Should Blair field a team after 86-0 loss to San Marino followed by 84-0 loss to Monrovia?

Posted on by

They scored less than San Marino. We held them to two points less. Nobody sat down and they’re all here. Still, nobody’s hurt. I’m cool. We made it through the night.” – Blair coach Johnny Lopez after Thursday’s 84-0 loss to Monrovia.

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email
  • Without Redemption

    There is absolutely nothing good to come of a team getting plastered in this manner. Cerritos High disbanded its varsity squad in the wake of far less severe poundings. The administrators at Blair should be completely ashamed of themselves.

  • Fred Robledo

    I agree, it’s not about Monrovia or San Marino running up the score, it’s about Blair putting players in the unfair position of being severely over-matched. You saw it coming in the summer when they took forever to get a head coach, and again when they barely had enough players to field a team a couple weeks before their first game.

    Could San Marino or Monrovia avoid putting 80 plus on the board? I don’t know, what are you supposed to do, tell them to take a knee in the second quarter?

  • http://www.insidesocal.com/sgvfootball Aram

    I will say it again, the Blair players went an ENTIRE summer with NO PRACTICES (until fall ball), PASSING GAMES OR CONTROLLED WEIGHT ROOM SESSIONS!!!

    School administrators and PUSD members made sure they had a VARSITY football team in order to avoid the PR nightmare of not fielding a team, which is what they should have done if they cared about player safety and less about their protecting their own image.

    It’s an outrage to put kids in that position.

  • Spartan 03

    So, going with comparative scoring, San Marino should beat Monrovia, right?

    Ok, enough with the joking. There is no way of avoiding this if you are San Marino or Monrovia. You cant ask your team to play at 50-75% as you are then risking injury on yourself. Athletes are mentally built to play at 100%, no less. The PR nightmare of not fielding a football team or the PR nightmare of seriously getting a player injured, which do they prefer? I dont think it was thought out too well.

  • reality

    There are TKO’s in boxing, mercy rules in baseball,heck even 7-0 lead in ping pong was considered a skunk. How about a 30 point lead at half-time is game then every one shakes hands and agrees to meet for pizza and laughs. No nutty coaches saying “lets fight on boys” as he stands on the sidelines safe and sound in the 2nd half, and no parents writhing in fear from the stands waiting for a trip to the ER with their ill-prepared son. Adults have to stop these fiascos and be humane if not sensible, because the soldiers we have trained for these battles won’t stop hitting until they are told to.Some of these contests are pit bulls against chihuawas but these are really just children. If we dont do something to stop it the courts will sooner or later.

  • Smh

    Don’t forget they lost to Eagle Rock three weeks ago 83-0. So that’s three 80+ scores in four games.

    Marshall was also down 42-0 at the half tonight, and somehow Sierra Canyon found a way to only score 9 points in the second half.

    Both schools’ admins have a lot of thinking to do this off-season. Btw, the Blair principal was in tears tonight…go figure.

  • anonymous

    Somebody is going to get seriously injured here and the district is going to be out millions. The madness HAS to stop. This is completely reckless on the administration’s part.

  • http://WWW.PASADENASPORTSHALLOFFAME.ORG PASHOFPAL

    It’s a tough question to answer. At this point, I would seriously consider ending the season but I’m concerned about how it may affect the players – regardless of what or how we feel; they’ve shown they’re committed to playing. I know – their season is over anyway.

    Good question…but clearly no easy answer.

    Laurence Todd
    President
    http://www.pasadenasportshalloffame.org

  • LA Conq

    Here’s my take…

    First let me say that I totally get the whole injury argument, and it’s a serious one that should be considered. As a parent, I’m not sure I could sit and watch my kid get his head beat in by a team that was clearly mis-matched!

    BUT…

    What’s the point of High School Athletics? IMO, It’s about learning life lessons, specially when it comes to football!

    For Blair: Sometimes in life we’re going to go be overmatched and beat down. Sometimes you’re job is going to crush you with unfair situations. What should you do? Do you whine about how unfair it is? Or do you push through and persevere?

    For Monrovia, San Marino, etc: Sometimes compassion and adaptability are the most important skills we can have in life. These coaches should have understood the situation at hand and brought their freshmen kids up to play the entire second half. Or play their receivers at O-line. Allow your super-seniors who will NEVER see the field this year to start the game and wave at his parents while he kicks butt. I mean these are the type of things that can change kids lives! This is what we should be teaching our kids. Winning is good. It’s important. But at what cost? To what extent?

  • mam242

    I am a parent of a Wildcat player and I just want to say after the game I walked out along side some of the Blair players. I thought their spirit would be broken (knowing the situation these boys are in as a parent my spirit was broken for them). But the players I saw seemed to be in good spirits, they did not seem down or upset. It seems like they are just there to play football no matter what outcome. Kudos to them for their resolve and commitment.

  • wells

    Blair should definitely field a team. LA Conq is right about learning through adversity.

    Also, Blair has 40 players on the varsity team. Only two are seniors and five are juniors. Essentially, they are fielding a Frosh/Soph team.

    Knowing this, opposing teams should definitely allow lesser skilled players a huge opportunity for some game time success.

  • MHSfan1

    For the entire last 3/4 of the game Monrovia starters were out and underclassmen played. Frankly, they were talking about players scoring TD’s that I had never heard of and didn’t even know were on the team. I believe all but one TD was made by the defense. I’m pretty sure Blair didn’t get 1 first down the entire game. Not sure when the running clock started but we were out of there at 8:30. How could Monrovia have scored any less? I applaud the Blair boys for going out there week after week and playing anyway. Mam242 is right. Their players were not hanging their heads walking out of the stadium. Did they risk injury? Yes, but so do all the players who play football. We need to give this school a chance to revive this program, not tell them they should disband. I hope the person who said this is basically a soph/frosh team is correct and that those boys stick with it over the next 3/4 years and come out with a few wins.

  • STG 54

    As long as they have the numbers, & the athletes come out to practice then why not?

    Its easy for you guys to question all this because of what went down in the spring/summer, but how about you guys ask the actual players on how they feel about it?

    I understand some of you will say you have to think about the injuries etc, but have they sustained any injuries that are severe enough to warrant the folding of the Varsity team? If they are just getting beat but are not getting hurt then there is absolutely no reason for them to fold their season!