Rick Reilly Is A Walking Amber Alert

What a fucking joke. How many non-athlete kids at Davis or Lee are ridiculed and marginalized every single day? How many of them are going tumbling into a learned hopelessness cycle that is going to ruin their lives and probably the lives of their future immediate families?

Not that athletes are above having personal strife issues, but generally there are far worse things for people to worry about than the varsity athletes at a high school. If it’s anything like my school, they’re probably going to get some sympathy sex from their ladies and wake up feeling pretty awesome.

“At a certain point, artificial kindness morphs into contempt and disrespect.”

Herein lies unraveling point of Rick Reilly’s diatribe.

If you’ve ever been on the wrong side of a blow out, nothing is more infuriating than the feeling that the stronger opposing team isn’t giving you their full effort. Wwhat then, exactly, is Reilly hoping for? His inferred solution could only make losing feel worse, going against everything he espouses.

Conversely, is it useful to tell a 3rd teamer not to play hard when he gets his ten minutes in front of his parents and friends? Do only the starters get to run the system that the team relentlessly drills and practices every day?

Yes.

Signed,
Mack Brown

I’ve always said something akin to this, which is: Whether to run up the score is completely in the hands of the team doing the running. If the runnee doesn’t like it, it can do one of two things: stop playing the runner, or get better. (This was always applied at the college level…. admittedly, it is tougher to do in high school.) I too was not thrilled about seeing evidence that they pushed to get to 100, but that’s more of an issue to me than what brought forth this column.

At the time, it probably would be more embarrassing to have the winner sit on the ball, but when the grandkids are around the loser, he can say, we only lost to X by whatever the smaller number is.

In another life, I saw an inner-city team in St. Louis play this way and run up scores (although not quite like Yates does). I don’t recall any issues like this. But that was about 30 years ago, and protecting the psyche of the loser wasn’t nearly as important as it seems to be today.

I’ll defer on the Yates example, because I want to change to focus, and as a coffee adled poster, that’s my perogative, thankyouverymuch.

I look to the end of the Texas-Alabama football game, when Bama put that late touchdown in after Gilbert’s 4th interception. What is the protocol there? Texas had, despite almost impossible odds, lost their best player and managed to be not just competitive but actually put themselves in a place to win the game. Yet, Alabama clearly was in control in the last minute and a half and was going to win, despite the Texas scare. They could have just run out the clock, but they scored on a rush up the middle. Nothing fancy, just a HB dive, that Texas couldn’t stop. Was it bad sportsmenship? Was Saban trying to wash off the obvious caveat that would always accompany the game, “Yeah, but Colt McCoy was hurt.”? Or like some of those late Henry Melton td’s against cupcakes in 2005, it’s not my fault if your first team defense can’t stop a run up the middle.

I like to think that I’m a type that would reply “It builds character” Until it’s your kid being beaten silly, then a more primal emotion is likely to appear that will supersede the teachable moment.

I do agree that reilly is a douche, and fails to give all the facts here. Ironically, lopsided beatings of this nature are pretty regular in women’s hoops, if I recall correctly. I seem to recall seeing some of the better Austin teams lay 60 points drubbings on the lesser high schools with regularity.

rick reilly is a douchebag.

Bates, if Alabama wants to play, it’s up to Texas to stop them.

Though apparently Reilly is opposed to that lay-up if the opponent is weak.

Brooke feels the same way.

Dear Rick, no matter how hard you write, the shit teams are always going to lose to the great teams. In fact, when the shittiest of shit teams meets the greatest of the great teams, well, the outcome is almost expected.

This whole PC mess is just another means to displace accountability. Where’s the inequality Rick? Does Yates have a state of the art training facility? C’mon on down to Third Ward Ricky and check it out!! Is Yates allowed more hours to practice? Are they sneeking asst. coach Juwan McClellan in on rotations?

I had no problem with Bama scoring that td. Big deal.

Excellent write-up.

Great article about a truly polarizing topic here in Houston.

My thoughts on the subject are similar to your’s. I remember playing against the New York Gauchos and being down 30 at halftime of an AAU game. It’s no fun when success is defined by crossing halfcourt and making sure no one has stolen your post game tamales. (True story)

So, tough shit. They’re better basketball players than you. They’re quicker, they jump higher, they’ll probably get a scholarship to St. Johns. But I have premium cable so it’s all good.

That typed, and certainly the other side of the coin, Wise is a despicable asshole for some of the things he’s done, and quite frankly, I’m surprised his players haven’t been undercut on one of their many dunk attempts as a result.

Like when Wise has his kids intentionally fouling in the fourth quarter to lengthen the game so he can run up the score. That isn’t part of a system. Crap like that comes from some sort of little man’s complex or a perceived slight that either the coach or the community is compensating for.

