100-0 (for now)

I have been pondering the recent controversy over a Texas varsity coach who was fired for running up the score on another team. I have even tried to stop thinking about it. I knew I wanted to blog about it, but wasn't real sure what to say.

The Dallas News articles sums up most of this story here.

The Dallas Academy is a school that provides minimum, but capable opportunities for students to participate in some athletic activities. The school does not possess a multi-million dollar budget and it borrows the use of athletic fields for many events. The girls varsity basketball team, eight of the entire schools 20 girls, has not won a game in the last four years, but they continue to play and give it their best shot. In the game versus Covenant-Dallas School they were only able to get off about 7 shots. The coach for Covenant, MIcah Grimes, kept full court pressure on DA into the fourth quarter and drained 3-pointers to the end. DA has a working budget of over 3 million dollars, boasts new turf on their privately owned fields, and contended for the Texas state championship in their division last year. All probably due to their elite status and $12,000 year per student tuition.The following is from their schools web site, found here:

Take time to consider the some other differences between the Dallas Academy and Covenant:

Dallas Covenant
The Covenant Athletic Program is intended to complement the school's classical, Christ-centered curriculum and to help fulfill the school's mission:

"To glorify God by equipping students with the tools necessary to pursue a lifetime of learning so that they may discern, reason, and defend truth in service to our Lord, Jesus Christ."

Athletics Program Goals
To enable Covenant student/athletes, coaches, and spectators to glorify God and be witnesses for Jesus Christ.

First of Seven Founding Principles:
The founding families of Covenant desired a school and an education that:

1. Honored God through humility, sacrifice, and service,

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DALLAS ACADEMY
Our Mission: Dallas Academy restores the promise of full academic enrichment to students with learning differences. Our staff establishes a meaningful connection with each student to overcome barriers to success.

Dallas Academy offers a structured multisensory program for students with diagnosed learning differences in grades 3-12.

We believe that structure and a caring, experienced staff are the main factors for success at the Academy. The classes provide a quiet, nurturing environment to students who in the past have had trouble with concentration and short attention spans. Many of these boys and girls are very frustrated and have not been successful in previous school settings.

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Here are two of the many things that bug me.
1. The Covenant coach over-powered DA, for the most part, because DA is a school that focuses its attention on students with special needs. I believe Coach Grimes pre-meditated this outcome. He made conscientious decisions that only revealed his true character as a person, not a coach. I may be more sensitive to this because I have a special needs child, but I hope not. We all make mistakes and hopefully take steps to become better people.
For Mr. Grimes, the following was his only response,"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."

2. The secular worldview appetite for hypocrisy among Christians is satisfied. The primary distinction between the two schools is obvious. Covenant is a "christ-centered' school and DA gets on their knees to identify the unique challenges of every student and then engage that student toward purpose and success. That is simply what gets conveyed to an ever-growing case against the "Christian Way". Plenty more to say about this, but hopefully you can at least see why it bugs me.
Which of these two schools represents the Biblical model of God's love? Where does that leave the modern Christian movement of our world?

The game is not over. I know that the girls of DA will grow stronger and go further if they remain committed to the real life challenges. And, that in life character is what truly determines success and failure.

"a victory without honor is a great loss" Covenant Headmaster, Kyle Queal

just say'n