Daring to win
January 24th 2009 07:02
Sport, like politics, is about daring to win.
Two Texas high school basketball teams met last week. The girls from The Covenant School scored 100 points, the girls from Dallas Academy scored zero.
The score is a disgrace. For the members of the losing team, you might put a bit of positive spin on the experience by saying it took courage to finish the game and, little compensation though it may sound right now, you made some people proud by hanging in there.
There is little to offer the members of the winning team except a promise to find out what sort of nincompoop allowed such a mismatch to occur. The organisers need to be thoroughly scolded and then made to write out 100 times, "I can do better".
And there, with an enquiry into how such a mess came to be, the matter should be left.
Unfortunately, The Covenant School, a private Christian organisation, disagrees. They have decided to apply for the result to be annulled and to apologise for their margin of victory.
According to Kyle Queal, head coach at The Covenant School, a forfeit had been requested because "a victory without honour is a great loss".
"It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened," he added. The game "does not reflect a Christ-like and honorable approach to competition."
What sort of murky-minded, substance-starved, brainless gibberish is this? A victory without honour is a great loss indeed, but it depends on your definition of honour. Did the winners spike the drinks of the losers? Did they seduce their boyfriends en masse the night before the game? Of course not. All they did was show up for a poorly organised basketball competition.
Forfeit the game and pretend it never happened? Is that going to make the losers feel better? Is it going to reinforce their resolve to try harder next time?
Is it going to make the winners better people? Is it going to help them mature as sports women?
The people behind this decision are confused. Sport is not some game of lucky dip where every child is guaranteed a prize. Sport is about daring to put your body and your mind on the line.
The coaches have got it wrong. They are setting a bad example. Worst of all, they don't know how to win.
image: www.umass.edu
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