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Paul Nelson reportingBasketball games in church leagues are known for getting pretty rough, but a new scoring system could force players to play nice. Supporters of the system say it's working like a charm.
"Basketball is the perfect forum to create and cultivate feelings of friendship, unity and brotherly love."
Yeah, the producers of the movie "Church Ball" knew no one would take that line seriously when it was put in the movie.
Andrew Wilson's character said, "This is the last season of church ball. They say it's too violent."
But, come on, this movie was just kidding. Church basketball never really got so violent that they had to shut it down, did it?
Uh, yes, it did.
A Salt Lake City man said, "A few years ago, in my stake, they actually just gave up on it because of unsportsmanlike-type activities."
It didn't just get rough in Utah. A Canadian man told me he's seen plenty of fights in church ball. He said, "Most of it originated from fans."
An Indiana man told me, "One of my friends was going up for a layup and some guy stuck his arm underneath his leg and flipped him when he was in midair."
A Florida man said, "Someone kneeled behind another person while [being pushed] over. The person fell over and did a flip."
Stories like these could end soon.
Weber West Region sports director Lynn Thomas said, "We found a way to try and get the people to understand what the sportsmanship program is supposed to be all about, what the church sports program is supposed to be all about. It's not about going out and having a prayer and then having a fight that ends it on the other end, you know?"
Thomas says a new sportsmanship system awards points for how well players behave. If you just play the game without any problems, you're awarded four points. If you're friendly with the other team, a fifth point is awarded. But if you're a jerk, you might not get any additional points at all.
"You could technically win the game on the scoreboard, and lose the game on total points," he said. I asked if that has ever happened, and he said, "Oh yes."
He also says players have to treat the refs nicely, even if they think the men in stripes are blind idiots.
"You're never going to get professional referees in church basketball games. You're never going to do that," he said. "The best you're going to get is some high school guys (refs) who don't have a game that night."
Thomas says there are some wards assigning the job of referee as a church calling, but not everyone is excited about getting that assignment.
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