Look, Yates is a great team, but Wise had a real opportunity for this season to be even more special. He could have done a better job promoting himself and his players in a positive light, if he just let his kids run teams out of the gym and left all that other junk at home. Just let the basketball speak for itself.

Had Wise took the high road, Yates might garnered the same local support that Madison had when VY was there, but instead Wise chose to be a prick about it.

Just my two centavos.

What Trips said. Let’s not excuse some of Wise’s douchebaggery by claiming it’s part of a system.

Trips, what do you think of Ronnie Courtney?

I watched the Elite Eight game with him at BW3 the year we went to the Final Four. The place was packed and we ended up at the same table. He was coaching TSU then. I told him I could be his PR guy, the face of TSU basketball. We were laughing pretty hard at that notion. I think he’s coaching at FB Bush and is once again doing a great job.

I may drive down tomorrow to watch Lancaster and Yates. Lancaster is loaded and runs like the wind. I doubt they take down Yates, but it’ll be damned fun to watch.

Also, I forgot to give you credit for the hilarity of the title. Great work. Feel free to quote me during your quarterly BC performance review.

“What the above represents is inequality. That little thing that plagues life in which some people are better at some things than others. None of us like it very much when inequality is imposed from a outside agent, however we’ve devolved into the politically correct idiot’s notion that any inequality, in and of itself, is wrong. Possibly evil.”

Agreed.

I would like to see RIck Reilly walk down Elgin, from Cullen to 288. Because, yeah, Wise has done some douchey things, no doubt. But that team is the BEST damn thing to happen to the 3rd Ward since Lightnin’ Hopkins. And those kids are busting their asses and getting press that they may never receive again, because they are in the midst of two very special years. A public school from the ghetto in Houston beating on top prep schools al over the country? Unheard of. Does that justify beating the snot out of Lee? Yeah, I think so. Because it is not possible to function at a high enough competitive level to beat those prep schools and then be able to turn it off against Lee (who has been terrible at all competitive sports other than soccer since at least the early 90s).

Good stuff, Scipio. This gets at that culture change we were discussing on the phone this week. Weak sauce.

Very nicely said.

I will agree with Reilly on one poin(other than the fact he is a douche bag), when you are beating the living snot out of an opponent who is clearly over matched, you do not keep running a full court press style of defense until the final horn. Yates has done this over and over all year. Please do not give me this, " so we tell the bench warmers not to play hard crap"! That ranks right up there with “It is for the better intrest of the kids,” bullshit. You can play man to man or zone just as intense from your defensive end as you can full court. I have coached little league and have been in the postion where our team was playing an over matched team. I do not see what purpose running the score up on that type of opponent serves. I do think your perspective changes as you get older and have kids participating in sports.

HOOK EM!!!!

This could be renamed “Why Houston Yates Stomps a Mudhole in Rick Reilly”

It’s a sin what is done to young people in school and league sports more often than not. There is only one reason to have formal sports—the pursuit of excellence, to learn what it takes to compete and win and what it means to dedicate yourself to the discipline to achieve success. That works for all kids whether they go on in sports or some other avenue. Coaches who cannot produce that experience should not be coaches.

Trouble is, only about one coach in ten is able to provide a really worthwhile experience on the whole. Back in my day, it was sandlot. And I truly think there would be more value for most kids in playing casual pickup games than having subpar coaches involved.

Having said that, Mr Tex, taking the air out of a pretentious poseur windbag like Reilly is a layup in it’s own right.

Trips nailed it exactly on why Wise is a prick.

I do not care if he beats teams by 150 if he is playing his backups, running his system, and the other team cannot stop it.

But intentionally fouling to get the ball back and calling timeouts late to reach a certain score is poor sportsmanship and just rubbing the other team’s nose in crap. No need for that.

The third stringers running a full court press late in blowouts is questionable, the intentional fouling crap is just clearly wrong.

It’s akin to stealing a base against the other team when you’re up by 10 in the 9th inning. No reason for it. And it can get your star player a heater in the ribs.

Or worse….

http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/local/Fight_gunshots_follow_lopsided_Houston-area_basketball_game.html

Yeah man, Northside v. Southside is old, old news, as is the bas blood there. Booker T is up around Acres Homes, and Yates is in the 3rd Ward.

My only cavil with your take is that, if I were Yates’s coach, I’d lay off the press after my scrubs have had a few minutes in it. The scrubs can still get some valuable work in half court defense and most other aspects of their “system” while making some concession to sportsmanship.

We have a similar school in our son’s conference—a nationally ranked, actively recruiting, private-school basketball power in a conference of schools with substantially smaller male enrollments who do not play the AAU tie-in game. Yes, they win most of their games by 40 or more, but there isn’t a school in the conference that concedes even a lay up to them. The kids on the losing teams are stronger for the challenge and for the effort, and they are learning how to deal with a tough situation constructively instead of having it define them.

