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[Htown]

Wait haven't I seen this movie before?

Isn't this the part where the beaten low income school team gets a rousing speech and/or lesson from the coach and starts to pull things together, slowly improving and winning more games before meeting the rich and powerful (and arrogant) school's team again in the championship, overcoming all odds due to their hard work, dedication, friendship and believing in themselves?

I swear this is literally the exact setup for all those kids sports movies.

 

[Cday]

High school sports--serious business.

When I played football in middle school there were a couple years where we shutout our whole schedule but on the third year a team managed to score on us and some people cried...because the other team scored a touchdown.

 

[iamblades]

Not as impressive as when Wilt the Stilt scored 100 points in a single game

Wilt was a great player, but the 100 point game is probably he least impressive record. the 50 ppg in a season and the double double streak are far more impressive.

With a 12 foot lane and a strict ban on zone defenses, as long as his teammates were willing to not shoot the ball, he could score as much as time would allow in a single game.

 

[jakncoke]

Looks like they taken there fair share of beating this year. Got 2 wins though

http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/a8xUHnZAdkqy6tBjHFv_LA/samuell-spartans/baseball/schedule.htm

 

[THRILLH0]

My knee jerk reaction was disgust but reading the article I really think the winning coach tried to do the right thing.

I've been on the other end of some spankings and nothing makes me more furious than when the other team starts laying down bunts to the pitcher or takes whiffs to try and end the innings, or then brings in their third-string left fielder to pitch.

That shit is more insulting than running up the score.

The real contempt here should be aimed at the system that paired these teams together.

 

[vas_a_morir]

Looks like they taken there fair share of beating this year. Got 2 wins though

http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/a8xUHnZAdkqy6tBjHFv_LA/samuell-spartans/baseball/schedule.htm

2 wins? Shit man, maybe the Red Sox will snatch up their coach this year.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

2 wins? Shit man, maybe the Red Sox will snatch up their coach this year.

lol, 2 for 2.

 

[vas_a_morir]

lol, 2 for 2.

So at least we know I'm not Ryan Howard.

 

[iamblades]

Anyone else think high school athletics should move to more of a relegation/promotion system than strictly based on school size? Seems silly that a school would get bumped to 5A when they were winning 3 games a year in 4A.

 

[THRILLH0]

So at least we know I'm not Ryan Howard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avh2QdAxQjw#t=14s

 

[Always-honest]

What the fuck kind of mentality is that?

 

[vas_a_morir]

You know, there has been a discussion lately about how baseball is disappearing from the inner-cities. Its appeal has declined drastically to young black kids in particular. I think I heard once that the 2005 Astros World Series team was the first team in like 40 years to make the world series without a single American-born black player on the roster. As you can tell, I am pulling this quote out of my ass, but I heard that. Joe Morgan talks about it a lot, and if Joe Morgan says something, you know it's something that needs to be said.

 

[Professor Beef]

Homer: Yeah, Moe, that team sure did suck last night. They just plain sucked! I've seen teams suck before, but they were the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked.

 

[jakncoke]

Isn't there a documentary talking about that? How the black pct has dwindled to like 5-8% or something?

 

[yellowjacket25]

Both teams seemed to handle this well but it's still unfortunate. I have been on both sides of this and neither is very fun. When I was in high school there was a team we had to play every year that was ranked high nationally, had a few players drafted, and had several other players sign with major colleges. It was pretty well known that they recruited, and that some families would move into their district to give their kid a chance to play there. They destroyed almost everyone they would play, and when they played the smaller schools it got really ugly. I'm not sure what the real solution to this is, it happens in all sports and there doesn't seem to be a good way to stop it.

 

[SlipperySlope]

At a certain point, they should have swung away, but stop between first and second to get tagged. You are just risking injuries if you keep playing.

The funny thing is it would probably take the other team 30 seconds to get a person to you with the ball.

 

[-COOLIO-]

mercy rules are ssooooo stupid. would the rocky movies have been awesome with mercy rules? I DONT THINK SO

 

[kassatsu]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPZ3JX6M7Y4

 

[Tristam]

Damn, that's bad. I remember playing indoor soccer in middle school and by a fluke we got stuck in a league of teams whose skills were significantly below ours. We won one game 31-0.

 

[Revolutionary]

Awesome, their team is actually called the Wildcats.

"Who are we?"
"The Wildcats!"
"Who are we gonna beat?"
"The Wildcats!"

 

[A Link to the Past]

It seems like every few months some hs team gets pummeled then apologists whine and try to get rules changed. If you lose by that much you just suck, go pick up a joint and a game controller or something cause you aren't any good for sports.

Honestly, this does not even read as an example of what you're saying. As another user pointed out, it doesn't seem like they necessarily won because of an increased drive to win, but rather, their parents' ability to provide for their children what the other parents likely cannot afford. I don't see anyone chastising anyone in here, merely arguing that the sportsmanship rules should be enforced more, and the coach on the winning team at least made an effort to try to not go overboard.

