I’m sure by now sports fans around the area have heard about the 100-0 girl’s basketball win by Dallas’ The Covenant School, a Christian institution, over Dallas Academy, a small school with 20 girls that specializes “in teaching students struggling with learning differences, such as short attention spans or dyslexia,” according to The Associated Press.
Well, Covenant coach Micah Grimes was fired during the weekend. Here’s the story.
In an e-mail to the Dallas Morning News, Grimes expressed his displeasure over this statement, posted on Covenant’s Web site following the game:
“Statement Regarding Dallas Academy Game
1/22/2009The Covenant School, its board and administrators, regrets the incident of January 13 and the outcome of the game with the Dallas Academy Varsity Girls Basketball team. It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christ-like and honorable approach to competition. We humbly apologize for our actions and seek the forgiveness of Dallas Academy, TAPPS and our community. The school and its representatives in no way support or condone the running up of a score against any team in any sport for any reason. The school’s board members, Head of School Kyle Queal and Athletic Director Brice Helton have acted to ensure that such an unfortunate incident can never happen again.
Covenant school officials have met with and personally apologized to Dallas Academy Headmaster Jim Richardson and Athletic Director Jeremy Civello and wish to extend their highest praise to each member of the Dallas Academy Varsity Girls Basketball team for their strength, composure and fortitude in a game in which they clearly emerged the winner. Accordingly, The Covenant School has contacted TAPPS and is submitting a formal request to forfeit the game recognizing that a victory without honor is a great loss.
Kyle Queal
Head of SchoolTodd Doshier
Board Chair”
Or you can read it here.
Grimes said he did not agree with the school’s apology and said “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.”
This man deserved to be fired. And the school is out of its mind to ask that the game be changed to a forfeit.
Conveant took advantage of the undertalented and a small school. Plain and simple. It was up 59-0 at halftime and, as many media reports have stated, pressed until it reached 100. That happened with about 4 minutes left in the game and then Grimes told his team not to score. Couldn’t he and shouldn’t he have done that at halftime?
Or maybe when they went up 30-0.
I was listening to some sports talk show on the radio during lunch and the host vehemently disagreed with Grimes’ firing. He thought the coach of Dallas Academy should have been canned instead because Dallas Academy didn’t score a point.
It’s the way sports is, he said — or something like that. I stopped listening after I heard such a disgraceful comment.
I have no doubt that Covenant knew that Dallas Academy’s team was full of girls with learning disabilities. Does that mean they’re not good at basketball? No, not at all. Are they good at basketball? According to their performance against Covenant? No, not at all.
But to ask for a reprieve from such a distasteful act of sports? Come on, Covenant. I’m not Catholic, but that’s like cheating on your spouse and then going to confession and thinking all is good. The administrators at Covenant should have intervened. They had the authority to stop the game. Or bench the coach at halftime. And I think they took proper action in firing Grimes. Any basketball coach knows when to pull off the dogs. Some reports said that assistants on the bench were cheering it on.
That’s whats wrong with sports. Terrible decision to win by 100, Convenant, but at least you recognized the type of coach you had and got rid of him.
