If you can't beat 'em... quit

[Juulie Downs]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Mr. Wolff said the players were aware a defeat to Bassick would drop them to Division II — an assistant coach had told them — but that they didn’t play to lose. “That’s ridiculous,” he said. “The guys who were on the floor were trying their hardest. There is no way anyone can say we weren’t trying to win that game.”

After going most of the season with seven regulars, the Tigers played four seldom-used players and one who had not seen any varsity action against Bassick. That irregular substitution pattern caught the eye of several FCIAC coaches, ...

Classic example of the coach using faulty logic for his argument. No one accused the players of trying to lose. It was the coach's "irregular substitution pattern" that got them in trouble. And then he acts all innocent...

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by Juulie Downs

Classic example of the coach using faulty logic for his argument. No one accused the players of trying to lose.

My point exactly, Juulie. Yet the players were penalized even though none of them, regardless of their position on the team, did anything wrong. What a lesson to teach kids - your supervisor does something wrong - there's nothing you can do about it - you get punished.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

My point exactly, Juulie. Yet the players were penalized even though none of them, regardless of their position on the team, did anything wrong. What a lesson to teach kids - your supervisor does something wrong - there's nothing you can do about it - you get punished.

And exacly how do you propose penalizing teams/schools who do have a reason to be penalized? They are a TEAM...including the coach. The coach breaks the rules, the team is penalized. They should blame him.

This is no different than a star player on the team getting suspended from some infraction (perhaps fighting) and not being able to participate in a playoff game....and the team loses. Those kids felt the effects of a consequence even though they did nothing wrong.

The nature of teams sports is that the team both wins and loses togther as well as suffers the consequences of the actions of members of the team (and staff).

[refaholic2]

I agree with Padgett that this was a very poor solution to the problem. Why would you punish the kids for the mistake of the coach. Like the one kid said, the players that were on the floor was playing their hardest. IMO, the obvious answer would have been to put them in the Div I tourny and let them play.

[M&M Guy]

Originally Posted by refaholic2

I agree with Padgett that this was a very poor solution to the problem. Why would you punish the kids for the mistake of the coach. Like the one kid said, the players that were on the floor was playing their hardest. IMO, the obvious answer would have been to put them in the Div I tourny and let them play.

Are you absolutely, 100% sure none of the kids involved knew anything about it? Are you, without any doubt whatsoever, sure that none of the kids knew about what the loss would mean in terms of which division they would end up playing in? And, that if they did know, are you sure they made their feelings known to the coach that this was the wrong way to approach the game? Or did they sit back and accept what was happening? I don't completely buy into the fact the kids are 100% innocent and only the victims in this situation.

Even if there is the outside chance every single member of the team was completely unaware of the situation, Cameron still has the point that this is a team sport, and it is the team that is penalized accordingly. When you look at the name that gets engraved on the trophy, you only see the team name, not any of the individual names. So everyone, from coaches on down to the last player on the bench, contribute to both the success and failure of the team. How is this situation different than giving the other team FT's for a T because of the unsporting actions of their coach? The kids have been totally respectful all game, yet they are penalized for the actions of their coach.

Yes, it sucks for those players. But the team has been penalized for the actions of one; no different than a T. Just like the team would benefit from one player hitting the game-winning shot at the buzzer - everyone wins, including the coach, for the actions of that one player. Those are the advantages and disadvantages of playing on a team.