[JRutledge]

I have come to the conclusion that no matter what you do or say, coaches will be coaches. I approach games the same way no matter who the coaches are. Just this year alone I have had coaches that were very confrontational and coaches that I could not even tell were in the gym. To be honest with you I really did not do anything different with each coach. Some coaches are just going to have a bug up their behinds no matter what you say or do. Some coaches will listen to what you have to say, other coaches will act as if you shot their first born when you talk to them. The main thing I try to do is to be short and sweet and firm with my comments when I respond. Obviously if a coach asks a question in a really nice way, that is how your response it. If they ask you a question in a hard way, you need to let it be known that you are not there to just hear them *****. You never should have to threaten a coach, just take care of business. Either way this is not an exact science and you will find that one technique will work one night and that same technique will not work at all another time.

Deal with coaches within your personality and learn from every situation. That is all you can do. I have had games where I feel witty and smart and games like I had last night I can do nothing right. Welcome to the up and down life of a sports official.

Peace