[bebanovich]

Originally posted by Jurassic Referee

I realize that it must look like I'm giving a pass to a coach and nailing an official so here's a worse thing that a coach has been doing for a couple of years now. A private school has taken to mumbling nasty things to my players under their breath, I'm guessing to try to make my players lose control. It's been three years now and the things being said are mysteriously similar (from my players' reports) and always flirt with race without being totally overt. The coach has been the common denomonator. This continues despite the fact that it has never worked and actually backfired last year when one of my players was better at it and one of their players shoved him.

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It "backfired"?

"One of my players was better at it"?

I'll bet you're real proud of that one.

Yo, bebanovich, guess what lofty humanist made the following statements in the opening post of this thread?
1: "Coaches, scorers and officials are there to take care of the rules and the players job is to play and compete, not talk or fight."
2) "I just think that if you have any question about whether to be lenient with any any potentially incendiary incident, comment, etc., even if it's late in the game and the intent sounds innocent enough, it is worth taking into account that there are two (or more) different cultures out there on the receiving end."
3) "Please don't let an intentional foul or trash talking go unless you really feel you have a grasp for how all parties are responding".

It sure doesn't sound to me that your lofty ideals have got through to your kids if one of them engaged in trash talking and nearly started a fight. Or do your lofty ideals only work one way? Do two wrongs make a right?

Quit using the kids as an excuse for your own behavior. If you want to make a point to the "terrible" refs you get, hey, feel free to do so. Take your chances; it might get you a few calls down the road. That's what the whole purpose of making comments to the officials is anyway, isn't it? But please don't try to portray yourself to be something else than what you are-- just another coach who pays lip service to sportsmanship while trying to get an edge for his team by yapping at officials. Unfortunately, there's a million of 'em out there just like you, and every one of 'em is just as willing as you to rationalize away their behavior too.

Feel free to tell me now how I've just misconstrued everything that you've said. That's pretty much SOP too. Unfortunately, I smelled it and called it too.
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OK, I'll bite and respond to one of your posts. Neither I, nor anyone besides the player who pushed, heard my player talking trash. I heard about it later from my player and I took action. I still privately find the justice of it amusing. Your judgment about me has been made so I needn't say more about this.