 

[C4Lukins]

VS





Yeah this was going to happen. i don't see any wrongdoing here, from either coach. Sounds like the real problem was Samuell High's forced change of division.

Yeah the problem is that student population and location determines who you play.

I am familiar with the winning team and not the losing team, having come from the area. But my guess is that it is rich white neighborhood versus inner city.

In certain sports, that is not such a big deal. Football and Basketball for instance despite the money infused into each school the amount of talent overwhelms that sort of thing.

With Baseball, Soccer, Tennis, Golf, Volleyball and such the wealthier schools have a leg up not only because they can support so many sports but because the interest in those sports are much greater with those demographics.

 

[way more]

My inner Ayn Raynd is freaking out! Those children should have their seed wiped form the Earth.


No, wait. Mercy rules have existed long before this. Never mind. Glenn Beck being canceled must have affected more than I thought.

 

[C4Lukins]

My inner Ayn Raynd is freaking out! Those children should have their seed wiped form the Earth.


No, wait. Mercy rules have existed long before this. Never mind. Glenn Beck being canceled must have affected more than I thought.

Glenn Beck was canceled? Say it is so. I have had a busy month and that would be awesome.

But yeah mercy rules in high school or just amateur sports with no pay in general make sense. This is not one of those "everything ends in a tie" rule. It is a "The war is over, the enemy has been soundly defeated, lets not make them wish they had never been born." And this is sport and not war and involving teenagers. Make the rules of the game such that if a winner is determined, lets not bore everyone for another 4 hours.

 

[Ivan A Nguyen]

What ever happened to the rag tag team of misfits that used hard work and good ole american spirit to come from behind and beat the complacent rich kids? Isn't that the American sports dream? I think the Lake Highlands coach is a handful of DUIs and one false misconduct charge away from becoming the new Spartan coach.

 

[Escape Goat]

It's a contest, not a performance. Losers lose, winners win.

No, its a game. Most people I know play games because its fun. These aren't professional baseball players either. I'm not saying the game should be catered so that everyone can feel like a winner but there comes a time when you're just adding insult to injury.

 

[Meadows]

I once played a high-school cricket match that was 11 (them) v 6 (us). We lost by 1 ball.

 

[krzy123]

I don't see a problem. Seems like they tried to be good sports.

I wish i could find that article about where in some Canadian community where if the winning team won by more the X number of goals, the losing team was awarded the win.

 

[Miggytronz]

I coached High School Baseball for 4 years, My dad is a scout for the Seattle Mariners and my brother coached College Baseball for 4 years. From everything ive experienced in my life of baseball those coaches followed everything by the book and went above and beyond to try and not run the score up. If the opposing team is THAT BAD, tough. Only incentive for those kids to get better. Baseball is not a perfect game.

 

[Princess Skittles]

Oh liberal media, you so cute.

If it's evil rich white kids winning, it's a problem and the rules must be changed.

If it's poor, chipper inner city kids winning, it's a Disney movie.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Reading the article, it seems like this was significantly more sportsmanlike than some of the blowout game articles I've read before. The winning coach took appropriate measures to handicap his team, the audience conducted themselves well, and the losing team still seems enthused. But I also agree with the suggestions made and I think the idea of turning a blowout game into a kind of training clinic is a great one for all involved.

 

[toxicgonzo]

I remember one time beating a soccer team 12-0. Our coach did his best to put people in positions they don't normally play to give the other team a little more of a chance.

The best games are the ones that are close, not 100 to nothing wins.

 

[JayDubya]

The best games are the ones that are close, not 100 to nothing wins.

Yes, but those games are good precisely because the players involved have similar skill and are giving it their best effort.

There's nothing wrong with setting a number of runs where one team just wins, but the real mercy there is that without it, at that point the game can become a post-contest, grueling practice that never ends.

 

[midonnay]

wow 100-0 score in basketball, how does that even work??

read about this on gaf..... they were intellectually disabled if I remember correctly.

 

[shintoki]

I like how the winning side was nice by cheering for the losing and even offering help. That is the kind of sportsmanship I want to see. Not mercy rules

No, be like my team in Jr high. Thought they were badasses blowing out a team with 6 players(Their seventh was my brother, who was 4 years younger and needed to play). Oh man, they were jerking themselves off about how good they were doing, and how they are going get in the championship now.

Yeah, the team normally would have kicked our ass and the team who we had to play then in the Championship did kick our ass. We had zero hits in the first 4 innings(3 runs though).

 

[Septy]

Oh liberal media, you so cute.

If it's evil rich white kids winning, it's a problem and the rules must be changed.

If it's poor, chipper inner city kids winning, it's a Disney movie.

The "liberal media" doesn't actually exist.

 

[Alucrid]

The "liberal media" doesn't actually exist.

ya but npargh.

