Did the TSSAA do the right thing in disqualify Riverdale and Smyrna from

[ksgovols]

Spare me the strident piety.

By the time the girls reach this stage in their career, they have seen it all;

They have seen Jr Pro drafts rigged to stack teams, grown adults (whose kids are on the same team) fighting in the bleachers, inter-school recruiting, grown adults screaming at children, parents instructing their kids and over-riding the coaches, meetings with school administrators and parents over playing time, the wild-west no-rules AAU, "Christian" schools that do anything to win gold balls, and on and on.

These kids are fully aware that grown adults have blown a kids' game entirely out of proportion. They have seen excesses and abuses. They gave seen the misbehavior of gifted athletes overlooked and swept under the rug. They have seen the system gamed and the rules bent and would be hard pressed to believe that we answer to any moral standard except winning at all costs.

 

And yet, I am supposed to believe that they have been damaged beyond repair by coaches who choose to play the tournaments the way they are set up?

 

Even in this situation, it seems that most of the complaints are not over the game being thrown, but over it not being done more surreptitiously.

 

As far as I am concerned guilt or innocence is not a matter of getting caught. If these coaches should be fired, or given a lethal injection at center court in Murphy Center, then so should all the dozens of other coaches who have done the same thing since this cockamamie bracketing system was put into place. It does not matter that it was done more discreetly.

And so should the officials from the TSSAA, who have described this as "one incident" or "a rare occurence." At worst, they are outright lyiing, at best they are absolutely clueless about what is going on under their watch.

 

FIX THE SYSTEM. This would all be worth it, if we took the simple steps necessary to remove the incentive to lose. Send 4 home. Give the 3-4 winner a choice of brackets. This is not rocket science. If all we do with this is crucify the coaches that got caught, and fluff our sense of righteousness by expounding about the "integrity" of the game, then nothing is gained by this unfortunate incident.

 

Do you honestly think anyone who has devoted their life to coaching *wants* to lose a game on purpose? There is no reason for them to be placed in that position.

Here! Here!

 

It's a big picture vs little picture observation that lazarus is making.  We can keep on applying band aids to the problem of coaches/players/teams throwing games to facilitate their post season run OR we can fix the real problem which is the way the post season tournament is run.

 

Every seeding game during post season for any sport offers this opportunity.  It is very obvious in baseball where a #1 stud pitcher can take a team all the way to the state championship.  The region finals is a non-elimination game that allows teams to finagle their way into playing the team with the more favorable pitching matchup.  Kids that haven't pitched the entire post season suddenly are on the bump in this game because......................the coach wants his team to lose! 

 

TSSAA has all the power to change this.  They choose not to for $$$.  They made the weather and then stand outside in it and say 'crap, it's raining!'

 

Little picture.  Throw the book at the coaches for unethical conduct, but get ready......there's smarter coaches that will figure out how to manipulate the system in place in a less obvious way.

Edited February 25, 2015 by ksgovols

[devilsden]

hardtackle, I have been around sports most of my life, having played football in high school, and I have never heard of a team knocking down a pass on 4th down instead of intercepting it AND BEING PUNISHED FOR IT!  Are you serious?

[strongx]

TSSAA would lose the money from 16 satellite region games per class (48 total satellite games) if this happened. I do not see it happening.

BINGO! The $$ are at the root of all this - IMO. Playing a game where you can benefit more from losing is a problem. Those types of games should be abolished.

 

I've seen it many times and been involved several times. Why would anyone try to win a single game that would likely greatly reduce your chance of obtaining your team goals?

[crazzyness]

One is no better than the other.

You're right. One is no better than the other. Just like wishing you had a bass boat like your neighbor's is no better than going downtown and gutting some homeless man with a fillet knife. Cause, you know, they are both technically sins.

[UCSportsFan]

Spare me the strident piety.

By the time the girls reach this stage in their career, they have seen it all;

They have seen Jr Pro drafts rigged to stack teams, grown adults (whose kids are on the same team) fighting in the bleachers, inter-school recruiting, grown adults screaming at children, parents instructing their kids and over-riding the coaches, meetings with school administrators and parents over playing time, the wild-west no-rules AAU, "Christian" schools that do anything to win gold balls, and on and on.

These kids are fully aware that grown adults have blown a kids' game entirely out of proportion. They have seen excesses and abuses. They gave seen the misbehavior of gifted athletes overlooked and swept under the rug. They have seen the system gamed and the rules bent and would be hard pressed to believe that we answer to any moral standard except winning at all costs.

 

And yet, I am supposed to believe that they have been damaged beyond repair by coaches who choose to play the tournaments the way they are set up?

 

Even in this situation, it seems that most of the complaints are not over the game being thrown, but over it not being done more surreptitiously.

 

As far as I am concerned guilt or innocence is not a matter of getting caught. If these coaches should be fired, or given a lethal injection at center court in Murphy Center, then so should all the dozens of other coaches who have done the same thing since this cockamamie bracketing system was put into place. It does not matter that it was done more discreetly.

And so should the officials from the TSSAA, who have described this as "one incident" or "a rare occurence." At worst, they are outright lyiing, at best they are absolutely clueless about what is going on under their watch.

