Sportsmanship or Ego?

Meet Coach Greg Wise of Yates High School in Houston. This year Coach Wise's basketball team beat opposing teams by winning margins of 135, 115, 99, 98, 90 and 88 points. Yes, this is high school basketball!

His team beat Lee High School 170-35! His team was up 88 points at the half and he ran a full court press until the final buzzer. Award winning sports columnist Rick Reilly notes that the coach's brash "smash the opponent" style is getting dangerous:

"Wise refused to pull his foot off the accelerator in a 132-68 fricasseeing of Booker T. Washington. Nobody likes to be humiliated, and this includes fans. Like at some of Yates' games, there was fighting. This time it happened in the parking lot afterward. Shots were fired, though nobody was hurt. This time." Read Reilly's full take here at ESPN.

Now I know there's a large contingent of sports fans who have no problem with this. They back up this bully behavior with statements such as: "It's our job to score and it's the opposing team's job to stop us." This may work in the NFL or NBA where players are paid to play and it's their job. However, I don't believe there's a place for this in high school, or little league athletics. I played sports in school. I understood the goal of every game. I have played on teams that won by large margins and teams that were on the losing end of some real grillings. But I've never been a part of a team whose goal was to demoralize the opponent, nor have I been demoralized in a losing effort, and trust me, I suffered some huge losses when I played.

Webster's Online Dictionary defines sportsmanship as: : conduct (as fairness, respect for one's opponent, and graciousness in winning or losing) becoming to one participating in a sport

It seems as though Coach Wise is out to redefine sportsmanship.