I Have Eight Thoughts Regarding the Bloomington South vs. Arlington Basketball Game:
1. I understand people are upset that there was such a wide gap in the score... but life is unfair and one team was good and one team was bad. I know that's a tough lesson to hear, but everyone is acting like the result was unreasonable, and I don't mean just the score. I don't think that it is at all. I would like to ask some questions though...
2. What were some concrete options that were within the given set of rules, according to the IHSAA, that they could have done differently? Everyone is acting like the Bloomington South Coach had malice in his heart. Did the Arlington team want to forfeit and end the game early? Because they could have walked off the court to avoid embarrassment… but they didn’t. They stayed out there and got their tails kicked. Seems like a great life lesson to me! Sometimes you work hard, really hard, and you still get your tail kicked. Someone else is better than you. Sounds like when I did countless job interviews and I kept being told that someone was better than me.
3. Everyone is acting like 107 is an amazing amount of points to be scored in a game. That's only 3.5 points per minute. Against a team that bad, maybe Bloomington South could have scored 200 points. Quite possibly, they only scored half of what they could have. I mean just a couple of weeks ago one lone player scored 138 in a competitive college game...
4. Should Bloomington South have purposefully missed shots or not have taken them? Should they have just dribbled the ball the entire time? Seems worse off if you ask me.
5. Should Arlington have forfeited, OR should the losing coach have said, “Coach Winters, you guys are clearly outplaying us and we are no match for you, so WE forfeit.” No! And neither coach did that, because that is not within the current rules. I like the following quote from Coach Winters. “I didn’t tell my girls to stop shooting because that would have been more embarrassing (to Arlington),” he said, noting Arlington was playing an aggressive 2-3 zone. “We were not trying to embarrass them or run up the score.”
6. I also like this fact written in the Indiapolis Star: “Winters is in favor of a "mercy rule" -- the game is called to an early end when one team has a presumably insurmountable lead.” And also note that the losing coach (Jackson) said she was not. “It’s basketball,” said Jackson, who said she didn’t confront Winters after the game because she didn’t think it would be respectful and was only concerned about her team. “You see where you are and go out there and play. I’m not mad. (Winters) is running a great program. We’ll go back to the drawing board and I’ll nurture my players.”
7. When people (coaches in this case) are judged after the fact about what they should have done differently, the people judging them have hindsight in their favor. Maybe the coach was blindsided with how bad the other team was, and maybe he always has his girls concentrate on improving their skills and playing to the best of their ability regardless of who they are playing. There isn't anything wrong with that. In fact, that's good coaching.
8. Whether in a team or individual sport, if you try your hardest to win or lose, you can hold your head high knowing that you competed as well as you could. Some of the biggest lessons I learned myself were just how far I had to go when I played against a standout girl or team. My choice was either to be upset about the fact that the other girl(s) had either outworked me over the years and had opportunities I hadn’t had, OR become determined to become better than I was currently and not throw myself a pity party. That is why I will never make excuses for a performance by myself or any team I coach. It is also why I will tell my athletes to play their hardest regardless of how good or bad the other team is.
In summary, life is unfair. Either rise up and become better or throw yourself a self entitled pity party!
By: Kristine Miller
Well said and this website agrees with our guest. I have been upset all week that people are making a big deal of that game.
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