And, as Trips said, the coach shouldn’t act like a dick (unless he is trying to land a job at OU).

I absolutely hate Rick Reilly. He’s the single most annoying ESPN “analyst”… by far. He would be at home on CNN.

But since the following sentence appears to be right on the tip of your tongue the entire article, I’ll go ahead and say it. Fuck liberals. Look no further than the UK if you want a preview of things to come. Our children’s children will never know what perseverance is because they will never be given the opportunity to fail… or succeed.

I’ve never been on a team that got beat so badly so I’m not sure how I would react. If the other team starts showboating, I would get much more physical and hope to provoke a conflict. Not saying that is right, just how I would probably react.

It would be best if we could just stop keeping score. It’s wrong to subject these poor kids to the humiliation of losing. Oh and trophies for everyone!

“It would be best if we could just stop keeping score. It’s wrong to subject these poor kids to the humiliation of losing. Oh and trophies for everyone!”

That is the same thing as intentionally fouling up by 60 late to get the ball back so you could reach a 100 points.

Damn texasengr!?! Polarize much?

Rick Reilly’s articles invariably remind me of that Simpsons episode where Bart becomes a TV celebrity with his saccharine “Bart’s People”. I almost expect Rick to end each column with “Hmmm… really makes you think.”

But what about the BCS!?!?!?!?!?!

Here’s another (possibly) thought provoking analysis of basketball pressing and competition.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/11/090511fa_fact_gladwell

Rick, if I call time outs in NCAA Football in order to reach 100 or guarantee my third string running back reaches the century mark, am I an asshole for disrespecting the computer’s psyche?

tim beam, milksteak, BiH -
 
Nicely stated.
 
BatesHorn -
 
The last Alabama TD wasn’t needed, but it’s not like they ran a triple reverse flea flicker. Saban did it to be a prick, but so what? It’s still our job to stop them. I also think you kneel it there for real tactical reasons – you never want a Miracle In The Meadowlands type play.
 
parlin -
 
Nice tie-in!
 
Trips/HJ -
 
I agree with you that I don’t like the intentional fouling and time-outs at all. That’s unnecessary and bad juju. However, I don’t believe that behavior was happening in most of their blowouts – particularly the most egregious ones. People are reacting to the lopsided scores – Reilly didn’t write the article because Yates tried to get to 100 against a team they were beating by 28.
 
PB –
 
Thanks, dude.
 
no civility/Kos -
 
If you’re saying lay off of the press, that’s a point that I will defend. Yates has the right to decide on, commit themselves to, and run a system of their choosing. Even one that savages the opposing team. Their sophomores have a right to play in game situations and not to have to run 4 corners.
 
If Texas were playing a team that runs the spread and we’re down 49-7 in the 4th quarter and the opposing 3rd team QB leads them on a 80 yard drive, throwing the ball on 80% of the plays, I just don’t have a problem with that. I understand that many people think it’s their obligation to run the ball into the LOS or run three consecutive QB sneaks and punt. I don’t see it that way. They have the right to run their system.
 
Brian Hayes -
 
Nice comparison. Whenever I hear someone remark constantly that they’re looking out for the common man, I know they’re up to some mischief.

Scipio, the title of your article should go down in the Barking Carnival Hall of Fame…the list of which is long and distinguished, like my johnson.

Nice work.

I agree with you that I don’t like the intentional fouling and time-outs at all. That’s unnecessary and bad juju. However, I don’t believe that behavior was happening in most of their blowouts – particularly the most egregious ones. People are reacting to the lopsided scores –

For me its more than lopsided scores Scip.

It is the whole “Scorched Earh,” attitude that isn’t just fouling and calling timeouts, it’s all about intimidation. They entered the FEC yesterday to watch the first game in single file — all with their hooded warm-ups on and pulled up — with a couple of “body guards” with them. Then Wise and his staff came in, all wearing black.

It also reeks of something that the principal alluded to in an article. The HS and the Ward are in such bad shape that they have to give everyone something to hold on to, even if it is something as emphemeral as a HS record. It’s almost like the adults are saying,

Yep your life sucks, you aren’t getting much of an education, and this is a good as it is every gonna be, but at least you will have this memory.

Interesting context, srr50.

Apologies in advance if the link isn’t up to BC standards – but the intimidation pic is appropriate.

Overall, I don’t have a problem with an intimidator – it’s really all part of the game. Your rep precedes you – stand up to me if you think you’re better – and prove it on the court, or on the field, or in the ring.

A few years ago, OU beat Fran’s A&M team 77-0. According to reports I’ve heard, Stoops told his guys to fall down – since they were ahead by that margin midway through the 3rd. It didn’t serve any purpose for the 3rd team guys to do that, but the press is one consideration in a blowout these days. Intentional fouls to prolong the game make the beat-down by Yates unseemly, but one can argue that he’s just getting his underclassmen ready for next season – and I have no real issue with that.

