Mercy Mercy Me.

I think it may be time to dig into the music archives and find the album again - the one titled "What's Going On?" and the song by Marvin Gaye called "Mercy Mercy Me".

Then, the song should be played to some coaches, teachers, students, administrators and others who don't seem to understand when enough is enough. I have touched on this before, and received lots of support, but it appears as if a re-enforcement of the message may be necessary.

What happened to sportsmanship at the school level? Don't coaches know how to control a game, especially when one team is far more superior, and things can get ugly when another team is whipped?

Yes, I know some leagues and schools have a variation of the Mercy Rule, a rule that allows a lopsided game to come to an end - and fast.

I still can't figure out why the Region of Peel Secondary School Athletic Association introduced a weird rule in rugby limiting a point differential reporting score to be misrepresented by a maximum of 50, when in fact scores are much worse. Stop the game, if that's the only way, after it becomes apparent that another school team is about to get its pants kicked.

In the past 24 hours, listen to these scores from games in the Greater Toronto Area and, I am told, there are more like this. But, coaches haven't even submitted them to their leagues. Wonder if they forgot or just might have flushed faces.

What do you think of these recent games?

• Fourteen tries by Upper Canada players in a 92-0 shellacking of Hillfield/Strathallan in a junior boys' private school rugby game.
• Loretto College defeated Marrocco/Merton 21-0 in a varsity girls softball game in the Toronto District Colleges Athletic Association league.
• Stephen Lewis, the school and not the politician, whipped John Fraser 25-0 in a Peel Region varsity boys' baseball game.
• St. Marguerite d'Youville apparently saw nothing wrong in a 16-1 win over Cardinal Leger - and this was a junior boys' soccer game in Peel Region.

Time to get serious. As bad as the optics are for the team winning, and things do come around, the problem is with athletic associations that are allowing this to happen when action should be taken - be it fines or even suspending a school team for a period of time to get the message understood.

The reality: nothing will get done. It's too close to the end of the season and the year-end banquets and parties. For students, memories do linger over those outrageous scores coming in a learning environment.

Comments

[Mr. V]

Mr. Grossman, I enjoy your blogs. You make a very good point and I agree. But you are right that schools don't give a damn and no one will interject for the same reason and that is the boards of education are not about to tell coaches what to do. Remember they are volunteers. I am sure they have told you how much sweat they give to volunteer and help the kids. As for any direction from the administrators, forget it.

[Mr. Black]

There are too many of these school games where one team is blasting another team. It makes me wonder if the educational system in this province is supporting this kind of nonsense.

[Jason]

Mercy, Mercy Me...
Really, do we have to hear you ram this down our throats again.
What's wrong with these athletes getting a good pounding every now and then. It makes them tougher and want to get back out there and pound the daylights out of the other team the next time. Good ole' Don Cherry style sports.

[Mr. Bowman]

Allowing this to happen is disgusting and makes me sick to my stomach. What are they doing waiting for kids to get upset and pull out knives and a huge fight. You are right the athletic associations are a bunch of lazy ducks.

[Make Changes]

Massive changes are needed in amateur sports starting with high schools and what is needed is an Ontario Sports Council that is reliable and can overlook this properly.
They have OFSSAA that is spineless and OPHEA that talks and wastes tax money and the list of these groups is endless with many conflicting and arguing over who is in charge and they all are terrible.
Clean it up Mr. McGuinty before the public gets someone else at Queen's Park to do it.

[Michael P.]

I know there are scores worse than the ones you have showed but they don't appear in the paper and I can only assume that coaches are ashamed. Something has to be done about this.

[R.H.]

Can someone please tell the rest of us why it is so important to pound the daylights out of the other team in a high school game?

[Denis P.]

Just read the comment from that blogger Jerry, read it again and you will understand why there are so many problems in our high school sports programs.

[Baker]

Sometimes the team that gets hammered still wants to play and then the scores get really humiliating. Coaches are the problems and need to know when to stop the official game. If they want to play after that, go ahead but kids can get upset when they get their butts kicked.

[G. McCarthy]

I wonder if coaches go through any form of training or education before they suddenly become "the coach". One thing they should learn, other than win, win, win, is how to help their athletes and be considerate of opponents. Let's remind ourselves that this is high school sports and not the pros. Please.

