A local dad writes:
LET EM PLAY
Two of the better teams in San Antonio matched up in New Braunfels on Friday night. The result was a New Braunfels win against MacArthur. What you do not see in the box score is the painful way in which the game developed. Going to the dentist would have been about as much fun. There was absolutely no flow to this game. Both teams were in the bonus in the first and third quarters and in the double bonus by the beginning of the second and fourth quarters. MacArthur had more fouls in the first half than they did points. They also had three players foul out of the game. Now for you cynics (for which I am one) out there who are thinking, I bet you this is a Mac parent who is just upset at the outcome of the game, and is going to blame the refs for the loss. You would be half right. I am a Mac Dad, but even if the refs had let us play the game, on this night New Braunfels was probably the better team. What I am arguing is that why are we watching the referees perform instead of our kids. I have watched several girls’ high school games this year, and over and over I see the refs controlling the flow of the game. The constant travel calls, the constant jump balls, the ticky tack fouls that are being called. Give us break, we just want to watch our kids play basketball.
It was argued in this blog that we are seeing way to many zone defenses being played, instead of man. I for one would whole heartedly agree with that assessment. However, I would have to argue that because of the way these games are being called, the coaches have no choice to play zone in many cases, if they want to protect their players from sitting next to them in foul trouble. Now for those of us that have played club ball in Houston, and know the reputation of that city’s refs. Where basically it has to be a felony before it is called a foul. I am not advocating we go to that extreme, I am just saying the refs need to figure out that brushing against a player is not a foul, and tough hard nosed man defense is an art form, not something that should be penalized. How many anticipated calls do we get against the big girls? Many times the whistle has blown for a foul on blocked shots before player contact. If the ball is in the stands, chances are pretty good that was not a foul.
If you watch a boy’s varsity game here in San Antonio, for the most part they let them bang pretty hard before calling anything. Why aren’t we letting the girls mix it up? Watch a boy’s game; you will not see all the silly traveling calls. They let them be athletic. Why can’t the girls show some athleticism? Watch a boy’s game and you will not see all the constant jump balls, and anticipated jump ball situations. The boys are able to show their strength and conditioning by letting them rip the ball from their opponent. Why do we keep protecting the girl’s from seeing who is the stronger athlete? That is probably why boy’s games here in town attract the casual fan instead of just the family members at the girl’s game.
Nothing is more enjoyable than a well played, well coached game. Even if your team loses it is still great fun to have the seen kids from both teams perform well on the athletic stage. Here is hoping we can consistently get back to that standard, instead of the officials of the game making it about them, instead of the kids.
