now Coach says he's not sorry for 100-point win

Associated Press
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DALLAS — The coach of a Texas high school basketball team that beat another team 100-0 sent an e-mail to a newspaper saying he will not apologize "for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with honor and integrity."

On its Web site last week, the Covenant School of Dallas, a private Christian school, posted a statement regretting the outcome of its Jan. 13 shutout win over Dallas Academy. "It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christlike and honorable approach to competition," said the statement, signed by Kyle Queal, head of school, and board chair Todd Doshier.

Covenant coach Micah Grimes, who has been criticized for letting the game get so far out of hand, made it clear in the e-mail Sunday to The Dallas Morning News that he does not agree with his school's assessment.

"In response to the statement posted on The Covenant School Web site, I do not agree with the apology or the notion that the Covenant School girls basketball team should feel embarrassed or ashamed," Grimes wrote in the e-mail, according to the newspaper. "We played the game as it was meant to be played. My values and my beliefs would not allow me to run up the score on any opponent, and it will not allow me to apologize for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with honor and integrity."

A phone number for Grimes could not be located by The Associated Press. The Dallas Morning News said Grimes did not respond to their repeated e-mail requests for a telephone interview.

Queal did not immediately return a phone message left at his home Sunday afternoon by the AP. There was no answer at a number listed for Doshier.

A parent who attended the game said Covenant continued to make 3-pointers— even in the fourth quarter. She praised the Covenant players but said spectators and an assistant coach were cheering wildly as their team edged closer to 100 points.

Covenant was up 59-0 at halftime.

Dallas Academy has eight girls on its varsity team and about 20 girls in its high school. It is winless over the last four seasons. The academy boasts of its small class sizes and specializes in teaching students struggling with "learning differences," such as short attention spans or dyslexia.

There is no mercy rule in girls basketball that shortens the game or permits the clock to continue running when scores become one-sided. There is, however, "a golden rule" that should have applied in this contest, said Edd Burleson, the director of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, said last week. Both schools are members of this association, which oversees private school athletics in Texas.

The story has received national attention, and the Dallas Academy team has been recognized for refusing to give up during the lopsided contest.

Here is a coach who clearly has no standards or integrity. To make a comment that your girls played with honour and integrity is him clearly missing the point. Nobody is questioning the girls who played the game, everybody is questioning the coach himself.
He has brought negative attention to a school that is ashamed and embarrassed at the result and behaviour of this coach. The mere fact that he responded the way he did shows what kind of individual he is. This was his chance to at least handle himself professionally with class.I find him a joke and it is sad because his kids will take a ton of abuse for following the orders of this fool.

Really sad!

I tihnk the coach is very smart for wining by that much and not showing class. it really shows how good his team is in comparison to ther teams in the area and winniable his attitude is.
I agree deeply iwht him.

VC, you must be joking.

Just discovered that the coach, Micah Grimes, has been released by the school. Perhaps "Micah" might now have some time to read from the Old Teastament prophet for whom he was named:
"This is what the Lord asks of you:
only this, to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God."
Micah 6:8

I have been on both ends of a blowout and I have found that I usually have a good idea of the mismatch between the teams ahead of time. When losing by a lot, I don't speak to the opposing coach and would find it condescending if he/she were to do something completely out of their ordinary strategy.

So long as the game was played fairly and with sportsmanship, I wouldn't complain (for example Donovan McNabb's "telephone call" vs. the Giants would cross the line between having fun and showing up the opponent). Given the tiered level of high school and club competition, coaches can usually schedule appropriate match-ups.

On occasions when I knew the other team was better than us, I scheduled the game to show our team how an excellent team operates or show the players where I expect them to be next year. If bench players had the ball stolen multiple times in the 4th quarter, I would consider that to be a meaningful lesson about practice.

You can tell someone that something (i.e. practice) is important but they won't "buy-in" until they believe it for themselves. I am a believer in intrinsic motivation, rather than the extrinsic type.

On the other side of things, I would likely call off a fullcourt/trapping defense. Still, I wouldn't want my team to form bad defensive habits or get into the habit of taking teams lightly. I'd want to see tight player to player defence and good boxing out until the final buzzer.

Since the game wasn't televised but made the national news anyways, there may have been poor sportsmanship. The line that "spectators and an assistant coach were cheering wildly" seems odd. If the three-pointers were open shots, I wouldn't have a problem with an opponent taking them but I would hope the coaching staff, players, and fans would show some perspective in their reactions.

I have been on both ends of a blowout and I have found that I usually have a good idea of the mismatch between the teams ahead of time. When losing by a lot, I don't speak to the opposing coach and would find it condescending if he/she were to do something completely out of their ordinary strategy.

