ESPN’s Rick Reilly needs to grow a pair

What's kills me is the folks who are crucifying Wise and his team have either (a) not seen them play, or (b) just go in on him, and won't give him any credit at all. I'm from Dallas, and made the trip to Katy to see them last week, and they're one of the most disciplined and well-coached teams I've ever seen. It's almost like Reilly and other detractors won't even entertain the thought of seeing them in person, because if they did, their assumptions would have to be confronted. It's shameful. Feel free to read a piece I wrote today, on the website I share with another one of the bruhs, where I talk more about Yates, and the whole point of competing in the first place:

http://www.edthesportsfan.com/2010/03/you-play-...

Excellent piece Roland! We should embrace good stories of minority kids doing things the right way!

Really???? Mr. Martin, are you serious? Wise has not only beat a team by 135 points (tell me how you tell a kid how to step back on a basketball court again after losing by that much. What would you tell your son or daughter after getting beat by that much? would you be surprised if they never touched a basketball again. Its high school, many of these kids still play the sport for this thing called FUN, not for MONEY. You take something they enjoy, distroy it for them, and they never come near it again. 30 points is one thing, 50 points is another, but TRIPLE DIGITS???? that's uncalled for) but he spent the final minutes of another game fouling the other team in an attempt to get his team to win by 100. Trying to justify pressing a team by saying you have to uphold your motto of 40 min of pressure is complete B.S. You can't switch to a half court defense? Or maybe his half court defense is so bad that he can't bear to watch his team play it (what better time to practice that!!!). A coach who was smart, or had half a brain would use the blow out opportunities to focus on other parts of his team's game. There is always something that they can practice in those real game situations. Obviously their full court press isn't one of those things that needs it.

You play to win, but when a team is up by nearly one hundred points at halftime of a 32 minute contest, the game is over. Continuing to press when up by 40, 50, 60, 100 and frickin 30, that is akin to pummeling a boxer that has already been knocked out cold. If Oklahoma continued to throw downfield against your Aggies, then yes that was also an act of extreme poor sportsmanship. Please try to understand the difference between playing to win and playing to humiliate.

Just did some research. In that 77-0 defeat of A&M, Oklahoma ran 37 plays in the second half, only three were passes. That's called easing up. Coaches with class know when to take there feet off the gas.

Mr. Martin, I disagree with much of Mr. Reilly's column, but I am appalled at the way Yates runs up the score on its opponents. I have no idea what kind of person Mr. Wise is, but the way he coaches is despicable.

I don't think anyone objects to Yates running a full-court press to create turnovers, or even blowing other teams out. But once the outcome of the game is no longer in doubt, to continue pressing, fouling, shooting threes, etc., is the worst kind of classlessless and unsportsmanlike conduct. It serves no purpose other than to humiliate the opponent and to turn the Yates players into bullies. What is the purpose of showing up your opponent like this?

Sports came about, in part, as a civilized substitute for battle — they allowed rival clans/cities/nations to compete against each other without killing each other. And an intrinsic part of that sports-for-war substitution is sportsmanship — that is, respect for the game and its participants, particularly the opponent. Any team that tries to glorify itself or attract attention by the way it demoralizes and humiliates its opponents is missing the point of what sports are all about.

Mr. Wise and his players should be proud of their record over the past 2 years and their state championship(s). But they should be ashamed of the way they have done it.

Maybe Roland could “check some simple facts”. Wise's team started the season with eleven 100+ point games in a row. When they went for the 12th in a row, they were leading by 30 points with less than three minutes to go. They intentionally fouled on EVERY single inbound play to save clock and try to get to 100 points. They failed to do so, as the game ended at 96 points. So Reilly was right.

I'm all about playing to win, and I think kids in high school are old enough to learn from losing. I don't have a problem with that, you take you beatings and you learn how to get better. But intentionally fouling to run up the score, when you are already leading by 30, with 3 minutes to go? Yea…that's ALL class. If that makes Wise a “role model” for his team, then maybe I'm missing something. And it will be interesting to see if this even gets posted, since I tried to post it yesterday and the “moderator” made sure it didn't appear. Nothing like repressing opposing views, eh?

On the subject of Mr. Rice – Rielly is right and you are wrong Mr. Martin

how can anyone defend somone who not only beats teams by over 100 points, but actively attempts to eviscerate them?? these are high school kids. when you're leading games by this many points, you bench your starters, call off full-court press and slow down your pace. it's called having class. this is one of the very few times i agree with reilly.

I suppose you want to ban dodgeball and not keep score in little league too!! As a parent if you don't raise a strong kid don't blame a butt kicking in a game on their lack of self esteem. I didn't read that any of the teams Yates beat disbanded. If they started “focus on other parts” of their game in a blowout that would be more of an insult. Did you ever play? Were you ever blown out? It happens!! Kids are far more resilient than you give them credit for.

