Adults Freak Out When a Girls High School Basketball Team Wins 93-7
Source – In the opening round of the Massachusetts state high school girls’ basketball tournament, the East Bridgewater Lady Vikings overwhelmed Roxbury’s Madison Park Technical Vocational School from the opening tip. …
East Bridgewater appeared to keep its foot on the gas, using a full-court press into the third quarter, sinking 3-point shots, and allowing some of their best players to remain in the game.
When the final buzzer sounded last week, with an astounding score of 93-7, the announcers seemed flummoxed, and news of the blowout began to ping across the country, eliciting strong negative reaction on social media and in news reports. Some ordinary people were appalled. …
East Bridgewater School Superintendent Elizabeth Legault apologized, calling the wide gulf in points an “unfortunate situation” and saying that it is not a reflection of the school’s student body or athletic program. East Bridgewater girls’ basketball coach Andrew MacDonald and athletic director Patrick Leonard did not respond to requests for interviews.
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The target of the suburban team’s overzealous play was a predominantly minority vocational school, which has struggled to overcome near-constant controversy about its leadership and effectiveness.
A statement from Madison Park assistant principal and athletic director Kristen Weeks praised the team for its season. … “We are even more proud of our players and coaches for the character, integrity, and resiliency they displayed in the face of adversity,” Weeks said in her statement. …
Indeed, after East Bridgewater defeated Madison Park and moved to the next round in the state tournament, it lost to Archbishop Williams by a resounding 52-33.
I only mention this about as often as Francis brings up that he went to Harvard. But I’ll say it here: I’ve coached youth sports. Between two sons I’d say I probably have 24 seasons on my resume in three sports over a dozen or so years. I’ve been involved in too many ass kickings to count. Both as the kicker and the kickee. Some involving East Bridgewater, believe it or not. I’ve coached teams that won Super Bowls, the worst team in the league and a baseball team full of lovable misfits that barely squeaked into the playoffs, pulled off a miracle run and beat the powerhouse for the town championship. And so I call on all that life experience to say the East Bridgewater superintendent and the Madison Park athletic director both need to shut it.
Yes, the story of the 93-7 game has been around the world and gave birth to probably a billion comment section angry, sanctimonious screeds about how damaging this was to those poor Madison Park girls and how coach Andrew MacDonald needs to be fired and put in stocks in the East Bridgewater village green. But you know who’s not angry? Who’s not the least bit upset? The girls of Madison Park basketball.
Personally, I’m a foot-off-the-gas guy. When you’re up three touchdowns midway through the second half, to me that’s the time to empty your bench and make sure everyone gets to play. Sometimes even then you’re playing a team so bad you still increase your lead. That’s life. I’ve been on the pointy end of the spear in blowouts where the opposing coach keeps his stars in and there’s nothing you can do but take it. Those games suck, but only adults who have never been around youth athletics think it’s psychologically damaging to the kids.
If youth sports is supposed to be all about learning lessons about life (Spoiler: They’re not. In the long run, they’re just funtivities), then there is no more useful lesson to learn than your own limitations. And sometimes your inferiority. I don’t know a soul on that Madison Park team but I promise you within 10 minutes of the final buzzer they were Snapchatting with the Bunny Face filter, trying to get their hands on a box of wine and moving on with their lives. Just like the Lady Vikings were the following game when they got trounced. So we need less yapping from adults who think winning big is a crime against humanity or pretend they’re proud of “character” in the face of an 86-point loss. Mostly we just need them all to remember it’s no more complicated than “sometimes you eat the bar and sometimes the bar eats you.”