Rivals.com - This was a "teaching" moment that comes up for high school coaches from time to time. You know, one of those, "We just got a bad break, and that's life, we have to deal with it."  On March 5 in Cut Bank, Mont., Isaiah Martin, a 5-foot-11 senior guard for Harlem's boys basketball team, dunked during warmups for a high school tournament game with Shelby. There was a shower of glass as the backboard shattered. Harlem had to forfeit the game. According to the Montana High School Association, dunking is not allowed in pregame warmups in tournament play. If a backboard is damaged by a pregame dunk, the offending school must forfeit. The rule was put in 10 years ago.   "I was stunned," Coach Mount said. "At first, the tournament official came to our locker room and said it would probably be a technical for breaking the backboard. Then he came back and asked me to step outside with him. It was in the rule book, in black and white.  If a backboard is broken with a dunk in a game, Mount said there is a technical called, but it is not a forfeit. He wonders why there is a difference. Mount said he told his team no dunking in pregame warmups, but when he got to the tournament there were other teams dunking in pregame. He told his kids it was OK.

As crazy as it sounds I’m kind of torn on this one.   Yeah this obviously sucks and at first blush it seems ridiculous that a team would have to forfeit a game for breaking a backboard in warm-ups.  But a rule is a rule.  I mean giving a team a technical isn’t going to stop it so if you really want to prevent dunking in warm ups you got to go with something crazy like this.  And it sounds like the coach knew his team wasn’t supposed to be jamming, but he let it slide.   Bottom line is that nobody will ever fuck this up again in Montana and that’s kind of the point.  Sure it sucks for Harlem, but what are you going to do?   You can’t just make an exception or act like the rule doesn’t exist because it won’t stop it from happening.   Now if you want to debate whether kids should be allowed to dunk in warm-ups that’s a totally different discussion, but I’m working on the premise they have reasons for this rule existing like they can't afford to fix shit like this and it wasn’t a secret.   So yeah it sucks but so does life.