Wow, talk about slippery slopes. It's come to light that football coaches in DODDS-Europe schools, who give Stars and Stripes the results of games, have been manipulating scores if they are too lopsided. It's school system policy, said to be a way of sparing from embarrassment teams that lose by more than 39 points.
Shame on DODDS-Europe. The truth is the truth, and lying about football scores (for that is what it is) is wrong under any circumstances. (DODDS-Pacific doesn't have such a policy, thank goodness.) What other information coming from DODDS might be similarly suspect? Maybe none, but why have a policy that could give rise to the suspicion?
And what kind of message is being sent to the kids? If the facts make you look bad, it's okay to fudge them? Ironically, the student athletes interviewed by Stripes gave a resounding thumbs down to the fake-score policy. They'd rather have the truthful scores, no matter how badly they got beaten.
Stripes editors were understandably chagrined, having learned that for a year or so they've been reporting some scores inaccurately, because that's the way the scores were given to them by the coaches. Now they've proclaimed that they will no longer report scores they can not independently confirm. No more taking scores from coaches until DODDS changes its policy.
That probably will mean the results of some games won't be reported, which is an unfortunate result of the controversy. It's difficult to cover all the games with staffers or with reliable stringers, but the responsibility for getting the results does reside with the paper. I hope the editors find a way to make their protest felt without depriving the kids and their families of the news.
Just the facts....
I think it's unfortunate that some DoDDS-Europe football scores may not get print in Stars and Stripes, but I have to applaud Stripes' recent decision to not report the scores unless they can independently verify the score. The paper has an absolute obligation to subscribers to report accurately. It has been proven they have been receiving false data from those involved with DoDDS-Europe football and thus the credibility of those scores and individuals are suspect. DoDDS-Europe bears the full blame.
What's really going on here?
Dave, I'm curious, you state this has "come to light" but it seems S&S has known about this policy all along. Perform the search "Football Mercy Rule" from the S&S home page and you will find a number of articles mentioning this practice as far back as 2003. One from 2004 is even tilted Heidelberg notches 2nd mercy-rule win .
In the manipulating scores article you mention above written by Rusty Bryan he states "Stars and Stripes learned about the policy Saturday" when in fact in 2004 he himself wrote this article where he states "The Cougars spent the rest of the game trying to avoid ending the game via DODDS-Europe’s 40-point mercy rule."
How do you explain this?
It has been common practice for years at DODDS Europe schools to mercy rule football games at 39 points. At that time, the score becomes final (reported to S&S) and the coaches decide either to keep playing with a running clock or just end the game there. Most of the time, the teams decide to continue playing to allow younger kids a chance to play. Sometimes the scoreboard continues to keep score even though the "official game" is over. This is nothing new and S&S knows this.
Someone please make DODDS grow up!
Since your letters editor has threatened to not accept my letters and since I have not received any notification that the one I sent today was received, I would like to put the TRUTH regarding this flap up here. Please be aware, however, that your letters editor needs to do her job and not treat my letters any differently than she does the many liberals who are allowed to whine on an all-too-regular basis, Dave. What ALL readers of S&S should read:
I sincerely suggest that baby rattles and pacifiers be issued to the DODDS-Europe athletic director and her whiny cohorts. This 39-point nonsense used to be a DODDS 40-point “mercy” rule in the 90s, and now I see where a 35-point halftime lead requires a running clock after intermission, apparently another
brainstorm of our pathetic liberal “educators” to spare the feelings of our poor little babies which they like to call “young men and women.” What’s next?
You get down 21-0 and throw in the towel? As a former sports editor and writer, I worked with many kids in DODDS athletics and never recall a single one of them
traumatized by being on the short end of a blowout. Furthermore, if "no purpose" is served by continuing a game, one of the teams shouldn't be fielding a team in
the first place.
Make up your liberal minds, DODDS. You can’t have it both ways.
Believe it or not, teams have made up five-touchdown deficits before and if I am coaching on the short end of such a score, I don’t need a running clock to kill
any chances my kids might have of coming back. Moreover, if the young “men” and “women” cannot handle adversity, how can DODDS claim it is preparing them
for real life? Surprise: the liberal notion that “everyone is a winner” is a myth. We all know “winners” and “losers.” They are all around us. DODDS certainly has its share.
David B. Hamilton
Major, U.S. Army (retired)