Sportsmanship and Instant Karma

The Associated Press has reported Micah Grimes, the head girl's basketball coach of Covenant School in Dallas, has been fired after his team's 100-0 victory over Dallas Academy. On Sunday Grimes was quoted saying:

"We played the game as it was meant to be played. My values and my beliefs would not allow me to run up the score on any opponent, and it will not allow me to apologize for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with honor and integrity."

Kyle Queal, the headmaster for Covenant School, did not respond when asked if this quote is why Grimes ws released.

Let me begin saying: Oh, come on! Skunking a team 100-0 and popping treys in the 4th quarter shows integrity? Dr. Neismith is rolling in his grave right now. If Grimes' values won't allow him to run up the score I would hate to see what the score would have been if they had tried to run it up. 130-0? 150-0?

Evidently Covenant quit trying hard as soon as the score hit the century mark with four minutes to go. Thank God for Grimes' gracious mercy.

Still, I have mixed emotions about Grimes being released as coach. I believe people can learn more with structure. Letting him go removes that. I would like to see him--and every coach who runs up the score--get rolled over in a game. I also believe the old "and see how you like it" has value.

John Lennon told us instant karma's gonna get you right between the eyes.

Blogging for Blagojevich

The impeachement of Rob Blagojevich begins in Springfield, Illinois today, so where is he? That's right, the most important place he could be--the talk show circuit. He's making his case on The View instead of wherever Illinois does its impeachments. Good Morning America!

In these interviews, he said that he considered Oprah Winfrey to replace President Obama in the Senate, but decided against it when he decided it would look "like a stunt."

Give him credit, he knows what a stunt looks like.

Blogland Coincidence

Yesterday and the day before were wonderful days of coincidence here in my little corner of the internet.

Saturday--this blog and Time Loves a Hero both had 129 postings each. Since I update this blog daily (or try to) and Time Loves a Hero gets updated weekly, both of them got an entry on Sunday. So yesterday, both blogs had 130 entries each.

Today, Fat Man officially has more entries than Time Loves a Hero. If this is what passes for momentous in my life...

Sportsmanship in Inaction

ESPN reported a Dallas Girls High School basketball game ended with a score of 100-0. With a lead of 59-0 at the half, the coach of the offending high school kept pressing the other team until the score hit the century mark.

This is the opposite of the Rick Reilly story from ESPN the Magazine.

When I worked at Lamar Community College in rural southeast Colorado, I did PA work for the athletic department. While I was there, the baseball team was good--very good. One day they played a club team (not varsity-even JUCO varsity) from Arapahoe Community College.

JUCO baseball has a mercy rule, 7 runs after 5 1/2 innings if I remember properly. Anyway, the game got that far out of hand in the second inning. Finally, the coach gave his batters a directive, swing at everything. If you got a hit, leg it out. If you strike out, so it goes. But swing--or everyone will be running until the cows came home.

It ended thirty-some to nothing. It was the dullest game I ever called from the press box. I wonder how boring a 100-0 basketball game is--where's "the human drama of athletic competition" in that?

Here's to the team who got shelled--you stuck it out when poor sports--the team wearing the other uni's--tried to stick it to you. You may not have won--but they're the losers.

Alas Poor Herm, I Knew Him, Lamar

Herm Edwards has been punted by the Chiefs. What struck me in his announcement is that he spoke of how wonderful it had been to coach "Lamar's Team."

Lamar Hunt, first owner of the Chiefs and inventor of the American Football League (1960's edition), died in December 2006. Herm had been with the Chiefs when Lamar owned the team, but he was head coach of "Lamar's Team" for less than a year before Hunt died.

Nice dig at Lamar's son Clark who has taken over the managing partner role of the team. Herm worked for Carl Peterson (who was with the Chiefs for 20 years) and Clark for two, but it was still "Lamar's Team" that Herm was glad to be a part of.

I love a sly insult, and this one seems pretty darn sly to me.

Another Story from My Misspent Youth

This story comes from Kevin Kincaid's bachelor party. I remembered it as I was remembering K's life.

NOTE: This is a bachelor party story. If you are expecting a story of a Yahatzee game with grape Nee-Hi you're very, very wrong. This would be a hard PG-13 story or maybe R. If you want to think less of me for this story, please remember a few things:

1. These are the stories that shaped me. History is history.
2. There are lessons to be taken, take them for what they are worth; and if possible don't repeat them yourselves!
3. I'm much better now.

As a crew of guys, about twenty of us piled into several cars and headed to downtown Kansas City. There we went into the Dove Theater. Let me just say if "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" was the movie on the marquee, it isn't the one you saw with your folks when you were six.

Anyway, after the movie we headed back to K's house for more party. A couple of the party goers made it back about a half-hour later than everyone else--and they came back with two hookers and their pimp.

K was LIVID! He was outraged that some of his friends would bring prostitutes to his house and even imagine that he would sleep with one or both of them in the bed he would share with his wife a couple days later. He told the guys to get them out of the house and do it now, then he headed to the deck to wait until it was done.

After it was all done, someone said that we should just forget this ever happened. I said no.

You see, forgetting means you never learn the lesson. These are the sort of lessons we need to make sure are learned so that our sons don't become the guy who brings the hookers.

I learned a long time ago you don't have to make every mistake in the book as long as you can learn the mistakes of others. What did I learn--K loved the woman who was about to become his wife. He was angry with his friends who didn't realize what this "gesture" would mean to him. I learned not to be the guy who brings the hookers. I learned forgiveness is good, forgetting not so much, and learning is very good.

Jumping the Gun--Just a LITTLE BIT

Dr. Phil has just come on here in the Ozarks. Today Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity are discussing the Obama presidency. The man has not been in office 52 1/2 HOURS and the pundits are discussing his presidency. I'm basing my count of hours from the inaguration until this very moment--if it was taped this morning this punditry is being based on two whole days-give or take five minutes.

Politics and the future of our nation is being made tedious. I used to think people who didn't watch the news are uninformed. Now I find more value in Scrubs reruns on Comedy Central than in the evening news.