[Kevin]

David,

I am a coach in Durham region and while my teams have not put up any scores like those in your article I am wondering what you would have coaches do when their team is obviously superior? Should we stop games half way through and deny the kids a chance to play? Should coaches order their team to stop scoring, which may be extremely obvious? Obviously any coach who gets up by a big lead should put their bench in, but sometimes that is not enough. I think maybe there should be a point at which a timeout is called to allow the coaches to discuss how to best finish lopsided games. I think having a concrete line over which teams may not go without facing punishment would produce some farcical moments and the best way to handle blowouts would depend a lot on both teams' attitudes.

[memphis]

This is why some coaches don't report scores. Who needs this kind of attention? So what if your scores aren't in the Star? At this point the associations could careless. Sometimes the score does not indicate how the game was played. Some coaches when asked by the Ref to run the clock say "no", "our kids will learn from the loss". Life doesn't speed up or just stop when the going gets tough.
In the mid-1970s legendary football coach Lou Holtz while at U of Arkansas suffered a huge blowout loss (by 40 or 50 points). After the game Holtz said he was extremely upset at the opposing coach for what he perceived to be running up the score. He said when they shook hands he was going to let him have it! But after Holtz ranted at the coach over the score, the opposing coach simply told him to "work harder, get better".
Holtz said those four words stopped him in his tracks. He looked in the mirror later that night and realized HE NEEDED to do a better job coaching his athletes.
Sound advice for any coach at any level.

[Ross]

These lopsided scores are not only overseen by the adults coaching, but also by the adult officials, umpires and referees. These officials are the overall arbitrators of the game and are mandated through the rules, or laws in the case of rugby, to uphold the integrity of the game. Allowing a team to win 92 - 0 or 104 - 0 in the case of a rugby game earlier this year, does nothing to protect the integrity of the game or advance the sport.

I put 1/2 of the onus for these lopsided victories on the shoulders of the coaches, and the other half falls on the shoulders of the officials. Both MUST protect the integrity of their sports and their players.

[R. K. Jackson]

People like Memphis make no sense. The Star newspaper couldn't care less if he or his cohorts report their scores. It sounds like he's a big culprit. Unless I am wrong, the newspapers have a job to report facts and facts usually include final scores of games. If a coach is ashamed to report a ridiculous score, he shouldn't be a coach. No matter what goes on in a game, a coach needs to take control of abusive results. I certainly hope Memphis is not a coach of a school team because I would want my son playing somewhere else.

[Chris Boyle]

There has to be standards for coaches and officials. How do you promote the sport, the school game and more by allowing one team to kick the ass of another so badly. I have heard many coaches stop a game when things are out of control. Yes, stop it. Maybe leagues and convenors need to do a better job when setting up a schsdule to plan Tiers. They should have some idea on how good their team really is and if not - they`re telling a fib.

[Anthony Campbell]

Memphis should know better than to squeal like a battered chicken and also refer to Arkansas and university football.
This is high school, buddy.
It`s where many times kids are playing for the first time in their lives and other schools keep fifth year players around to pile up points like 70-0 and then lie about the final score or are embarassed to admit the final score.
Memphis is lucky the newspapers haven`t exposed his school more often or coaching shenanigans. I know who he is and he`d be run out of our league faster than a cat chasing a rat!

[B. Thompson]

I can`t believe what I read sometimes. Some people need to take a pill to calm their blood pressure.
Ross makes a very good point.
I like Kevin`s thought about calling a timeout at a certain time to look at what`s happening.
Jerry is an example of why schools need to eliminate people like him.
Michael P. is correct about some coaches who pile it up but hush it up too.
Memphis needs to go to Memphis - and stay there.

[G.W. Leech]

I agree with Mr. Grossman. But the coaches and officials run the show and they are oblivious to the real world. The real goats are the boards of education who allow nonsense to happen and the irony is they make a stink about "bullying". I guess sports must translate to something else.

[Bob Peters]

I have never seen so much dancing around a topic. Does anyone need a reminder that this is high school sports and, for the most part, young people getting exercise and learning to develop in sports. I am very aware of some kids being exceptional athletes. That makes the challenge even more greater for the game referees, the coaches and even the people called convenors. Think, people. If you don't come up with a creative way of keeping the final score reasonable, you may one day wake up and find not enough kids playing.

