To merely call this game between Southern and Champion Baptist a blowout is like calling Tom Brady or Peyton Manning a good
quarterback.
The game started 44-0 and broke the record for the longest scoring run to start a game in Division 1 basketball history. There were five minutes left in the half before Champion scored their first point. It was 52-2 by the time Zach Hendricks hit a jump shot to give Champion Baptist its first field goal. The halftime score was 57-6. Other lopsided stats include:
Champion Baptist sank only 3 of 44 shots, committed 27 turnovers and got out-rebounded 71-21. No Tigers player scored more than four points….By the end of the game, even Southern fans in attendance felt sorry for their struggling opponents. (For more, click here.)
Thinking about this game stirs several questions:
– Why would Southern or Champion Baptist schedule such an game of overmatched opponents?
– What is the actual goal or goals of this kind of Division 1 competition?
– What was actually accomplished toward those goals by such a game?
– What was the impact on the players of both teams by the game?
– What did the Southern coach do to make the game more even? (This question implies he should have desired to make the game more even, which goes back to the goals question.)
To help answer questions like this, we have written in the past on lopsided games
– 73-0!!!
– 91-0 : Coach accused of bullying!
– Five Ways to Manage Lopsided Games
Now I would some other questions:
– “Why does this kind of game bother us?”
– “Why did even the opposing fans feel sorry for the Champion Baptist team?”
I think these kinds of games rankle us because we all seem to know it isn’t right. We seem to know and agree – this overwhelming victory is not what sports are really supposed to be.
Notice. This agreed discontent implies some “universal standard” for what “sports ought to be” that when compared to what “sports is” (like this 116-12 game) we cry “FOUL” in our hearts.
Yet when I ask the questions like “What are sports supposed to be for?” or “What is the goal of athletic competition?” I often get either blank stares, or platitudes that are more what the goal is supposed to be, or, if the person is really honest, acknowledgement that competition is about winning.
I found one of the quotes that came out of this game between Southern and Champion Baptist quite interesting. After Champion Baptist made their first point via a free throw, the crowd let out a cheer. This caught the Southern coach’s attention. He said, “Before then, I didn’t realize the other team hadn’t scored.” (Sounds a little defensive.) Really? However, I will give him the benefit of the doubt and take what he said at face value.
If what the coach says is true, it shows just how blind we can become when we are focused on performance and winning so that even the obvious disparity like this goes unnoticed. This quote shows the need for a different goal of competition based on a different view of competition, a redeemed one, if we are going to eliminate games like this.
If we are going to see sports played like they “ought to be,” we need to change our definition for competition:
From – Striving against my opponents to more fully establish the greatness of my abilities for the glory of the possessor of those gifts
To – Striving with my opponents to more fully express my and their abilities for the glory of the author of those gifts
We need honesty in our pursuit or lack thereof of such a definition. Rather than ignoring others while I compete, such a definition challenges me to pay attention to them, not to beat them but to develop them.
At CSO, we are troubled by games like this. If you are as well, recognize such actions stem from a person’s definition of competition. The only way to change this kind of behavior is ultimately to change someone’s view of competition.
For a tool to help you bring about such change, check out For the Love of the Game in our store.
