Poor Sportsmanship?

By now most of you have probably heard about the Dallas Academy girls' basketball team losing their last game to The Covenant School by a score of 100-0. Don't worry. They're taking the defeat in stride. Hardly aspiring WNBA stars, these charming young ladies were probably just happy to get together for a few hours after school each week to chat about boys and homework and lob a few airballs. They were just having fun.

Still, you can't help but feel sorry for these girls. I mean, 100 to zip! They couldn't make so much as a single free throw. To say that they were outmatched would be an understatement.

The reaction to this story has been virtually unanimous: "How could any team with even a shred of human decency run up the score like that? How dare they!"

OK, here's where I'm going to rub a few people the wrong way. I would have expected nothing less from the team that won. In fact, if I had been their coach, I probably would have wondered why they couldn't win by 200 points.

Now, before you think I'm being heartless, look at what the losing coach, Jeremy Civello, had to say:

"My girls never quit," he said. "They played as hard as they could to the very end. They played with all their hearts at 70-nothing, 80-nothing and 100-nothing. I was really proud of them. That's what I told them after the game." ...

... The Bulldogs play, Civello said, for more than the final score. They play in hope of improving skills, learning teamwork and picking up whatever life lessons athletics may bring. ...

... Against Covenant, Dallas Academy was surprised to see an obviously superior team keep the pressure on until it scored its 100th point in the fourth quarter. "I'm sure they could have won by 30 points and still had just as good a time," Civello said.

The reason I'm having such a hard time sympathizing with Dallas Academy is that coach Civello contradicted himself when he complained that the Covenant girls could have had just as much fun winning by 30. If the whole point is to have the girls playing "with all their hearts," who cares what the final score was, be it 100-0 or 200-0?

The fact is that he was embarrassed. And who can blame him? This kind of a loss -- not to mention the fact that Dallas Academy hasn't won a game in four years -- is hard to live down.

Still, we are left with the impression that Covenant coach Micah Grimes and his players are mean-spirited brutes because the team was still playing hard until the final buzzer. But isn't that exactly what we would expect of any team? Look at it from their perspective. Coach Grimes spends the entire season trying to get his players to give 100%. Do we expect him to go against everything he's been teaching them and suddenly try to get them not to play their best simply because the opposing team stinks?

When asked about the game, Grimes responded:

"It's unfortunate we got to 100 points in the game against Dallas Academy. It just happened, and we are not happy about that.

"Please know Covenant intended no harm against them. I see this as a real learning opportunity, so we can prevent this from happening in the future."

This coach is now made to feel guilty for daring to inspire his team to play competitively, as if it's his fault the girls of Dallas Academy have no basketball skills.

Because we live in a politically correct society that abhors competition among kids, we must see to it that hard work doesn't pay off. We must condemn teams like Covenant because their display of superior skills might damage the self-esteem of those who aren't quite as talented. That's why Covenant has been shamed into issuing a formal apology and forfeiting the game.

What I find extremely interesting is that not one person has dared to criticize coach Civello for allowing his team to be humiliated for four quarters. He could have called an end to it at any point during the game, but he didn't, and yet no one expects him to apologize.

Again, if the whole point is to get the kids to play their best, then it shouldn't matter what the score is. Period. But if we're more worried about fragile egos and hurt feelings, then perhaps parents should be a little more discerning when it comes to their children's extracurricular activities.

Statism Corrupting Sports

The uber patriots may disagree, but having cops throw out baseball fans who dare to make a trip to the bathroom during "God Bless America" doesn't really do much to help the image of professional sports.

Pat Tillman's Family Still Looking for Answers

And they're hoping the National Football League will help. From Dave Zirin:

The NFL has seized on Pat Tillman as another way to connect with the red, white and blue sports fan. Earlier this year, former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue brought together the NFL and the United Service Organizations to build the Pat Tillman USO Center at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. And the league just opened an exhibit dedicated to Tillman at its Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

Now the Tillmans want the NFL to help them speed up the latest congressional hearing into Pat Tillman's death.

The league certainly seems to have the clout to get things moving. Owners of professional football teams are some of the wealthiest and best-connected people in the United States. In the 2004 election cycle, NFL and other sports teams owners gave $14.6 million to Democrats and Republicans, as well as to independent political committees. San Diego Chargers owner Alex Spanos gave a $4-million donation to the Progress for America Voter Fund, which backed Bush.

