04/19/24
February 18, 2009
They Still Raise Them Right In Some Places: Player misses free throws on purpose because it's the right thing to do. A good story to share after a week of obsession with A-Rod's cheating.
posted by TheQatarian to basketball at 06:00 PM - 20 comments
Geez, what a stupid story. Now excuse me, there seems to be something in my eye!
posted by NoMich at 06:31 PM on February 18, 2009
That definitely is a great story, Q. Nice to get reminded there's still a good bit of decency left in the world.
posted by outonleave at 07:14 PM on February 18, 2009
Agreed, Bo. You would never see this kind of thing in the NBA. Great show of sportsmanship.
posted by fadetoblack5 at 07:17 PM on February 18, 2009
I was getting ready for school this morning when I saw this story. Stupid allergies.
A nice story but it struck me that if the referees were so intent on following the letter of the rulebook they should have called a technical on the intentional miss. If both coaches and teams were willing to overlook it it should have ended there. But, the outcome? Nice.
posted by geekyguy at 08:40 PM on February 18, 2009
Excellent story. I like to think that most coaches and players of high school sports that I've met would do the same thing. It reflect very positively on them that they had the presence of mind to do the right thing when the pressure of a game was on them. Well done.
posted by Joey Michaels at 08:46 PM on February 18, 2009
Good story, thanks.
In our over 35s football league last season, the referee awarded a penalty to the other team which was clearly a wrong decision. Even the other team agreed with us, and so we asked the penalty taker to miss deliberately in line with the 'Corinthian Spirit. Did he miss?
Did he fuck.
posted by owlhouse at 04:42 AM on February 19, 2009
This is a great story. One of my favourite parts is that the players get together for pizza afterward and 2 players from each team share a pizza. That's awesome.
posted by scully at 11:26 AM on February 19, 2009
I read this story yesterday. It is nice to see there is still some good things to read about in sports. Those kids have their heads on straight.
posted by dbt302 at 12:25 PM on February 19, 2009
Aw, TQ now the librarian wants to know if I need a tissue. Nice story.
posted by steelergirl at 05:41 PM on February 19, 2009
Funny, I had just read this and copied the URL so I could post it. Glad you beat me to it, Q. Contrast this to the 100-point middle school game. It says something for values, fairness, and traditional rivalries. Lost in the reactions above is young Mr. Franklin wanting to play. I'm sure it was part of his grieving process, and the 2 teams on the court made things just a bit easier for him. My prayers are with Franklin, as are my wishes for success in all his endeavors.
posted by Howard_T at 06:07 PM on February 19, 2009
howard, my thoughts exactly.
A few weeks ago everyone (well most of us) were upset because a high school coach had no sense of sportsmanship. Now we have the opposite case, sportsmanship outweighed the need to score points.
posted by dviking at 09:57 PM on February 19, 2009
While truly a heart warming story, the fact the coach felt the need to ask the shooter if "he knew he was going miss?" before sending him to the line bothers me. Yes it was the right thing to do. Still it would have been nice if the kid had been aloud to go to the line and intentionally miss without the coach mentioning it at all.
posted by Folkways at 04:33 PM on February 20, 2009
No, Folkways, the coach did aloud the kid to go to the line to miss.
posted by outonleave at 05:49 PM on February 20, 2009
Sorry. Just couldn't resist.
posted by outonleave at 05:50 PM on February 20, 2009
Contrast this to the 100-point middle school game. A few weeks ago everyone (well most of us) were upset because a high school coach had no sense of sportsmanship.
I'm glad you guys made the comparison. This is what class and sportsmanship look like. It's what high school kids should be learning.
And, apropos of that earlier thread, I'm still half expecting someone to criticize this coach for treating the other team like "sucks."
posted by cjets at 06:21 PM on February 20, 2009
And, apropos of that earlier thread, I'm still half expecting someone to criticize this coach for treating the other team like "sucks."
Okay, I'll bite -- the comparison is ridiculous.
In one situation, a horribly overmatched team was beaten badly, despite the coach calling off the press and despite the team's need to practice because of the short roster.
In the other, a team showed compassion when a rival's mother died by intentionally missing two free throws.
Yes, those are exactly similar.
posted by wfrazerjr at 07:38 PM on February 20, 2009
In one situation, a horribly overmatched team was beaten badly, despite the coach calling off the press and despite the team's need to practice because of the short roster.
According to the losing team's coach, the winning team ran the full court press until they hit 100 points with 4 minutes left in the game. The losing team would have been beaten badly in any case.
Pardon me if I don't find the winning coach's remarks credible.
Sportsmanship comes in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes it's not humiliating another team. Sometimes it's showing compassion for another team's player.
posted by cjets at 08:07 PM on February 20, 2009
Wrong thread.
posted by yerfatma at 04:49 PM on February 24, 2009
Really do love this story!
First of all, I graduated from Milwaukee Madison (Granted, it was 36 years ago when it was still a "New" school) however, it really brings this story into focus for me. Now, to thnk that this kid Darius McNeal actually needed the prompting from his coach would be absolutely ludicris, based on his comments afterward lends me to believe that Folkways was out of line!....I believe this kid would have done it anyways!
Darius....whatever you go on to acomplish, I believe that you are a truly commendable individual! I personally wish you all the success in the world and would like to thank you for being a "True" humanitarian as there really are so few of them left!
posted by R_A_Mason at 11:26 PM on February 24, 2009
Beautiful article, Q. Thank you for posting this. It seems that now adult athletes need to take a lesson from our kids.