
Wed Dec 13, 2006, 01:49pm
|
Lighten up, Francis.
|
|
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,686
|
|
This was written in an article on ESPN.com. I thought it might be interesting to someone.
Quote:
Ohio State-Marion, a troubled program, dressed six players; Ohio State-Marion had lost its previous contest by 80 points; Lincoln University coach Garfield Yuille had his players full-court press in the second half to humiliate a helpless opponent. One Lincoln player attempted 41 three-pointers, continuing to launch treys when the school was ahead by more than 100 points. This is bottom-of-the-barrel behavior, and I give a lot of credit to Ohio State-Marion coach Mark Sisler and his six men for not simply walking off the floor so the game would end as a forfeit. What of the Lincoln coach? He's a victim! Yuille feels sorry for himself because people are criticizing his lack of sportsmanship. When coaches without class run up the score, instead of saying "I apologize" they invariably have a million excuses why they weren't responsible for their own actions. Lincoln University's basketball coach has made his school's name nationally synonymous with bad sportsmanship, and instead of apologizing, he's all about excuses. But then it is people with dignity who apologize. Bad sports claim they weren't responsible.
And where were the gents in the funny shirts while all this was happening? The NFL and NCAA football rulebooks contain broadly worded provisions granting officials nearly unlimited authority to prevent coaches from engaging in actions that make a travesty of the game. My guess is there's a similar clause in the NCAA basketball officiating manual. Why didn't the officials order Yuille to show sportsmanship, and enforce such an order by, say, ejecting any Lincoln player who pressed or shot a three? Officials are not supposed to be passive bystanders. Among their duties is protecting the integrity of sport.
|
|