NFL officials haven't responded yet, and I doubt they will. They have too much invested in Pat Tillman's death to care about the surviving family members, much less the truth.

Home-Grown Athletes

It's a common stereotype: Homeschoolers miss out on so many opportunities by not attending regular schools, such as socializing with other kids and participating in sports. Try telling that to the members of the 300 teams competing in the National Christian Homeschool Basketball Championships in Oklahoma City:

Only a decade ago, home-school athletics was considered little more than organized recess for children without traditional classrooms. Now, home-school players are tracked by scouts, and dozens of them have accepted scholarships to colleges as small as Blue Mountain in Mississippi and as well known as Iowa State.

Sorry, California's Second District Court of Appeal. I realize this isn't the kind of report you like to hear.

Bitter Ballpark Bill Shill Bites Back

Devoted Minnesota Twins fans David Hoch and Joe Marble started an organization known as "Citizens United for Baseball in Minnesota" back in 1997. The purpose of the organization was to persuade Minnesotans to support their efforts to build a new outdoor baseball stadium for billionaire Twins owner Carl Polad.

After nearly ten years, their efforts finally paid off. The legislature OK'd their publicly funded stadium. But when Minnesota's lying governor, Tim Pawlenty, showed up at the Metrodome to sign the new stadium bill into law, Hoch and Marble weren't invited to the ceremony.

Now Hoch, who is now running for governor as the candidate of the Resource Party, isn't happy. In fact, he's downright angry.

"Between us, I estimate we spent $80,000 working toward a new Twins ballpark," Hoch said in a recent Star-Tribune article. "And then down on the field, taking bows at the signing ceremony, were politicians we know opposed a new ballpark for 10 years. When I found out some of the people who were going to be there, it made me sick."

And now the Minnesota Twins have lost a fan. "I'm done with the Twins," Hoch said. "I'm never going to another game. Dome, new ballpark...never." In a June 13 radio interview, Hoch reiterated his intention to avoid the new ballpark, saying, "I guess I'll always have a chip on my shoulder."

Well, Mr. Hoch, I wish I could offer some words of comfort. You're obviously distraught, and I can see why. You embarked on a mission to get other taxpayers to fund your love of outdoor baseball and now, having been tossed aside by those who used you to get their hands on those public funds, you cannot even enjoy the fruits of your labor.

At the very least—whenever you're done behaving like a spoiled little child—maybe you can learn to appreciate the poetic justice of this situation.

A Swing and a Miss for the Baseball Hall of Fame

Now that the war in Iraq seems to be winding down, could we possibly end the petty bickering here at home?

Dale Petroskey, president of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., withdrew his invitation to actors Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon to attend a 15th anniversary celebration of the movie Bull Durham. Why? Because of their anti-war stance. "What we were trying to do was take politics out of this," Petroskey said. "We didn't want people to espouse their views in a very public place, one way or another. The Hall isn't the place for that." Well, congratulations, Mr. President! You succeeded in dragging politics into it after all.

Don't get me wrong. I believe that Dale Petroskey can do whatever he wants. He has every right to uninvite Robbins and Sarandon if he so wishes, but it makes no sense. He is essentially punishing two people for having a different opinion about the war—and getting some positive patriotic publicity in the process.

The Hall of Fame, however, was thrown a curve ball. Roger Kahn, author of The Boys of Summer, considered to be one of the greatest books about baseball ever written, has cancelled his August speaking appearance at the Hall in protest. I'm sure there will be some very disappointed baseball fans, but Petroskey isn't budging.

According to the patriotic president, the actors' comments about the war could "ultimately could put our troops in even more danger." Now, he wasn't exactly clear about how our troops could be placed in even more danger than they already are, but his reasoning is good enough for other so-called conservatives.

Let's end this childish behavior. First "Freedom Fries," now this. People are going to have a difference of opinion. Get over it. That's what America is all about. Do we really want to start equating those practicing their freedom of speech with the ones actually shooting at our troops overseas?

Please. I suppose next we'll be hearing that Pete Rose won't be allowed into the Hall of Fame, either.