[memphis]

Sports 101, so pay attention...
For all you keyboard critics who say "it's just high school" you are the ones lowering the quality of the game. For example, want to play University Basketball where do you go to play and showcase your talent to be recruited... Your driveway... no... local park... no... high school? Bingo!!! The same can be said for Football and a multitude of other sports. The only sports where high school is not the highest level of amateur play would be ice hockey and girls volleyball. So once again why are we fighting to keep the ones who work hard down? Your rage should be directed at the coach who puts in no time and effort and then let's his/her team get beat by 70 points. I take it many of those coaches come on this board. Why do we want to turn High School sports into "participation" sports. That's why High Schools have gym class and inter-murals. Maybe that's where more of you should stay.

[Art]

Hey Grossy!

Isn't it a Cardinal tenet of journalism to get your facts straight before making false assertions? ....
"St. Marguerite d'Youville apparently saw nothing wrong in a 16-1 win over Cardinal Leger - and this was a junior boys' soccer game in Peel Region. "
First, I was there my son plays for DY. And yes the coaches of DY did see "something wrong" with the lopsided victory. As a matter of fact the coaches approached the Leger coach/team with the offer of ending the game early. I guess you would call that, oh I don't know, invoking a voluntary mercy rule? However,the Leger coached asked his team and THEY wanted to keep playing! The score was higher than the reported 16-1 but the DY coaches were fine with the lessened reporting. Also, The DY coaches played a considerable portion of the game with their starters on the bench. As for the DY team themselves, they played Leger with respect. The boys showed a lot of maturity for a Jr. team and I am very proud that my son is associated with such respectable teenagers. Anyone watching could see that DY did take it easier on Leger in the second half but they didn't overdo it. Much to their credit the Leger team never let up. They played as best as they could for the full time with their heads held high. They didn't quit!! This was evidenced by their late time goal. There are lessons to be learned from this. In life sometime you have to take a beating. But your character will be measured by how you bounce back and pick yourself up not by how you cry out Mercy!!!!!!. I really think you owe DY an apology! And all the other athletes and coaches who try their best regardless of the score.

[Mr. Blake]

Beating a team 16-1 in a soccer game is like hitting someone below the belt. Is that what these coaches teach at Catholic school? I couldn't care less if the other team was horrible, sportsmanship clearly was missing. Apparently, the score may have been worse from what a parent tells me - and she was also not happy. Where is the Peel athletic association, hiding likely. Where is the school administration, hiding likely. A team should be reprimanded for allowing this to happen and the coaches should be removed. Shameful incident.

[David Grossman]

I received a comment from a reader who identifies himself as "Art".
Read on.
Hopefully, an edited version of his commentary to me will be posted on this site. This individual claims he watched his son play that Peel Region junior soccer game for St. Marguerite d'Youville that ended in a 16-1 victory.
Yes, a high school junior soccer - and his son was on the winning team.
He is, obviously, upset at me singling out this score and saw nothing wrong.
He claims the score reported to the Star was inaccurate - it was worse. So, the teachers or coaches deliberately gave us a score - that was really much more of a blow-out than 16-1. That's nice. He goes on to say the d'Youville team showed "maturity" and that there are lessons to be learned (I assume by the losing team) in a game like this. Really?
And, ready for this, he believes I owe the d'Youville players an apology for calling them "poor sports" - which I never did.
And we often wonder what's wrong with the system.

[Highschool coach]

Agreed there is nothing fun about blowout scores, for either team. However, there needs to be an effort on both sides to make it respectful. I've been on the winning side of a few lopsided hockey games in which your just praying for the other goalie to stop the puck, and he doesn't. Double shifting your third line and moving d to forward etc, and at the end of the day you still score at will. you also come to a point when you don't want to disrespect your opponent by doing nothing, often that is more insulting. I remember watching a tournament game one year between a very strong team and a weaker one, a blowout was in the works when a player had a breakaway and instead of scoring skated behind the net and left the puck. The opponents went insane and saw that as more of an insult than the actual score of the game. Perhaps mercy rules etc. need to be in place provincially for most sports and we may see the issue reduced. Also, tiering works wonders, however several coaches in my experience refuse to tier their team or allow a league to tier and continue to get blown out. So what are you supposed to do?

[Pepper]

If this is high school sports, educators need to get their heads together and do what is right for students and get control of their own egos. I know some great coaches but I also know there are some yahoos. The educational community needs to police its own organizations. If not, pack it in folks because it can become a zoo.