how to handle a blowout
there was a bit in the news last week about a high school girls basketball game which was won 100-0. The coach of the winning team wound up losing his job over the incident, or maybe because he refused to back down against opposition to his team's scoring. i read a few articles about it, and i must say that i didn't disagree with the coach all that much. now i wasn't at this basketball game, so i can't speak to how exactly it was played or how anyone's actions were "unsporting", but the 100-0 score does not indicate a lack of sportsmanship to me.
the days of these types of blowouts in ultimate are limited now, with the proliferation of elite divisions at nearly all tournaments and elite-only tournaments. however, they still come up at sectionals for many nationals-level teams, and in my college days as well as during the condor successes around the turn of the century blowouts were commonplace. these games can be equally uncomfortable for the team that is being beat as it is for the team that is winning.
the black tide and condor teams that i played on had a similar method for handling these games. basically, we would play the game as well and as hard as we could. that was what we owed the opponent, whether that opponent was a nationals-level team, or a pickup team of below-average players. the question was, is it more disrespectful to beat a team 15-0 when playing your hardest, or to beat them maybe 15-2 but with lefty points, or all upside-down passes, or stupid defenses that didn't show respect to the opponent? when given this choice, we always chose to play our hardest and best.
the side benefit is that it is dignifying for the opponent. if they get a goal but are under the impression that you aren't trying, they get no pleasure in that. but if they get a goal against the regional or national champion who is playing hard, that is something they can take with them, something they've earned in the game. i would occasionally have an opponent ask why we were playing so hard, or ask us to let off a little bit, but my response was always that we wanted them to see our best. i think this occasionally ruffled some feathers, but for the most part i think the opponents were grateful for the chance to see a successful team playing well, to learn from the experience, and to feel like they earned whatever it was they got.
i think the coach of the high school team should have couched his support for the score by explaining that he had put his reserves in, but out of respect for the opponent he asked his reserves to play their hardest and best, so that if the other team got a basket it would be one that they deserve. now if those reserves were hoisting up 3-pointers and running the fast break, that would maybe be an issue, but having the reserves play hard, execute and do their best is only fair to both the reserves and the opponent.
posted by greg at
11:35 AM
12 Comments:
I agree.. we are an upper half Regionals level team, but even we had a few 15-1, 15-2 type games at Sectionals. One against a HS team who's coach emailed us afterwards. We explained that we played as hard as we could (granted using bench players alot more) but did it out of respect, so they could see what they should aspire to skill wise, and not to be "pretend playing". The email we got back from the coach actually sincerely thanked us for the sportsmanship, and the example it showed the kids of always trying your best.
And you are right, they were super happy when they scored. As they deserved to be.
By
RHL, at 1/29/2009 1:11 PM
i agree with you totally...
i believe, however, that the high school team in question, continued to put a full or maybe a half court press on throughout most of the game which turned the game basically into a layup contest for the winning team.
By
Anonymous, at 1/29/2009 2:34 PM
anonymous: okay, i didn't realize they were full-court pressing, or even half-court pressing. i think in basketball (and maybe football) there is a way to still play hard within certain confines that won't run up the score (run your offense through most of the shot-clock, sag the defense to let the other team bring the ball up while still defending your hoop). i'm not sure if there is an equivalent in ultimate. i guess my point was that the score itself didn't indicate poor sportsmanship. full-court press is a different story.
By
greg, at 1/29/2009 3:58 PM
this situation was part of the interview portion of tryouts for the junior worlds team: what do you do if you're beating a team 13-0 and one of your teammates suggests an all-lefty point... lots of interesting answers in the group i was a part of.
By
Anonymous, at 1/29/2009 4:46 PM
my motto in these games is "crush them respectfully" - play hard, respect your opponent, move on.
One caveat, however: it's OK to use the game as an opportunity to work on aspects of your O or D that need some fine-tuning... like giving more handler time to rookies or non-traditional handlers. Just do it respectfully. Nothing says "We're assholes" louder than a thumber point.
By
Anonymous, at 1/29/2009 5:27 PM
suck it, lithuania.
By
Corey, at 1/30/2009 12:40 AM
From an AP article about the post:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hAjw_rqrBkfpwLLBO1-sjzyckUpAD961CBO80
[the losing school] has about 180 students and specializes in children with learning differences, such as dyslexia or attention deficit disorder. They won't lose again this season, either, as they've dropped the rest of their games.
