In this Oct. 18, 2013, file photo, Aledo High School player Ryan Newsom (17), runs between Western Hills’ Shane Little, left, and Jacoby Powell during their high school football game in Aledo, Texas. Buchanan said district administrators notified him that the bullying complaint filed from a parent of the losing team after Fort Worth Western Hills’ 91-0 loss has been cleared Wednesday, Oct. 23.AUSTIN, Texas – No one likes a bully. So when a recent Texas high school football game ended in a score of 91-0, one angry parent filed a complaint alleging the contest had crossed the line from tough loss to unlawful torment.
In a state where football is king, school investigators found no bullying. But the blowout has spurred deep discussion among coaches, parents and politicians over sportsmanship and whether it’s time to enact a “mercy rule” in Texas to put a stop to games when the score gets out of hand.
High school football is a merciless business in Texas, where state championships are played in the Dallas Cowboys’ 80,000-seat stadium and the state spends $1.5 million steroid-testing high school athletes. Texas high schools play mostly by college rules, while most other states employ national prep guidelines. Like many other states, it has no mercy rule for 11-man football.
The conversation has changed following Aledo High School’s crushing victory last week over Fort Worth Western Hills — the game that led to the unusual bullying complaint against Aledo’s coaches.
“Losing is an important lesson that needs to be learned by all kids. But the lesson ceases to be much of a lesson where someone is likely to get hurt because of the substantial mismatch,” said state Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a Texas-tough politician who wears two guns to his office and says America would be better off without states like California and New York.