Coach suspended after team wins 161-2

[Sirhornsalot]

Girls Basketball Coach Suspended After Defeating Opponent 161-2
SAN BERNARDINO (CBSLA.com) â€” A high school girls basketball coach is serving a two-game suspension after he was accused of running up the score on an opponent last week.

Coach Michael Anderson, who coaches both the junior varsity and varsity squads of Arroyo Valley High School’s girls basketball, was handed the suspension after defeating Bloomington High School 161-2.

Anderson faced criticism over his decision not to take out his starters until the third quarter, and he was accused of running up the score.

However, an Arroyo Valley parent says she believes the suspension was unnecessary.

“I feel it’s very wrong. I felt like, what are you teaching these kids? To lose and not be rewarded†parent Martha Vodinez said. “Are you teaching them to be a loser?â€

Myra Lopez, another Arroyo Valley parent, says she was at the game and suggests Anderson was trying to have his team run down the shot clock before their shot attempts were taken.

“I think he was just trying to give the other team a chance, at least, so they could go ahead and try to make some scores,†Lopez said.

The school district says that the walk-on coach’s suspension is a lesson in compassion and respect for opponents.

“We are really emphasizing that we want them to pursue victory with honor, and that means playing the game with dignity, regardless of the outcome of the game†San Bernardino Unified School District official Maria Garcia said.

When Anderson took over the team, there was much work to be done. Many say that he took a losing program and turned it around, making it more successful.

Many parents, in fact, still believe that the kids may learn more when they lose.

“I feel like, if you lose, you just need to get out there and learn from that,†one parent said. “Get better. Don’t down talk the next team.â€

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2015/01/16/girls-basketball-coach-suspended-after-defeating-opponent-161-2/

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

Sounds like Bloomington should disband their girls basketball program...

 

[castlebravo1]

Coach Anderson needs to bench the girl that was guarding the girl who scored the 2 for Bloomington.

 

[tejasrulz]

Having kids who played, I've been on both sides of this. Only once did I feel a team was running it up by pressing very late with a very large lead.  A couple of years later we beat that team to win district.

Don't get mad, get even.

 

[PeteA422]

Here's the problem I have with this, you say you are suspending the coach because you want to teach the girls you must win with class or whatever BS you want to feed them.  But all you are really teaching them is that if you come in, work your ass off and demand the same discipline and work ethic of your team (which results in the coach turning a losing program around by the way), all you can expect in return is to get suspended for upsetting the delicate sensibilities of other people who didn't work as hard as you did.

I'm sorry, but in the third quarter the coach took out the starters.  Are you telling me that the other team couldn't score another bucket against the second teamer's?  And you want to fault the coach for doing his job and coaching his girls in the proper fundamentals of the game?  How about you suspend the other coach, who apparently doesn't know come here from sic 'em when it comes to coaching basketball.  Oh wait, I forgot, this happened in California, right?  Of course, everyone is equal and should feel good about themselves.  The real world doesnt have competition and you don't have to worry if you aren't good enough to make it on your own.  The state will pay you to be inadequate. 

I digress....disgusted, simply disgusted.

 

[HornEsch]

These are always tough. I am pretty much against the current wussification of kids these days in sports. However we also seem to have the other extreme where good sportsmanship has gone out of the window.

First off, if the league does not like it, they should have a mercy rule. Second, there are ways to slow down without stopping the girls. Working on things that the team may not be good on, etc. In the end though it is on the opposing team to stop you.

The sad thing is the opposing team never score a FG. It was a free throw per half.

 

[PeteA422]

Granted, I wasn't there.  But from reading the story, it sounds like the coach did everything he could to slow things down.  Put in the second team, and per one of the parents, the coach was having them wait until the shot clock was almost out to take any shots (this tells me he was having them work on passing, running the offensive plays, moving without the ball, etc).  I mean, short of having your team start making shots for the other team, what more could the guy have done?  Now, if he was having the girls running a full court press on the other team throughout the game, yeah, I could see that as being a bit excessive.  But that is not the impression I got from reading the article.

 

[Hiphopopotamos]

Here's the problem I have with this, you say you are suspending the coach because you want to teach the girls you must win with class or whatever BS you want to feed them.  But all you are really teaching them is that if you come in, work your ass off and demand the same discipline and work ethic of your team (which results in the coach turning a losing program around by the way), all you can expect in return is to get suspended for upsetting the delicate sensibilities of other people who didn't work as hard as you did.