So long as the game was played fairly and with sportsmanship, I wouldn't complain (for example Donovan McNabb's "telephone call" vs. the Giants would cross the line between having fun and showing up the opponent). Given the tiered level of high school and club competition, coaches can usually schedule appropriate match-ups.

On occasions when I knew the other team was better than us, I scheduled the game to show our team how an excellent team operates or show the players where I expect them to be next year. If bench players had the ball stolen multiple times in the 4th quarter, I would consider that to be a meaningful lesson about practice.

You can tell someone that something (i.e. practice) is important but they won't "buy-in" until they believe it for themselves. I am a believer in intrinsic motivation, rather than the extrinsic type.

On the other side of things, I would likely call off a fullcourt/trapping defense. Still, I wouldn't want my team to form bad defensive habits or get into the habit of taking teams lightly. I'd want to see tight player to player defence and good boxing out until the final buzzer.

Since the game wasn't televised but made the national news anyways, there may have been poor sportsmanship. The line that "spectators and an assistant coach were cheering wildly" seems odd. If the three-pointers were open shots, I wouldn't have a problem with an opponent taking them but I would hope the coaching staff, players, and fans would show some perspective in their reactions.

This story was in today's Dallas News:

" Covenant coach who beat Dallas Academy 100-0 is fired"


The Covenant School fired its girls basketball coach Sunday, the same day he posted a message on a youth basketball Web site saying he disagreed with school officials who had publicly apologized for the team's 100-0 victory over Dallas Academy.

In reporting the firing, Kyle Queal, Covenant's head of school, emphasized that former coach Micah Grimes "now only represents himself" when discussing the game, which has become a national talking point. Queal said he could not say whether the firing was a direct result of the posting and declined to answer any questions.

In a statement posted Sunday on www.flightbasketball.com, Grimes offered his first public comment since the story was first reported.

"I respectfully disagree with the apology, especially the notion that the Covenant School girls basketball team should feel 'embarrassed' or 'ashamed,' " part of the post says. "We played the game as it was meant to be played and would not intentionally run up the score on any opponent. Although a wide-margin victory is never evidence of compassion, my girls played with honor and integrity and showed respect to Dallas Academy."

Grimes also included the quarter-by-quarter scoring on his post: 35, 24, 29, 12.

At the end of his post on the Web site, which identifies him as co-founder of Flight Basketball, Grimes wrote, "So if I lose my job over these statements, I will walk away with my integrity."

Grimes did not teach or work at The Covenant School. He was in his fourth season as girls basketball coach, having built the program from a 2-19 record his first season to a state championship contender last season. Covenant, which plays larger out-of-district schools, is 6-3 this season and undefeated in its Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools district. It has informed TAPPS headquarters that it has chosen to forfeit the Dallas Academy game.

Grimes responded briefly to an e-mail request for an interview, indicating that he might speak at a future date.

On Thursday, Covenant posted a statement on its Web site that said it "regrets ... the outcome of the game with the Dallas Academy Varsity Girls Basketball team. It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christ-like and honorable approach to competition." It was signed by Queal and Todd Doshier, chairman of the school's board of trustees.

That was also the day the national spotlight began focusing on the game, following a report in The Dallas Morning News on the 100-point shutout on Jan. 13.

Dallas Academy coaches and administrators say Covenant kept the pressure on until it reached 100 points midway through the fourth quarter.

Until Sunday, Grimes hadn't made any public comments since he e-mailed The News on Wednesday night. In that e-mail, which was also sent to Queal and athletic director Brice Helton, Grimes called scoring 100 points "unfortunate."

"It just happened," he wrote. "Please know Covenant intended no harm against them. I see this as a real learning opportunity, so we can prevent this from happening in the future."

Grimes said in his Sunday post that his team stopped applying full-court defensive pressure after the score reached 25-0 three minutes into the game, then dropped into a relatively benign zone defense and began resting its starters in favor of its three bench players.

Dallas Academy coach Andrew Lott agreed that Covenant stopped pressing at that point but returned with an alternate press later in the game.

"I am 100 percent sure," said Lott, who estimated that his team was able to take seven shots all game.

Dallas Academy, renowned for its work with students who have learning disabilities, is winless this season and has not won a game in at least four seasons.

"He's entitled to his opinion," Lott said of Grimes' assessment of the game. "If you ask 10 people about it, you might get 10 different answers."

Lott said his team did not videotape the game, hosted by Covenant, but he is certain Covenant did.

"Maybe we could look at the tape," Lott said.

Cheryl Bugg, whose daughter is one of Covenant's top players, said she didn't want to talk about the firing.

She said the parents of the team's eight players met with school officials Saturday and outlined three goals for the program:

"We want to represent Christ with the highest respect, we don't want to humiliate anyone ever and we want our students to be enthusiastic in everything they do."

