Blowout Remorse Or Damage Control?

Far be it from me to question someone's personal faith, but I do have a bone to pick.

You may have heard about the recent girls' basketball game in Dallas, involving Dallas Covenant and Dallas Academy. Covenant beat Academy by a score of 100-0.

Dallas Academy's girls' basketball team was defeated in a blowout by Covenant School 100-0. 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.

"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."

That's right, 100-0.

And to show how penitent Mr. Queal felt, the school has put up a statement on their website to confirm this:

Statement Regarding Dallas Academy Game
1/22/2009

The Covenant School, its board and administrators, regrets the incident of January 13 and the outcome of the game with the Dallas Academy Varsity Girls Basketball team. It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly 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. The school and its representatives in no way support or condone the running up of a score against any team in any sport for any reason. The school’s board members, Head of School Kyle Queal and Athletic Director Brice Helton have acted to ensure that such an unfortunate incident can never happen again.

Covenant school officials have met with and personally apologized to Dallas Academy Headmaster Jim Richardson and Athletic Director Jeremy Civello and wish to extend their highest praise to 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. Accordingly, The Covenant School has contacted TAPPS and is submitting a formal request to forfeit the game recognizing that a victory without honor is a great loss.

Kyle Queal
Head of School

Todd Doshier
Board Chair

Seems like they are sorry, right? It does on the surface, but I still have a problem with this.

I have no problem with wanting to win ballgames. That's the goal of any team in any sport. It's why players play. You give it your best shot, play your hardest, and hopefully you can win some games for your effort. It's not about Academy losing, someone has to lose. It's part of the maturation process. But to purposely set out to humiliate another team is quite another story.

But even at that, this is not my problem with how this scenario has played out heretofore. If we look at the date of the article and the Covenant School's apology more closely, we see somewhat of a gap of time that has still not been addressed.

The game occurred on Jan. 13 and the apology happened on Jan. 22, nine days after the fact. Coincidentally, the 22nd is the same day this story went national. If the feelings of remorse were truly genuine and consciences were feeling a bit guilty, shouldn't the apology have come on Jan. 14, 15, or at least by the 16th?

Like I have already stated, I am not questioning anyone's faith here. Those that read this blog with any regularity know, this is not the kind of blog that engages in "Christian-bashing", for I am one, myself. I am only pointing this out to demonstrate something that we have all heard before.

To simplify it, I will form it into a rhetorical question for public or private consideration. The reader of this can then do their own spiritual analysis. Are they really sorry, or are they sorry they got the bad publicity and are seeking to do damage control?