsmanship" should not be involved in team sports.  Period.  Go be a golf coach if you want sportsmanship. 

What happened to teaching kids who to compete the entire game?  That winning big (and losing big) are parts of life?  That preparing hard and playing hard are things that you HAVE TO DO in order to win.  You don't practice hard+ you don't play hard +your coach doesn't coach hard = you get your ass whooped.  If the losing girls on the court were out to play for fun, they should have just played intramurals.  Not all athletic activities are meant to be competitive.  The Special Olympics aren't supposed to be competitive.  The Olympics are. 

The person who should have been fired over the 100-0 game should have been the losing coach and the losing teams Athletic Director (AD).

Why?  The losing coach obviously wasn't doing his job.  I could send a sorry high school basketball team out against UConn...and they wouldn't lose 100-0.  Maybe 98-25, but not 100-0.  They would find a way to score some points, and keep the ball away from the other team.  It's not that hard.  And if I really thought we could possibly lose that bad?  I would forfeit the game.  Honestly, I would.  To prevent things like this from happening.

Making the losers the heroes...the pitiful state of society

Lets take another angle on this: Let us say for a minute that the girls in the game were playing their hearts out and and the coach was coaching his ass off (which didn't happen in this case).  However, they were so over matched that it would have been more competitive to put a 8 year old in the ring against Mike Tyson.  Then what needs to happen is that the AD (the guy who scheduled the game) should be fired.  I would not ever put my high school football team up against the LSU Tigers.  Why?  We might get beat 100-0, and I would not put my players (who I care about) in that situation. 

The coach who was fired was right to be unapologetic.  His girls played the game the way it was meant to be played.  Hard.  Fast.  Until every whistle and the final buzzer.  Apparently, teaching those values that we all grew up with now will cost a coach his job.  

Bring on the hate mail

Josh