I personnally believe in a winning attitude but thats just my coaching philosphy.If thats not accepted in highschool, then i shall coach the portland trailblazers next year. Well, probably not them but a division 3 school in the states is a possibility.

I first heard this story on ESPN on Friday. Then I have constantly heard this on radio sports shows since. Add this to the statement made by the school and this coach should have the common sense to realize that this is all negative reactions and publicity for him and the school. The fact that he showed zero remorse even though he is getting raked across the US in newspapers, television and radio shows that he doesn't understand. As I have said, the kids that play for him are the ones that will take a ton of abuse and add that to the fact he is representing an educational institution should at least make him realize that this is not all about him.
The school has been cast into a negative light for which they drastically want to be dis-associated with. I do not agree with administration over-riding decisions made by a coach in most cases. This is not one of them. I give them full credit.
"VC for MVP", you are fully entitled to your opinion and I fully respect that. I also 100% kindly disagree with what you have said.

Would it make a difference if they won 70-0 or even 50-0. What's the big fuss about?
Should the team have stoped playing and allow the other team to score a basket? come on....
Hey! not the coach fault that the other team was not as strong. He want to play ball and he did, and he WON. We all have our own ego in some way or another. Who's the Judge.....

True anotherlevel true.

i agree wit u
people makin to big a thing bout it. who cares

Because experiences like this makes kids stop playing sports because its become no fun anymore. Beacause coaches stop giving their time because of a**hole coaches like the one in this story. Because kids learn the wrong lesson about respect and fair play. That why some people care.

[quote="the General"]Because experiences like this makes kids stop playing sports because its become no fun anymore. Beacause coaches stop giving their time because of a**hole coaches like the one in this story. Because kids learn the wrong lesson about respect and fair play. That why some people care.[/quote]

This is a competitive sport, and the girls got a good workout. Without a doubt the girls and their coach should learn a lot from this experience one of which is that they need to practice harder or get another coach to take them to the next level.
I don’t understand why you felt this event was disrespectful and not fair.
The problem with society is that we want everything sugar coated. The reality is that the winning team was a much better team, and for sure the coach that got fired will be getting a better job for his integrity.

iz all abowt d benjaminz $$$

No man it really isn't, its the complete opposite and thats completely irrelevant o thsi topic.

sory..tel dat to nba,wnba,ncaa,juco,naia,euro,olympcz,alumni,sponsors,aau,n d steetz

[quote="anotherlevel"][quote="the General"]Because experiences like this makes kids stop playing sports because its become no fun anymore. Beacause coaches stop giving their time because of a**hole coaches like the one in this story. Because kids learn the wrong lesson about respect and fair play. That why some people care.[/quote]

This is a competitive sport, and the girls got a good workout. Without a doubt the girls and their coach should learn a lot from this experience one of which is that they need to practice harder or get another coach to take them to the next level.
I don’t understand why you felt this event was disrespectful and not fair.
The problem with society is that we want everything sugar coated. The reality is that the winning team was a much better team, and for sure the coach that got fired will be getting a better job for his integrity.[/quote]

First and foremost, there is a huge difference between losing 50-0, 70-0 and 100-0. You don't achieve the 100 points if you don't press at all. You know right away as a coach the level of the team you are playing so there is nothing to gain except a huge ego when you embarrass a team like this coach did. If his team won by a large score and he didn't press, I assure you there would be no issues here.
Nobody is saying to sugar coat anything or sing "Kuum by ya", as has been already been referred to. The people such as myself who have a problem with this way of coaching is the lack of decency and common sense. Don't you think that when a team is down 35-0 at the end of the first quarter, you need to call the dogs off. The team that lost doesn't need better coaching, they need to not be scheduled with Tier 1 teams. For crying out loud, they put up 7 shots total.
Lastly, this coach will not be getting a better job for what you and him refer to as intregrity.

[quote="whatupdawg"]iz all abowt d benjaminz $$$[/quote]
What does money have to do when it concerns this situation?

Thanks wcbasketball. Some people on here are just plain ignorant.
The school they beat explicitely serve kids with learning difficulties.
I think some of these posters could be graduates! LOL

lol the man got fired

all of you guys complain that this was unsportsman like but if you were in the winning coaches shoes what would you do.

I know that micheal Jordan's love for the game would not let another team score just so the game could be closer. He would continue to play hard

Tiger woods wouldn't hit the ball in the water if he was up -20 to 0

Or in hockey to pull the goalie if your up by 8 goals


All im saying is this was a tier one game, so expect tier 1 competition

honestly its a teams dream 2 beat a team 100 -0

you messed up guy