Jesus wept, and so did Jimmy Chitwood

I find it shocking that any parent, administrator or even student from an allegedly Christian school would not intervene in this situation. 

http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=903780

DALLAS -- A Texas high school girls basketball team on the winning end of a 100-0 game has a case of blowout remorse.

Now officials from The Covenant School say they are trying to do the right thing by seeking a forfeit and apologizing for the margin of victory.

Samantha Peloza grabs a rebound in practice a week after their 100-0 win.

"It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened," Kyle Queal, the head of the school, said in a statement, adding the forfeit was requested because "a victory without honor is a great loss."

The private Christian school defeated Dallas Academy last week. Covenant was up 59-0 at halftime.

A parent who attended the game told The Associated Press that Covenant continued to make 3-pointers -- even in the fourth quarter. She praised the Covenant players but said spectators and an assistant coach were cheering wildly as their team edged closer to 100 points.

"I think the bad judgment was in the full-court press and the 3-point shots," said Renee Peloza, whose daughter plays for Dallas Academy. "At some point, they should have backed off."

Dallas Academy coach Jeremy Civello told The Dallas Morning News that the game turned into a "layup drill," with the opposing team's guards waiting to steal the ball and drive to the basket. Covenant scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and "finally eased up when they got to 100 with about four minutes left," he said.

Dallas Academy has eight girls on its varsity team and about 20 girls in its high school. It is winless over the last four seasons. The academy boasts of its small class sizes and specializes in teaching students struggling with "learning differences," such as short attention spans or dyslexia.

There is no mercy rule in girls basketball that shortens the game or permits the clock to continue running when scores become lopsided. There is, however, "a golden rule" that should have applied in this contest, said Edd Burleson, the director of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools. Both schools are members of this association, which oversees private school athletics in Texas.

"On a personal note, I told the coach of the losing team how much I admire their girls for continuing to compete against all odds," Burleson said. "They showed much more character than the coach that allowed that score to get out of hand. It's up to the coach to control the outcome."

In the statement on the Covenant Web site, Queal said the game "does not reflect a Christ-like and honorable approach to competition. We humbly apologize for our actions and seek the forgiveness of Dallas Academy, TAPPS and our community."

Covenant coach Micah Grimes did not immediately respond to a message left by The Associated Press on Thursday.

Queal said school officials met with Dallas Academy officials to apologize and praised "each member of the Dallas Academy Varsity Girls Basketball team for their strength, composure and fortitude in a game in which they clearly emerged the winner."

Civello said he appreciated the gesture and has accepted the apology "with no ill feelings."

At a shootaround Thursday, several Dallas Academy players said they were frustrated during the game but felt it was a learning opportunity. They also said they are excited about some of the attention they are receiving from the loss, including an invitation from Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to see an NBA game from his suite.

"Even if you are losing, you might as well keep playing," said Shelby Hyatt, a freshman on the team. "Keep trying, and it's going to be OK."

Peloza said the coach and other parents praised the Dallas Academy girls afterward for limiting Covenant to 12 points in the fourth quarter. She added that neither her daughter nor her teammates seemed to dwell on the loss.

"Somewhere during that game they got caught up in the moment," Peloza said of the Covenant players, fans and coaches. "Our girls just moved on. That's the happy part of the story." 

Inauguration Day and Luke 12:48b

I'm a Republican. I love this party that was founded in Wisconsin and got Abraham Lincoln into the White House. I like Ike. I'm inordinately fond of John Danforth, and I wish I could vote for women like Olympia Snow and Susan Collins like my friend Lisa does. I was even a John McCain supporter from the 2000 campaign until this year's Republican convention. 

Unfortunately there is a lot that I don't like about my party, most of which one can see in the past eight years. And yes, I voted for that asshat. Once. (Sorry, my fellow Americans.) I think that Karl Rove is the devil. I think that Rush Limbaugh does more to promote liberal causes in this country than anyone else. I mean really, whose mind does he think he is going to change? Oh, yeah, and don't even get me started on the most recent vice-Presidential candidate of my party. {shudder}

I'm also a Christian. I try to take the words of Matthew 25: 31-46 very seriously, although I fall short as a matter of course throughout my daily life. My favorite bit of Scripture is this: And from everyone who has been given much shall much be required. It's not even a whole verse, it is just the middle section  of a verse from the parable of the faithful steward, Luke's version. 

I have been given much, I have been blessed in very many ways. I think that my primary role on this Earth is stewardship. Stewardship of this planet, my friends and family, my intelligence and abilities , my worldly goods, my fingers and toes and my relationships (an area where I am specially blessed). 

But back to the inauguration.... This country has been in a horrible place for the past several years, and I can't pinpoint when it started. It somehow became fashionable for politicians to expend their resources not as stewards of this country and its bounty, but as greedy little gremlins acting selfishly. I realize that this is not unique in the course of American history, but dammit, this is my history, those are my taxes and this is my country!

I fervently hope and pray that Barack Obama can bring about change. I want a country where people care about each other more than themselves. I want elected official who understand the concepts of Common Good and Enlightened Self-Interest. I want a country where the Christians are Christians in the sense that they mission on Matthew 25: 31-48 and Luke 12:48b, not on creating a theocracy where people are excluded because they are gay or lesbian, or because they value the availability of health care for women. 

So I'm pretty excited about today. I'm going to go work out in a few minutes, and I've got a trustee's meeting at noon, but I think I'm going to hunker down for most of the rest of the day and watch the government of the greatest nation on Earth peaceably change hands. May God bless us all.