I'm sorry, but in the third quarter the coach took out the starters.  Are you telling me that the other team couldn't score another bucket against the second teamer's?  And you want to fault the coach for doing his job and coaching his girls in the proper fundamentals of the game?  How about you suspend the other coach, who apparently doesn't know come here from sic 'em when it comes to coaching basketball.  Oh wait, I forgot, this happened in California, right?  Of course, everyone is equal and should feel good about themselves.  The real world doesnt have competition and you don't have to worry if you aren't good enough to make it on your own.  The state will pay you to be inadequate. 

I digress....disgusted, simply disgusted.

More likely the other team wasn't gifted the same genetic advantages your team had - and didn't have the same coaching advantages your team had.  The difference in skill level and talent at the high school level is many times ridiculous - especially in women's sports.  Those girls could bust their ass 10 hours a day for a season and likely still wouldn't stand a chance.

There is nothing gained from humiliating the other team.  I have no idea if that's what happened here - but the final score certainly isn't something I'd be proud of if I was the parent of one of those girls.  Empathy and compassion are important traits - even in competition.  This has nothing to do with the current 'everyone gets a trophy, we're all winners' attitude so rampant in childrens sports - and everything to do with at some point you need to show a little empathy for your opponent.  Hell, even Roman gladiators were given the option of a 'good death'.

 

[tejasrulz]

I can see Pete's point of view. You have to let the bench players play. If you don't, then why keep score?

In the case I stated above, the other team had their starters in the 4th quarter and was running a full court press with a 44-6 lead. I would have had no problem if it was the second string & the coach was trying to teach them to press since this was junior high ball. Like I said, we beat them 2 years later in OT to win district. Some lady from the other team asked me "Is this the same team we beat a couple of years ago?". I just looked at her, smiled and said "Yep".

My other kid was on the other side. We didn't have a large team so not too many bench players to come in and break them out. The coach had our players pass the ball a min of 5 times before a shot was taken. We ended up beating this team 42-0 and we the parents were actually hoping the other team would score but they didn't. They did get better and while they never beat us, a couple of years later the games were closer.

 

[North Texas Golfer]

More likely the other team wasn't gifted the same genetic advantages your team had - and didn't have the same coaching advantages your team had.  The difference in skill level and talent at the high school level is many times ridiculous - especially in women's sports.  Those girls could bust their ass 10 hours a day for a season and likely still wouldn't stand a chance.

There is nothing gained from humiliating the other team.  I have no idea if that's what happened here - but the final score certainly isn't something I'd be proud of if I was the parent of one of those girls.  Empathy and compassion are important traits - even in competition.  This has nothing to do with the current 'everyone gets a trophy, we're all winners' attitude so rampant in childrens sports - and everything to do with at some point you need to show a little empathy for your opponent.  Hell, even Roman gladiators were given the option of a 'good death'.

Here is the best response in this thread by far.

 

[PeteA422]

I see the point that there is no need to humiliate another team.  I just had a bad experience much like this in high school.  My senior year we made it to the 2A state final game, before 2A ball was broken up into two divisions.  Well during district play, we were playing a team that we were just destroying.  The whole second half our second string team was playing and still scoring on this school, and still shutting them down on the defensive side of the ball.  I mean the coach was even calling basic screen passes and short 5 yard routes and our second team guys were still putting on a clinic.  Our school districts superintendent had previously been the principal at the opposing teams school the year before.  So the whole second half she was down on the sidelines screaming at the coach to quit running up the score and humiliating the other team.  So as a player we had to sit there and watch as the districts leadership was telling our coach (which is basically telling us at the same time) how horrible we were for running up the score.  I mean, we had a freshman in playing quarterback.  So I have a bad experience and a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to stuff like this.  Were we showing bad sportsmanship, no.  We were just playing the game, and working on executing our plays. 

Yes sometimes the other team is not going to be as gifted, or have as good of coaching.  But does that mean you just lay down so the other person feels better about themselves? As much as I hate losing, I would feel worse if someone just gave me points or patronized me in this manner.  Do I think kids at any level deserve to be humiliated? No, absolutely not.  But neither do I think that suspending a coach who beat an inferior team is the right manner to go about this.  Again, without having been there, and just reading the article, I am basing my point of view off of a past experience.  As I am sure, others may have an experience similar on either side of this that shapes their argument.  

 

[Coleman Feeley]

Difficult decision... the only decision I can immediately make is that SOMEONE in the college ranks needs to hirer Coach Anderson and PAY. THAT. MAN.

 

[doc longhorn]

My take is this:

It was an obvious mis-match and the refs and the league officials should be reprimanded for allowing the game to go past the first half.

 

[North Texas Golfer]

Difficult decision... the only decision I can immediately make is that SOMEONE in the college ranks needs to hirer Coach Anderson and PAY. THAT. MAN.

Are you basing that on just this one game?