[JRutledge]

The problem is that there are no one-liners that are going to diffuse the situaiton all by themselves. It has to fit within your personality and in how you deliver a so-called comeback.

I have said to coaches, "my partner had a great look at that play." Instead of saying "it is not my call."

I had a game last week and the player got in the face of one of my partners about a call, and the official addressed the player directly, the coach go up and said, "why is he in his face (talking about the official)?" I turned to the coach, who I was standing right in front of and said, "he should not be saying anything to him at all, he is lucky he did not give him a T." Coach did not say a word the rest of the game, at least to me.

I even on Friday told a coach that was crying for an "over the back" call and said, "coach the rules of verticality have nothing to do with being on someone's back." He responded and said, "I have not heard that word in 20 years, but you did see he was on his back." In reality it was not to use rulebook language to impress him, it was to shut up him using that stupid term all night long. And guess what? He did not complain about much the rest of the game. And there were other plays he might of had a beef with.

The point is that works for me, might not work for you. And whatever you say to a coach, it is about the delivery. Some guys can be funny, others cannot. And I did not even talk about facial expressions or body language. Because if a coach is screaming and yelling at me, I am not going to be screaming and yelling back. I might not say anything. But if a coach is standing right next to me and is calm and asking a question in a calm and professional tone, I have not problem saying something back.

Peace