Roland,
As a former college basketball player, I know it's tough to tell the guys at the end of the bench not to keep scoring and those kids deserve to play and score, ect., but what Yates is doing to teams is clear overkill.
No one is doubting the talent on that Yates team, it's loaded, and I'm sure the kids are good people, solid citizens, ect. No one, (let me repeat this) no one is questioning the talent and integrity of the players. But they take the cue from their coach, and if he says keep the scoreboard rolling, they're going to keep the scoreboard rolling.
If he said, guys, lets burn off 35 seconds each possession, they'd burn off 35 seconds each possession.
Also, I'm not in the camp of those who think Wise is a bad coach. Obviously he's got some skills, but I think he's hurting his own reputation and the legacy of this great team by allowing the scores to get so ridiculously out of hand.

Dog, for real, are u tryin to get beat by a 100? Its high school, if you want to make a name for yourself high schools not gonna cut it. Pressing an entire game? Thats like me steppin on u when u tryin to get up. Its the little things in life that mean the most, and somethin as little as a trap defense is that. I played ball for years, id be willing to put my house on the line if i lost a district game coaching this team..it aint like hes some fucking genious… oh and ur an idiot too.

Really — Several students and parents from the school that was defeated by Yates did not view it that way. The same school beat Yates in soccer by 26 points.You dish it out you should be able to take it. No one felt humiliated except the Lee coach and people like you. The coach missed the lesson on how to deal with defeat. He later apologized and said the reporter got the story wrong and he did not say he was humiliated. You probably never played sports.

Really — Several students and parents from the school that was defeated by Yates did not view it that way. The same school beat Yates in soccer by 26 points.You dish it out– you should be able to take it. No one felt humiliated except the Lee coach and people like you. The coach missed the lesson on how to deal with defeat. He later apologized and said the reporter got the story wrong and he did not say he was humiliated. You probably never played sports.

How is a complete and total lack of sportsmanship “doing things the right way”?

Maybe Roland could “check some simple facts”. Wise's team started the season with eleven 100+ point games. When they went for the 12th in a row, they were leading by 30 points with less than three minutes to go. They intentionally fouled on EVERY single inbound play to save clock and try to get to 100 points. They failed to do so, as the game ended at 96 points. So Reilly was right.

I'm all about playing to win, and I think kids in high school are old enough to learn from losing. I don't have a problem with that, you take you beatings and you learn how to get better. But intentionally fouling to run up the score, when you are already leading by 30, with 3 minutes to go? Yea…that's ALL class. If that makes Wise a “role model” for his team, then maybe I'm missing something.

Go Jack Yates Boys Basketball team And Coach Wise for another 4A State Championship!!!!!!

To Adam..If any kids have a problem with picking up a ball again…it's not the other teams fault…they prob dont have the positive support that starts within and from PARENTS who dont take time to teach their children about sportsmanship and how to become better so when the next game come..they know they have support of PARENTS and are able to do their best!!!!

1) The author's status as an alum compromises the legitimacy of his writing.
2) The reference to Maryland-Duke is not applicable here. Maryland didn't beat Duke by 47 points. I think that was a one-point game with a minute left.
3) The notion that the coach shouldn't be criticized because criticism can impact his professional standing is equally moot. Does this mean that coaches should always be exempt from media criticism?
4) Rick Reilly's not the only one who finds utter domination disturbing. In football, several state high school associations permit the clock to run continuously if the score reaches specified disparities in the fourth quarter and if both coaches agree before the game to invoke the rule. I don't know what the rule is in Texas, but its existence elsewhere underscores the longstanding understanding that high school games occasionally need limits.

Yeah, they are the pride of 3rd Ward, and Missouri City, and Richmond, and where ever else the kids actually live. Any coach that intentionally fouls to get the ball back when they are already up by 40, is pathetic. Any coach that come out and presses the entire 2nd half when they were already up 100-12 at halftime, is pathetic.

Just because you are an alumni doesn't make what he is doing right. He recruits, which is against the state public school rules, and he intentionally runs the score up. That is not someone you should defend.

Wise's team plays without sportsmanship, plain and simple.

You know what Dog, I saw the Yates-Lancaster championship game. If Yates would NOT have pressured them continuously they would have lost that game. Lancaster was up by 6 late in the 3rd period, up by 4 at the start of the 4th, and up by a point with 3:50 seconds to go in the game. Lancaster's outstanding guards finally began to tire at the begining of the 4th quarter and eventually Yates blew them out by 19. By the end of the game the Lancaster guards were running on fumes.

I am not understanding everyone preaching poor sportsmanship. The game is a contest and the best team wins. You play to win the game. My questions is “What about the teams who he is doing this too?” Its their jobs to stop them. If you can't stop them one way there always an alternate way to stop them. Other coaches sees what they are about, so its their job to game plan not to let it happen. If it was me coaching the opposing team none of his starters would be in any condition to play the next game.