Scipio’s article is about not letting guys like Reilly influence the discussion, and not helping to turn the society into a bunch of wimps who try to even out the uneven-ness inherent in our society, in fact, in humanity as a whole. Absolutely love his post.

“Yep your life sucks, you aren’t getting much of an education, and this is a good as it is every gonna be, but at least you will have this memory.”

How is this different than the dominant 3A teams of Sealy? They killed everyone in their path. It seems to me that the over thinking elite are the ones that are diminishing Yates’ accomplishments. Why does their life suck? Because they live in the one of the worst parts of town? Fuck sports. Look at the kaleidoscope of life, and tell me that their athletic template isn’t one of success. In a different world, a more sympathetic world, the Yates ballers would be lauded for not succumbing to the ills of their environment.

srr50, you’re walking the same path as Reilly.

FBR,
Man that article fucking rocks !
With all the basketball wisdom here at BC this article makes all our talking heads look like drunken sailors in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Why sailors in the Sahara because its where Barnes has landed with his scheme(?) on basketball.
Barnes is going to war with a conventional fleet of warships when Texas has a shit load of PT boats that would sink a zillion conventional warships.

Its a 8 pages long and I know thats a lot for our ADD ,whiskey drinking, johnson bragging,social conforming comic readers that move their lips when reading population at BC.

This is a article that will make you have flash backs about our coach, our players, games, and fans like no other article that I have read on basketball. If you bleed Texas basketball or are just a drop in fan, casual dieheart or a crazy, or are inflicted with that disease that you loose your mind.
Then this article is a MUST read !!

Ponder the facts presented and how they fit our long ass season we have had. I found my self saying damn that is spot on , fucking right, damn thats a good point etc.
Totally outstanding .
Thanks FBR for this http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/11/090511fa_fact_gladwell

Because srr50 and No Civility point out valid points about what is wrong with this Yates team then they are all in with Reilly’s piece? Now, who is being politically correct?

In a different world, a more sympathetic world, the Yates ballers would be lauded for not succumbing to the ills of their environment.

srr50, you’re walking the same path as Reilly.

No I’m not. I’m not calling for anybody’s head, like Reilly.

A diferent more sympathetic world? Which one is that, the one that lauds HS teams for bitch slapping everyone in site and then rubbing their noses in it?

I’m not like Reilly where I think it is a crime against humanity, but it sure as hell isn’t a “feel-food” story about kids overcoming their environment either.

So we’re going to celebrate high school blow outs as a protest against Nancy Pelosi?

I’m not sure when “doing the right thing” become code for “beat the crap out of the opponent until they quit and then go for a record.” This isn’t about forced equality or quasi-Marxism. Some of you read more meaning into a box score or a Reilly article than a gaggle of grad students pondering Moby Dick.

My kid’s basketball team (8 and 9 year olds) just wrapped up their league, going undefeated. My son plays forward, but he gets a ton of rebounds, he’s got a good handle, and so he brings the ball up the floor a lot. The last couple of games in the second half, he fed a lot of passes to kids who hadn’t scored much this year. No one asked him to do it. From the reaction of some of the parents, you would have thought he was throwing the game. I guess winning by 12 or 14 points wasn’t enough.

Sounds like Wise would be one of those parents. If my kid ever has a coach like that, it’ll be his decision to play or not. But I would be more proud of him for letting the coach know that sportsmanship is more important to him than if he averaged 24/12 a night.

Let’s face it, a full court press in basketball is similar to blitzing or throwing every down in football. It’s an aggressive way to play the game and certainly a way any coach is entitled to play. That being said is it really necessary to put on a full court press with a 50 point lead? Put your back ups in and play conventional half court style basketball. Your teams can still play as hard as they want. Yes I know that the press is what he teaches and blah blah blah but calling off the dogs won’t humiliate anybody, might just teach your boys a little common sportsmanship and heck, may even show your kids a different way of playing should they play a team who could beat their press and match them in talent. As for the argument that some teams just aren’t as good that may well be but high school athletics are frequently about numbers. A 500 member high school class will typically be much better than one that is 200. If you run it up on a team using every aggressive means available when they are outmanned, shorter and slower you lack class. Reilly is a self promoting prima dona who went too far with this story. But this coach clearly lacks class and he should be stopped.

Why are people using Texas/Alabama in this discussion?

Saban, the NFL washout douchebag, should have had his team take a knee (the whole point of the play is to take time off the clock) and kick a FG. They had clearly won the game and the “well Texas should have stopped them” argument is pure hillbilly ignorance.

You can disagree with me, but you would be wrong.

^ To expand on that point, why do I get the feeling that the “Texas should have stopped them” hillbilly crowd are the same peopld that defended the Vikings when they decided to throw for a TD at the end of the Dallas/Minnesota playoff game?