Running up the score equals bullying?

[tippy2k2]

If I may be so bold, picture this scenario:

You are a high school student on a football team. Your team is fired up and ready to go against the one of the best teams in the nation but you're fired up because you think you have a chance...you were wrong. You were very...VERY wrong.

91-0

Your opponents pulled their first stringers in the first quarter. Your opponents then starting pulling their second stringers in the second half and played some third stringers but alas, it did no good. Every third play was a scoring play and your team was utterly curb-stomped. The "Running clock" rule began for the second half but all that did was end the destruction sooner...

However, now the fun begins. Your Dad (or Mom, the report is anonymous) files a formal complaint against the winning coach for bullying.

http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/23/after-his-kids-high-school-football-team-loses-91-0-dad-files-bullying-complaint/

Spoiler: The actual story if you're interested

A father in Texas has filed a formal complaint charging the coaches at Aledo High School with bullying after the Aledo High Bearcats beat the tar out of the Cougars of Western Hills High School by a score of 91-0 on Friday night.

The man?s son plays on the Western Hills High football team.

School officials at Aledo High on the outskirts of Fort Worth have made a copy of the complaint publicly available, reports Dallas-area ABC affiliate WFAA. The father?s name is blacked out.

?We all witnessed bullying first hand, it is not a pretty sight,? the complaint reads.

?I did not know what to say on the ride home to explain the behavior of the Aledo coaches for not easing up.?

The unidentified parent apparently filled out a web-based bullying form. For a description of what occurred, he wrote, ?Unsportsmanlike conduct from 7:30 ? 10:00,? reports local Fox affiliate KDFW.

In a section concerning witnesses, the frustrated father identified ?everyone in the football stadium.?

He also suggested that the blowout had to have been an awkward experience for the winning team, too.

?I thought how tough it must have been for the parents of the Aledo football players to explain what happened,? the displeased dad reflected.

Tim Buchanan, the football coach at Aledo High, agreed on this last point.

?You don?t want to see their kids give up 91 points,? Buchanan told WFAA. ?Our kids aren?t very excited at the end of the game, either.?

However, Buchanan adamantly defended his coaching staff and his players against the bullying charge.

?I?m not going to ask a football player to go out on the field and not play hard,? he told the ABC station.

Buchanan said he benched his starters after the first quarter in favor of second-string players?then the third-string.

?I?m not gonna tell a kid that comes out here and practices six to seven hours a week trying to get ready for football games ?Hey, you can?t score a touchdown if you get in, you?re gonna have to take a knee,? ?cause that may be the only touchdown that kid gets to score in his high school career,? Buchanan told KDFW.

Under state law, reports Fox News, the principal of Aledo High is now required to investigate the bullying complaint and write a report.

Friday?s football game isn?t Aledo High?s first blowout win. The undefeated powerhouse has been pulverizing opponents all season. There was an 84-7 win against South Hills High, for example, and a 77-16 victory over Wyatt High.

In the closest game of the season, Stephensville High held Aledo to a score of 56-14.

On the other hand, the winless Western Hills High School football team has endured a dismal 2013 campaign.

The Western Hills coach, John Naylor, told KDFW he doesn?t think his team was bullied. He said he is proud of his players because they played hard against a better team.

Aledo school district superintendent Derek Citty noted that he would like to see the local high school move into a league comprised of better teams next year.

Now at this point, the school district has investigated and cleared the coach of any wrongdoing. However, it did get me wondering about this since I know my own view on bullying is a bit...harsh [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.407480-Poll-Do-you-want-an-apology] as described by some

I suppose there are two questions here;

1st: Is there anyone that would call this bullying? The parent is arguing that it is bullying because the coach ran up the score so much on his kids team.
2nd: Did the winning school do anything wrong here (so it's not bullying but they should have done more to pull in the reigns)?

 

[Lieju]

I think this is silly. (Of course it's just one parent, and it might be more of a case of being mad at losing and abusing the complaintment-system rather than actually believing it was bullying)
Unless they were purposely going against much younger kids or something, why should you not play the game as well as you can?

Of course you can do that in an unsporting manner as well, but just winning? No.

 

[krazykidd]

I don't understand . I read the spoilers and still don't i'm honestly asking this question . What exactly is being considered as bullying. I will reply with an answer when i fully understand.

 

[Realitycrash]

No idea how this constitutes bullying. The article doesn't say anything about unsporting behavior, what exactly did the coach do?

