By now everyone has heard about the HS football game in Texas between Aledo HS and Fort Worth Western Hills. The final score was 91-0 and questions of bullying and bad sportsmanship have reverberated throughout the country. Aledo was recently placed in a new district that is not very strong in football (who would have thought that Texas had a district that was not very good in Football). They ran 32 plays for 391 yards and scored eight TDs on runs, two each on passes and punt returns, and one on a fumble recovery. But could they have done something differently to stop the scoring earlier? Or was this just a bad matchup between teams heading in different directions? What do you do when you have a game that might get this lopsided? Let’s explore some strategies for avoiding this disaster.
Regardless of the sport blowouts happen. When they do happen the last thing you want is a fight to break out because of something that the winning team does to irritate the losing team. Some of the sting can be alleviated if both teams use some common sense. Exercise some subtle things to make it look like you are still trying to play but are not running up the score. In basketball, empty the bench, pass the ball around the perimeter ten times, dribble with your non-dominant hand, do not press, go zone, do not push after missed shots, and do not contest any attempted shots. In soccer, you can take players off the field and play short, make everyone play a position they are not familiar with, pass the ball and work on possession, only allow head balls for shots, and only let certain players shoot with their non-dominant foot. In football you have to empty the bench, run the ball (if the other team can’t tackle that becomes a problem), make sure the officials run the clock, and punt on third down. In baseball, you can empty the bench, have everyone bat the opposite way, throw the ball down the middle of the plate, and no stolen bases.
To say that this game exhibited bullying is extremely harsh. It appears that the teams were just not on a level playing field with talent. It happens. It is not fun for either side, especially the officials. Coaches need to be on message with their teams and use this as a teachable moment. Move on and tomorrow is another day. It is part of life. What we do not need is a knee jerk reaction by a parent who blows the game out of proportion. We need to stop the “everyone gets a trophy” mentality.
So the next time you are involved in a lopsided game please exercise good judgment and get your team out of there with no injuries and no hurt feelings. It will go a long way in the end. Putting 91 on the board looks bad but if you exercised some of the above suggestions you might escape the wrath of the rabid media.
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