Coach fired, says he’s not sorry for 100-point win
The Associated Press
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Dallas — The coach of a Texas high school basketball team that beat another team 100-0 was fired Sunday, the same day he sent an e-mail to a newspaper saying he will not apologize “for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with honor and integrity.”
Kyle Queal, the headmaster for Covenant School, said in The Dallas Morning News online edition that he could not answer if the firing was a direct result of coach Micah Grimes’ e-mail disagreeing with administrators who called the blowout “shameful.”
Queal did not immediately answer phone messages or e-mail from The Associated Press.
On its Web site last week, Covenant, a private Christian school, posted a statement regretting the outcome of its Jan. 13 shutout win over Dallas Academy. “It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christlike and honorable approach to competition,” said the statement, signed by Queal and board chair Todd Doshier.
Grimes, who has been criticized for letting the game get so far out of hand, made it clear in the e-mail Sunday to the newspaper that he does not agree with his school’s assessment.
“In response to the statement posted on The Covenant School Web site, I do not agree with the apology or the notion that the Covenant School girls basketball team should feel embarrassed or ashamed,” Grimes wrote in the e-mail, according to the newspaper. “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.”
A phone number for Grimes could not be located by The Associated Press. The Dallas Morning News said Grimes did not respond to their repeated e-mail requests for a telephone interview.
There was no answer at a number listed for Doshier.
A parent who attended the game said Covenant continued to make 3-pointers — even in the fourth quarter. She praised the Covenant players but said spectators and an assistant coach were cheering wildly as their team edged closer to 100 points.
Covenant was up 59-0 at halftime.
Dallas Academy has eight girls on its varsity team and about 20 girls in its high school. It is winless over the last four seasons. The academy boasts of its small class sizes and specializes in teaching students struggling with “learning differences,” such as short attention spans or dyslexia.
There is no mercy rule in girls basketball that shortens the game or permits the clock to continue running when scores become one-sided. There is, however, “a golden rule” that should have applied in this contest, Edd Burleson, the director of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, said last week. Both schools are members of this association, which oversees private school athletics in Texas.
The story has received national attention, and the Dallas Academy team has been recognized for refusing to give up during the lopsided contest.
My 2 cents: Waaa, waaa, waa :crying: it's basketball, not the Special Olympics. Only one team gets to win, deal with it.
Yes, I am familiar with the Mercy Rule. Perhaps I would be more sympathetic to it's use had it been around when I was in high school. My hs football team set the county record in 1984, for most consecutive losses (28). That's right we won two games my freshman year and didn't win another game until November of my senior year. :redface: One noteable game we lost 50-0 and were chased back to our buses by the opposing team and their band. :irked:
So what does this guy do at his next job interview? I can imagine it going something like this:
The Associated Press
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Dallas — The coach of a Texas high school basketball team that beat another team 100-0 was fired Sunday, the same day he sent an e-mail to a newspaper saying he will not apologize “for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with honor and integrity.”
Kyle Queal, the headmaster for Covenant School, said in The Dallas Morning News online edition that he could not answer if the firing was a direct result of coach Micah Grimes’ e-mail disagreeing with administrators who called the blowout “shameful.”
Queal did not immediately answer phone messages or e-mail from The Associated Press.
On its Web site last week, Covenant, a private Christian school, posted a statement regretting the outcome of its Jan. 13 shutout win over Dallas Academy. “It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christlike and honorable approach to competition,” said the statement, signed by Queal and board chair Todd Doshier.
Grimes, who has been criticized for letting the game get so far out of hand, made it clear in the e-mail Sunday to the newspaper that he does not agree with his school’s assessment.
“In response to the statement posted on The Covenant School Web site, I do not agree with the apology or the notion that the Covenant School girls basketball team should feel embarrassed or ashamed,” Grimes wrote in the e-mail, according to the newspaper. “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.”
A phone number for Grimes could not be located by The Associated Press. The Dallas Morning News said Grimes did not respond to their repeated e-mail requests for a telephone interview.
There was no answer at a number listed for Doshier.
A parent who attended the game said Covenant continued to make 3-pointers — even in the fourth quarter. She praised the Covenant players but said spectators and an assistant coach were cheering wildly as their team edged closer to 100 points.
Covenant was up 59-0 at halftime.
Dallas Academy has eight girls on its varsity team and about 20 girls in its high school. It is winless over the last four seasons. The academy boasts of its small class sizes and specializes in teaching students struggling with “learning differences,” such as short attention spans or dyslexia.
There is no mercy rule in girls basketball that shortens the game or permits the clock to continue running when scores become one-sided. There is, however, “a golden rule” that should have applied in this contest, Edd Burleson, the director of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, said last week. Both schools are members of this association, which oversees private school athletics in Texas.
The story has received national attention, and the Dallas Academy team has been recognized for refusing to give up during the lopsided contest.
My 2 cents: Waaa, waaa, waa :crying: it's basketball, not the Special Olympics. Only one team gets to win, deal with it.
Yes, I am familiar with the Mercy Rule. Perhaps I would be more sympathetic to it's use had it been around when I was in high school. My hs football team set the county record in 1984, for most consecutive losses (28). That's right we won two games my freshman year and didn't win another game until November of my senior year. :redface: One noteable game we lost 50-0 and were chased back to our buses by the opposing team and their band. :irked:
So what does this guy do at his next job interview? I can imagine it going something like this:
Interviewer: Your resume is exemplary but I see you were let go from your last coaching position. Why was that?
Coach Grimes: My girls won by too big a spread.
Interviewer:
You were terminated for winning big?
Coach Grimes: Yes sir, that is correct. We won by 100 points.
Interviewer: Sounds like you were playing a team that could have used a little more practice. Even so, this is Texas we like to win big here.
You're hired Coach Grimes.
Coach Grimes: Thank you, when can I start?
Coach Grimes: My girls won by too big a spread.
Interviewer:
Coach Grimes: Yes sir, that is correct. We won by 100 points.
Interviewer: Sounds like you were playing a team that could have used a little more practice. Even so, this is Texas we like to win big here.
You're hired Coach Grimes.
Coach Grimes: Thank you, when can I start?