 

[tippy2k2]

I don't understand . I read the spoilers and still don't i'm honestly asking this question . What exactly is being considered as bullying. I will reply with an answer when i fully understand.

No idea how this constitutes bullying. The article doesn't say anything about unsporting behavior, what exactly did the coach do?

The parent in question argues that it was bullying because

A. Accusing the oppositions coach of running up the score against the team unnecessarily
B. This in turn causes their son to feel really bad...

That's basically it. I think that it's absolutely preposterous but I figured there might be someone who agrees with the Dad so I threw it out there.

I know I thought it was preposterous about people wanting an apology from their former bullies (see my other thread I linked up there) but it seemed like there were plenty of people who disagreed so I was curious if this might be the same kind of thing.

 

[MysticSlayer]

I don't understand . I read the spoilers and still don't i'm honestly asking this question . What exactly is being considered as bullying. I will reply with an answer when i fully understand.

No idea how this constitutes bullying. The article doesn't say anything about unsporting behavior, what exactly did the coach do?

A belief that I heard tossed around a lot while playing sports is that you always go easy once it is apparent the other team is incapable of keeping up with you. In football, that would equate to only going as far as the opponent's one-yard line before refusing to go any further, taking a knee on every play, or anything that prevents you from scoring. Personally, though, I think it is ridiculous. If anything, it is more insulting because:

1. It reinforces the notion that the other team is incapable of stopping you on their own, forcing you to to stop yourself. At least give the other team a chance to stop you for real. They would be much more satisfied that way.

2. It comes across as taunting the opponent, reminding them that you're beating them badly. Constantly scoring does the same, but not in a horribly mocking way.

As a result, I think the complaint is just wrong.

 

[krazykidd]

I don't understand . I read the spoilers and still don't i'm honestly asking this question . What exactly is being considered as bullying. I will reply with an answer when i fully understand.

No idea how this constitutes bullying. The article doesn't say anything about unsporting behavior, what exactly did the coach do?

The parent in question argues that it was bullying because

A. Accusing the oppositions coach of running up the score against the team unnecessarily
B. This in turn causes their son to feel really bad...

That's basically it. I think that it's absolutely preposterous but I figured there might be someone who agrees with the Dad so I threw it out there.

I know I thought it was preposterous about people wanting an apology from their former bullies (see my other thread I linked up there) but it seemed like there were plenty of people who disagreed so I was curious if this might be the same kind of thing.

Ah i get it.

Okay i think that's silly . I get the losing team is losing morale , fine . However , the winning team put in a lot of work and effort to be able to win. There was no foul play , just hard work. Unfortunately that led to a completely one sided match. I see nothing wrong with that. That just means that the losing team(s) need to work harder . Highschool ( and college) sports are important . It's important to do your best. If a losing team getting crushed makes the team lose morale , purposely pulling punches will make a wining team stop taking the sport seriously .

Maybe a better match making system ( this sounds like a videogame now) should be adopted.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

I remember back in my hearty old school days when men were men, boys were boys, and chocolate wasn't so freaking expensive (2005)
Watching our first-string rugby team head off in their battered mini van to travel from our small country grammar school to one of those high flying big city private schools with their own swimming pools and multi-million gyms and proper rugby coaching and real teachers and stuff, we didn't have a hope in hell of getting anywhere near their touchline, but we went anyway, high spirited and jolly, because it was fun, and if you got frustrated you could always wait until mid scrum and then stud the proud jackass that performed that slightly-higher-than-should-have-been-legal-but-the-ref-allowed-it-anyway tackle.
Well anyways, as the rusting minibus pulled out of the gates and covered the road in black exhaust smoke on it's way to inevitable defeat I remember hearing the dulcet tones of the rugby boys harmonising over the mechanical squeal of the gearbox in a glorious chorus of delicate soft poetry; "When I was just a little girl, I asked my mother, what would I be..."

And I remember taking that time to stop and reflect on the fact that they were perfectly happy going off to a match they were going to get absolutely trounced at, how they'd clearly put far more effort into singing than they ever did rugby, and on an unrelated note how I should probably totally be in class right now.

Yeah... It's high school sports. Kids are developed enough to know how to deal with losing a game of football, and if someone really gets super depressed because they lost pretty badly then there's clearly some other crap going on in their lives that they need to take a good hard look at. Teenagers are not so thin skinned, it's not bullying and it's not damaging to lose by 1 point or to lose by 1000,000, especially if it's a team sport because the blame lies on no individual in particular.

That they all knew the words to this song by heart explains a lot about our rugby team.

