Katie Ohm's First Dose Of Criticism

In a game against Southland in which Elgin-Millville head girls basketball coach Clark Olstad kept his starters in "too long," the Watchmen scored more than 100 points and destroyed the Southland Rebels. Since then, Olstad has taken some heat. The coach kept his starting five in as a way to position superstar Katie Ohm to break the all-time Minnesota high school scoring record at home rather than on the road. So the question is whether the decision to leave his starters in was ethical.

Personally, I've never been upset at a team for running up the score on me. I figure if they are my competition and they are that much better than me, it's a good indication that I need to get better. I don't want my feelings to be coddled into making me believe I'm only ten points worse than a team if I'm really 75 points worse. I can handle knowing I'm not as good. I can't handle the condescension that comes with an opponent pretending they aren't much better than me, just to save my feelings.

There are some things I take exception to. Thinks like cheating or playing dirty. But running up the score? All that means is I need to improve so the opposing team can't do it anymore.

Do it for the Towel-Wavers
I'm really not so crass as to think my standard is the one that should be applied in all situations. If I had been in that gym in Adams, MN the night of the blowout, I'm sure I would have been cringing and thinking, "What is he doing? Get those starters out of the game." But the reason wouldn't have been because I pitied the other team, it's because I pitied the girls on the E-M bench.

My freshman year in high school I dressed with the varsity team after each B-squad game. I know the feeling of desperation and helplessness when the score approaches blowout status. One thing dominates your thoughts: getting into the game. To have a lead that size and not get in until the closing seconds must have been torture for those girls.

Road Trip
So I don't think Olstad made the right call by leaving his starters in. His reasoning was that he owed it to Katie Ohm to let her break the record in front of her home crowd. I think it would have made little to no difference where she broke the record. I can imagine busses full of fans traveling down to Caledonia to see the record breaking point. It would have been a town-wide road trip and a lot of fun for everyone. Breaking the record at home was unnecessary.

Typical KFAN Overreaction
Another thing that was unnecessary was Dan Cole's comments on KFAN regarding the situation. He ripped Olstad a new part of the anatomy and extended the segment to include caller feedback. He called for Olstad's job and said the coach's kids were destined to grow up selfish, without any knowledge about teamwork. Cole (a.k.a. "The Common Man") made a fool out of himself in the eyes of everyone who is familiar with the situation.

Was Olstad wrong to leave his starters in as long as he did against Southland? Yes. Did he deserve to be blasted on the radio for everyone in the nation's 14th largest market to hear? Absolutely not.

Olstad was looking out for his player. Right or wrong, his intentions were good. He even apologized afterwards. Give the guy a break. He's doing the best he can. Let's take the focus off Olstad and back where it belongs. After all, Katie Ohm is the best girls basketball player to come out of southern Minnesota since the Miller twins.