An editorial today by Bud Kennedy in the Star-Telegram shows the story about Texas high school basketball team Covenant Lady Knights and their 100-0 romp over Dallas Academy has a tie to Christian music. (If a hot story has a tie to Christian music, I’ll find it so I can write about it.)
Looks like all-state guard Savannah Smith is the daughter of Christian music producer and songwriter Chris Christian. (Smith had 48 points and 13 steals in the game, including four three-point field goals.)
Chris Christian is an extremely accomplished Grammy- and Dove-Award winning music producer and songwriter. He’s penned more than 2,000 songs, which have been recorded by artists like Elvis Presley, Al Jarreau, The Pointer Sisters, Marilyn McCoo, Dionne Warwick, and Sheena Easton. And then there’s a whole string of songs recorded by Contemporary Christian artists. In addition to his music interests, his bio on CCEntertainment.com, which he owns, says: “Currently Chris oversees over 15 companies that are involved in various initiatives such as TV production, Music production, gas production in the Barnet Shale, real estate, download internet programs to National Retail Chains, as well as other investments.”
But back to basketball. I’ve been watching the story about the Covenant Lady Knights and Dallas Academy with mixed feelings.
On the one hand, there is no mercy rule in that women’s basketball league, so the teams should play until the end of the game. On the other hand, it’s really not very Christ-like to purposely stomp all over your opponent, if that’s what they did.
The thing is, I don’t believe Coach Micah Grimes had his girls purposely stomp all over the opponent. I think it was just a lopsided game and, without a mercy rule to pull the plug, they had to keep playing. What else could they do?
In an email that Grimes sent to the Dallas Morning News and is posted on several sports websites, he says:
“Contrary to the articles, there were only a total of four 3 point baskets made; three is the first quarter, and only 1 in the 3rd quarter. I continued to sub in bench players, play zone defense, and run the clock for the rest of the game. We played fair and honorably within the rules and in the presence of the parents, coaches, and athletic directors for both Covenant School and Dallas Academy.
“I do no wish to forfeit the game. What kind of example does it set for our children? Do we really want to punish Covenant School girls? Does forfeiting really help Dallas Academy girls? We experienced a blowout almost 4 years ago and it was painful, but it made us who we are today. I believe in the lessons that sports teach us. Competition builds character, and teaches us to value selflessness, hard work, and perseverance. As a coach, I have instilled in my girls these values. So if I loose my job over these statements, I will walk away with my integrity.”
On the Covenant School’s website, they list the objectives of their athletic program:
- To enable Covenant student/athletes, coaches, and spectators to glorify God and be witnesses for Jesus Christ.
- To provide the highest quality athletic experiences.
- To develop athletic gifts and skills.
- To become physically fit.
- To encourage and deepen relationships and friendships.
- To foster discernment and wisdom in the use of one’s God-given talents.
- To learn how to commit to a team above one’s self and to work together towards common goals and objectives.
- To build Christ-like character traits and develop servant leadership skills through discipline, and physical and mental training.
- To develop skills and abilities such as goal setting, a strong work ethic, and an understanding of how to prepare and train for performances and competition.
- To provide a forum for the entire school community to gather together to share in the excitement of the contest and to support the student/athletes in both victory and defeat.
Sure, Covenant looks bad with such a blow out, but what team hasn’t been on either the winning or losing end of a romp like that at some point? Especially when you’re talking about schools with enrollment in the dozens. And how do you help students balance using their God-given talents and building a strong work eith with using discernment and being a good sport? If they forfeit, then they’ve, in a sense, violated their own objective in teaching athletes to play their hardest, train for competition, and perform to the best of their abilities.
But what do you think? Should the Covenant school apologize and forfeit the game? Or is Coach Grimes right, that winning – and losing – builds character? And does it matter that we’re talking about Christian schools?
posted January 28, 2009 at 4:04 pm
I’m not sure we can judge what’s right here without having witnessed the conduct of the game. If the coach used players from the end of his bench for the entire second half, and called off any pressing defensive schemes while asking for patient and deliberate execution on offense, then I’d agree with the coach that they played honorably. In any competitive athletic contest there’s only so much you can do to level the playing field, and asking players to intentionally miss shots or put up no defense is probably just as bad as intentionally running up the score. I think if anyone is to blame here, it’s the officials responsible for scheduling this mis-match, not the coaches or players who played the game.
posted January 30, 2009 at 1:04 am
From the Dallas News:
“Covenant kept the pressure on winless Dallas Academy until midway though the fourth quarter, when it scored its 100th point.”
But the anonymous author doesn’t “believe Coach Micah Grimes had his girls purposely stomp all over the opponent.” Well, the author can believe whatever he or she wants. The facts speak for themselves: 100-0. And if we’re playing the rhetorical question game, alright then, who among us has been on the winning or losing end of a 100 point margin of victory? The author attempts to deflect attention from the facts by comparing this result to your garden variety blow-out of, say, 55-20.
Another weasel-ly attempt to justify the Covenant coach’s actions is to portray this game as one played by opponents in a “women’s basketball league.” We’re talking about how children have been treated, not adults.
“What else could they do?” How shameful. I wouldn’t put up with such moral abdication from my seven year old.
posted January 30, 2009 at 10:00 am
Hi, Stourley. That post isn’t anonymous. That’s my picture right there on the top, and my name and bio all over the page. I’m Joanne Brokaw, and I wrote that post.
Like I said, I have mixed feelings reading the new reports, but after reading the coaches own words, I think he did what he could to mitigate the damages. I don’t know what else you wanted them to do – stand there? help the other team score? It was a trouncing, for sure, but since I wasn’t there & I don’t know exactly what went on in the game, I can only go by the news reports and the coaches words. But having seen my share of atheletic competitions between small Christian schools, it’s not unusual for one to completely dominate the others, even without trying.
But thanks for your thoughts! I appreciate your comments!
Joanne
host of the Gospel Soundcheck blog
posted January 30, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Delete “anonymous” in line 3. Change “he or she” in line 5 to “she.
It’s easy to ask slanted rhetorical questions. It’s difficult to do the right thing.
posted January 30, 2009 at 4:43 pm
That’s OK, Stourley, just wanted you to know that I wasn’t hiding behind an anonymous post.
One of the things that I try to do on this blog is get people talking. While I’m paid to share my opinion, I don’t have the answers, and I freely admit that.
So I absolutely appreciate your feedback! Thanks for taking time to share!
Joanne
host of the GS blog