 

FIX THE SYSTEM. This would all be worth it, if we took the simple steps necessary to remove the incentive to lose. Send 4 home. Give the 3-4 winner a choice of brackets. This is not rocket science. If all we do with this is crucify the coaches that got caught, and fluff our sense of righteousness by expounding about the "integrity" of the game, then nothing is gained by this unfortunate incident.

 

Do you honestly think anyone who has devoted their life to coaching *wants* to lose a game on purpose? There is no reason for them to be placed in that position.

Best post i've read in a long long time couldn't agree more!   How many teams ducked Shelbyville in their haydays?  More than several without a doubt!!!!

[tnwareagle]

Whether it's been done before or not and whether or not TSSAA has a good setup is not the issue. The issue is that these girls were wrong as were the coaches. Anyone who has seen the video of the game can see that the girls were blatantly making a mockery of the game. Sure, blame the coaches, but the girls were too blatant. Plus, one person on here said that most of the girls and parents agreed with what they did and would do it again. That is sad, and if so, I would not want that girl on my team. Comparing walks in baseball and dropping an interception to what these teams did is like comparing apples and oranges. They don't purposely walk a person to LOSE a game and the player doesn't drop a pass to LOSE a game. There is strategy and then there is mockery of a beloved game. That was mockery. How embarrassing that every national sports channel and news channel has carried this. Don't blame TSSAA for the teams' actions. Yes, I agree that only three teams should advance to region, but you cant justify what happened.

[EHSTrack06]

This story made national media coverage. Espn's Colin cowherd is doing a segment on it as I type this

[etownguy39]

Hardtackle all your instances were done with still the intent to win the game not loose. 

[anotherback]

Maybe now they will stop the recruiting of players across the state. It's sickening . You can't beat the team across town with the players you have coming back do go get more. How sad we've become when you can't take losing as a coach system or whatever. Sports are being ruined.

Edited February 25, 2015 by anotherback

[QuatroQuatroDad]

It funny… as I read these comments, most of you’ve seen a short clip or read the papers, but hardly none of you was actually at the game.

As a Riverdale parent I will say repeatedly the girls didn’t know! I can’t vouch for Smyrna, but Riverdale girls didn't have a clue they were going to be coached not to win. Riverdale starters had 4 3’s the first quarter! There were steal attempts and everything. When Smyrna cleared its bench at the beginning of the second quarter, Riverdale followed suit. That’s where it all went downhill. Middleton wants to lie and save face by telling the news he only cleared his bench because Riverdale wasn’t scoring. The score was 21-22!

The girls should not have been punished. They were simply obeying their coach’s orders. I know if my daughter was told that (to lose) out right she would’ve had an issue with it……but they didn’t know. Anyone on here who blames the girls or states that they should have done something is unrealistic that girls were going to come together and overrule the coach in the middle of a game situation.

The girls have bared the brunt of this punishment, especially the seniors. If T$$AA can judge these girls so harshly and swiftly, I want to see what they do to fix the situation. YES THIS HAPPEN EVERY YEAR! If you say it don’t you lie!

Is the T$$AA responsible? Yes, because they know it’s been going on for years

Are the coaches, AD, and principals responsible? Yes, because they are the adult we chose to be the administrators over our children and advise them on right and wrong. NO ONE STOPPED THE GAME

Are the girls responsible? No, innocent bystanders. Their season should not have ended. It’s not fair to them.

Btw both teams had two girls each make all district…..Riverdale should’ve had at least three placing second in the regular season. But that’s another coaches integrity issue!

C'mon...give the girls more credit. I'm pretty sure they are smart enough to know what was going on.

[Hubbard]

Here! Here!

 

It's a big picture vs little picture observation that lazarus is making.  We can keep on applying band aids to the problem of coaches/players/teams throwing games to facilitate their post season run OR we can fix the real problem which is the way the post season tournament is run.

 

Every seeding game during post season for any sport offers this opportunity.  It is very obvious in baseball where a #1 stud pitcher can take a team all the way to the state championship.  The region finals is a non-elimination game that allows teams to finagle their way into playing the team with the more favorable pitching matchup.  Kids that haven't pitched the entire post season suddenly are on the bump in this game because......................the coach wants his team to lose! 

 

TSSAA has all the power to change this.  They choose not to for $$$.  They made the weather and then stand outside in it and say 'crap, it's raining!'

 

Little picture.  Throw the book at the coaches for unethical conduct, but get ready......there's smarter coaches that will figure out how to manipulate the system in place in a less obvious way.

 

Big Picture - Do what is right and don't hide behind excuses.

[wingman10]

Whether it's been done before or not and whether or not TSSAA has a good setup is not the issue. The issue is that these girls were wrong as were the coaches. Anyone who has seen the video of the game can see that the girls were blatantly making a mockery of the game. Sure, blame the coaches, but the girls were too blatant. Plus, one person on here said that most of the girls and parents agreed with what they did and would do it again. That is sad, and if so, I would not want that girl on my team. Comparing walks in baseball and dropping an interception to what these teams did is like comparing apples and oranges. They don't purposely walk a person to LOSE a game and the player doesn't drop a pass to LOSE a game. There is strategy and then there is mockery of a beloved game. That was mockery. How embarrassing that every national sports channel and news channel has carried this. Don't blame TSSAA for the teams' actions. Yes, I agree that only three teams should advance to region, but you cant justify what happened.

good post