So yesterday I see him hunched over his desk, reading a small book. It turns out to be The Champions Game, by Saul Ramirez.
Let's read along:
In my mind, telling a kid who wants to play to draw is unethical. You can ask, if it means the team wins. But if the kid wants to play for a personal championship, you have to respect that. He earned the chance. Leaning on him is an abuse of power.
But now think for a minute about this story. Why would it hurt the team for the top two scorers to have a decisive result vs a draw? It can't. Either way, the team gets one point. In fact, they were up five points going into the round -- they had already clinched it.
Now look at the crosstable (MS Novice);
1 | LEO GONZALEZ |6.0 |W 9|W 33|W 24|W 5|W 11|W 6|L 2|
TX | 15707532 / R: Unrated-> 976P7 | | | | | | | | |
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2 | BRANDON CABALLERO |6.0 |W 27|L 7|W 19|W 24|W 13|W 12|W 1|
TX | 15707553 / R: Unrated-> 931P7 | | | | | | | | |
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He didn't tell Leo to draw; he told him to lose. Why? It boggles the mind. I guess he wanted two co-champions rather than one. Reread the dialogue, this time knowing the kid is begging to play the game honestly and he's being told to throw it. The chutzpah of writing "He understood it, but his ego was fighting the concept of sacrificing in order to achieve something greater" just blows my mind.
Also, this isn't cheating, but did you guys watch the video about Henderson girls in Mike's article? Where Ramirez says "I'm not going to lie, I had to read a lot of books about how to coach a girls' team ...They mess up their positions in a whole different way" wtf?
2 comments:
Your right.
Leo asked, “But what if he comes in first, and I come in second?”
Why did he ask that?
Because Leo knew their scores would both be 6.0 after the loss.
Not 6.5 & 5.5, as the book would have you believe(if they drew).
Just to make this absolutely clear, "Coach" Ramirez states in the book that he told Leo to draw the game with Brandon, and even though Leo wanted to play for a win, he ended up agreeing to a draw. In reality, as we can see in the crosstable of the tournament (online and viewable by anybody), Leo lost the game with Brandon. Ramirez clearly ordered him to lose the game for some reason. Maybe Brandon was a favorite of Ramirez', or maybe he just wanted to brag about having coached TWO players to a tie for first place in the Texas State Championships. Based on what I've seen in this story so far, I'd say the second is most likely. Ramirez doesn't seem to care what effect he has on the kids on his team (or the kids on any other team for that matter), as long as he gets his glory.
The man has no honor.
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