 

[Weaver]

I think this is silly. If you're worse you're worse. That's life, deal with it.
Bad sportsmanship? Maybe, but it's not bullying.

 

[shootthebandit]

91-0 is that even possible? Theyd have to score a goal a minute

Anyway back on topic. Why do we have this culture where noone can lose. Its not healthy and its just pussifying the next generation and its going to turn them all into little brats who think they can do anything. We all lose all the time. Losing is a huge part of life and its where we learn most of our lessons. If we go around saying someone was bullying simply because they beat us then what kind of word would we live in. We dont complain to an employer and say they bullied us because we "lost" a job interview to a better candidate

 

[Shock and Awe]

Thats absolutely hilarious. I don't think I need to explain how this guy is just mad that his kids team had the crap beaten out of them by a team that was obviously much better at football.

 

[FalloutJack]

I suppose there are two questions here;

1st: Is there anyone that would call this bullying? The parent is arguing that it is bullying because the coach ran up the score so much on his kids team.
2nd: Did the winning school do anything wrong here (so it's not bullying but they should have done more to pull in the reigns)?

{1} No, I believe what they call this in the biz...is a Shut-Out. What you're suppose to do with this is understand that the other team not only wanted it more, but that you need to prepare harder next time.

{2} They played the fucking game. If there was unsportsmanlike conduct, somebody official would say.

 

[Lost In The Void]

I found it more insulting, on the losing side, if a team took it easy after establishing a lead. If I wanna play a game, whether it was hockey when I was younger, or rugby as an adult, I want to push through and go hard the entire game, whether the score is tied or completely one sided.

Fuck this, this is not bullying

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

91-0 is that even possible? Theyd have to score a goal a minute

American football, they'd have to get 13 touchdowns at 7 points each.

I mean, that's still absolutely ridiculous, I don't think I've ever even seen a game that went over 50.

 

[lacktheknack]

I believe he used the word "bullying" in place of "valuable lesson in failure".

Failure, even massive failure, is something that people don't need to be protected from. I failed a lot on a lot of things, and I'm glad, because when the REALLY big failure hit (flunking out of University), I was able to cope.

It's not bullying to allow a teen to fail. I'm a bit disturbed that this is considered a thing now.

 

[Vegosiux]

Bullying? No. Not even closely. Nasty and crushing, yes, but that's sports for you sometimes.

I blame this on the Western pop culture where the underdog, without fail, always pulls a miracle comeback and either wins or loses just narrowly (but earns their status as "worthy opponent"). Life don't always work that way.

And I agree with the coach - unless it's a friendly game meant to be in good fun and showing the rookies some tricks (much easier to let them learn anything if you don't completely stomp them, so that they can pay attention), you don't tell your players to "go easy on them".

 

[HardkorSB]

You know who's doing the bullying in this case? The overprotective parent who's trying to use the legal system to "beat up" the coach for daring to have a better team under his wing.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

So, top ranked team that's been curbstomping everyone else completely ROFLstops a bottom ranked team and reaches the point where the top ranked coach is sending out bench-warmers and his dregs to go a little easier on the opponents...

And an opposing teams dad is accusing him of 'bullying.'

That dad should be brought up on charges of 'being a complete embarrassment.'

Unless it's a silly game or something for charity, asking athletes to 'go easy' on the opposing team is extremely disrespectful, heck it could even be considered match-fixing.

 

[Brian Tams]

Oh shit! A topic on the Escapist mentioning Aledo, our bitter (swim) rivals! Never thought I'd see that. The only thing more surprising is that it wasn't my old High School that got blown out (it is historically dismal at Football. Pretty good at Basketball, though).

OT: The coach did everything he could. He put the teams worse players in the game, and they still crushed them. If you want to stop blowouts, create a Mercy Rule; don't punish the coach.

Christ, I hope this doesn't become the same bullshit where that Girls Basketball team got shutout in a basketball game, and the school felt so bad that they gave them medals. For getting shutout in basketball.

Hell, I think the coach of the other team got fired for that.

EDIT-I'm waiting for the ever fallacious argument "You wouldn't say this if it was YOUR kid!!!" argument to crop up at some point.

 

[Kyrinn]

Pretty much anyone who has played a competitive sport will tell you winning like this sucks just as much for the winning team as for the losing team. The spirit of competition is completely gone at that point and to continue playing just feels awkward. Do you continue to play properly but completely stomp the other team? Or do you go easy and end up treating them as an unworthy opponent? It's a no win situation.

Short answer: no.