 

[bengraven]

As far as she knows, no parents or fans asked Higgins to end it. Instead, the Lake Highlands fans began cheering for the Samuell kids, she said.

This actually sounds kind of sad.

 

[spandexmonkey]

Have family who work in a school district that faces a similar yearly dilemma. They teach at an inner city school that struggles with crime, money and test scores. Their focus is on trying to fix up the school and getting it's academics back on track. Unfortunately their football team has to play against the school on the rich side of town at least once a year. That team has a massive budget, year round training, and isn't struggling under the weight of poverty.
Every year the rich school makes a big deal about it, cheering to see how high they can get the score up. Using the score board like a dip stick to compare previous year team. They practically celebrate the inequality.

 

[Slo]

You can literally go post by post in this thread and label each person nerd, nerd, jock, nerd, jock, jock, glee club, jock, etc. In my view, no one misbehaved here, the problem is that the two teams probably shouldn't be playing each other in the first place.

We had instances of this type of thing when I was in high school. We were a really small town who never even had to make cuts on our varsity basketball team because we never had more than 15 guys try out. Most of our competition was against similar schools, bigger schools played against each other, but we also had to deal with small, expensive, private schools who would literally recruit athletes and offer them scholarships. Their entire team was either rich, well trained kids, or the elite kids from the poorer communities who were getting a free education. As a team, basically your yearly goal was to do well enough in your conference schedule to get a good seed in the post season tournaments, and maybe advance a round or two before you started running into the all-star teams.

Oh well, such is life.

 

[Ickman3400]

Jesus, where's the pride from the players on the losing end? I guess I'm pulling from my basketball days in high school where you can personally have more of an impact, but you'd think when it got to 10-0 some of them would have gotten angry and started playing.

But it's not the other team's fault. If I was on the leading team I would have kept cutting their hearts out until they pushed back, that's the whole point of playing sports..to win.

 

[Iadien]

I always hated these mercy rules in school, if someone is overly sensitive about losing, why are they playing competitive sports? It makes no sense to me.

 

[levious]

I always hated these mercy rules in school, if someone is overly sensitive about losing, why are they playing competitive sports? It makes no sense to me.

mercy rules make sense in baseball at least since as said before, there's no time limit.

 

[Iadien]

mercy rules make sense in baseball at least since as said before, there's no time limit.

True, it's the exception though.

 

[Emerson]

pussies. if you suck, practice more or quit playing sports

People like this are fucking stupid and there's way too many of them in here. I'm generally a pretty hardass guy, all for competition and shit like that.

But saying this is like saying that nobody should be allowed to play any sport because they can't compete with the absolute best. My intramural basketball team would get demolished by a quality NCAA team. That doesn't mean I shouldn't be allowed to play against teams of similar quality to mine. They are just in a whole different league. The same thing happened here.

 

[Mr. B Natural]

Sports fans arguing against sportsmanship need to stay on the couch for life.

 

[J-Rod]

I disagree with gaf on calling a game over when it's over is pussification. I don't think sports are about humiliating your opponent. I think it should be the opposite. I think it should be about respect for one another, and decisions on what to do in matters like these should be based around that.

 

[Mumei]

I always hated these mercy rules in school, if someone is overly sensitive about losing, why are they playing competitive sports? It makes no sense to me.

Once you're down by 40 points - 40 points to 0, no less - while the other team is using their bench - I think it's safe to say that one team has won and you can stop the game. At some point it becomes apparent that you aren't going to come back. There's no point in continuing a game once it has been established that one team is that outclassed.

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Jesus, where's the pride from the players on the losing end? I guess I'm pulling from my basketball days in high school where you can personally have more of an impact, but you'd think when it got to 10-0 some of them would have gotten angry and started playing.

But it's not the other team's fault. If I was on the leading team I would have kept cutting their hearts out until they pushed back, that's the whole point of playing sports..to win.

If you're really really terrible or inexperienced at baseball it can be almost impossible to record an out, and the losing team is going to have to get at least 15 outs for the game to end, in this case. I'm sure the losing team was angry and really trying, but if you have no idea how to catch a fly ball it could be an hour before someone finally catches one, never mind making an on-target throw to first. You can't run out the clock; the fielding team has to complete the plays.

 

[speedpop]

I disagree with gaf on calling a game over when it's over is pussification. I don't think sports are about humiliating your opponent. I think it should be the opposite. I think it should be about respect for one another, and decisions on what to do in matters like these should be based around that.

Ain't that the truth. I find winning against a good side to be much more satisfying than drilling a bad team into the ground. It's akin to playing online games where people try to "stack" and get on a certain team because of the players they know from that community who are good. If it ever gets to that stage, it becomes nothing more than a bore. I'd rather face the stiff competition whilst learning their weaknesses and my own mistakes than waltz my way to an easy victory.

The mention of calling the game early and both teams practising together through drills and scenarios is an excellent approach. Ideally it would never happen in a professional league, but it's a worthwhile experience if you're still in school or at a small club.