...
"It is not in the spirit of sports to humiliate your opponents," said Mitch Lyons, a sportsmanship advocate and executive director of Massachusetts-based getpsychedsports.org. "In high school and lower, and in life, the object should never be to humiliate another person."
Competing at a level where improving and winning is important to the players and coaches, it seems crucial to respect the opponent by playing hard. This particular instance does not appear to be such an arena.
By
Joe, at 1/30/2009 6:26 AM
This comment has been removed by the author.
By
Unknown, at 1/30/2009 8:57 AM
In regards to the full-court press, I don't necessarily know that keeping that on is being unsportsmanlike either. If its working all game, then suddenly you stop, aren't you saying to the other team, "we know you can't break this, but we'll be nice and let you make it up the court..." When a coach takes off a full court press its often only because it isn't working, or because his or her team is tired. If it was working, and he had stopped, it might as well be a thumber point...
By
Anonymous, at 1/30/2009 8:57 AM
I agree with the above opinions that go along the lines of it is more respectful, sportsmanlike, spirited to keep playing hard to the end. At least, better to do this then to do silly stuff like thumber points, lefty points, etc.
I also agree that it's perfectly acceptable and often desirable to use the blowout as a chance to work on different strategies or get your bench players some playing time.
There are some times however where teams can decide against that for legitimate reasons - in a tournament, where you want to conserve energy, it may be better for both teams if the winning team closes out the game quickly... both teams have more time to rest, and the losing team has more chance to regroup.
Lastly I preface this all on the assumption that teams are competitively-minded, which I think is the case most times. My team has competitive aspersions and we don't take it as a sign of disrespect if we get blown out by a good team playing hard. However I would make the case for an exception in the limited circumstances of playing against a very new team that doesn't have the experience to be at all competitive. In games like that where we pretty much know we can blow them out, we may ask them (e.g. at half or whatever) if there is anything they want to work on, e.g. one team wanted us to play zone on them so they could learn to play against it. Or sometimes they just have the same attitude we do - keep playing us hard and we'll learn from that.
By
Druski, at 1/30/2009 12:20 PM
speaking a someone who plays the AD role at a small independent school - you have to schedule the right teams. there are always teams out there that are playing the same game as you. isn't that what is fun about ultimate, on sunday you get to play teams performing like you are. or just go to a drunken tournie if you are a drunk and when you want to bring it and hit the track go at that. but seriously, this is hoops, what in the world is happenign when a team wins 100-0. bad scheduling. it's just plain wrong for these two teams to play. hopefully is was at like a sectionals type situation.
By
Anonymous, at 1/30/2009 3:16 PM
There is one significant difference between Ultimate and some other sports where people talk about sportsmanship in blowouts. Since Ultimate's played to a point score, it isn't really "running up the score" to blow someone out. An analogue might be tennis, where I never hear anyone talk about sportsmanship as an issue simply because one player beats another one 6-2, 6-0.
For example, the Williams sisters may take some stick for comments after losses, and occasionally after wins, but no one complains simply THAT they won big. You gotta get to the point score, and it's recognized in tennis that the less time you spend on the court, the better. In a long and competitive Ultimate tournament, the same holds. In Florida, if you're fortunate enough and skilled enough to get an easy game, getting it over with and getting back to the shade may be the best thing you can to do improve your chances on Saturday and Sunday. A team fighting through the backdoor at Regionals may play a lot of games on Sunday, and getting off the field fast in the first two rounds on Saturday can be a real benefit. Crushing the 12 seed, if you can do it, isn't poor sportsmanship. It's only once you get to different (lower?) levels of competition, at different tournaments, where this even matters, I think.
In basketball, you're going to play 48 minutes (or whatever it is at other levels). In football, you're going to play 60. If the game is well in hand, is it unsportsmanlike to play your starters, pass the ball incessantly, or otherwise "show up" your opponent? In Ultimate, likewise, is it "showing up" your opponent to play that all-lefty or all-UD point? I can't blame any team for having fun with any situation, and it can be simply harder to take the game seriously beyond a point, but I will say that those approaches have always made me uncomfortable.
By
Marshall, at 1/31/2009 8:00 AM
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