Quote:
Originally posted by bluezebra
"The offensive coach argued that he teaches his players that as long as they have one foot in the box, they will never be called out."
2..That coach better read a rule book, BEFORE handing out such stupid advice.
Bob
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Bob;
This reminds me of something that happened in my playing days, admittedly a long time ago. (1969) I was on an NCAA baseball team and our coach was instucting us on what the batter was to do during a steal of second. The coach told us to swing late (assuming less than two strikes) and step across the plate so as to mess up the throw of the catcher.
One of the more knowledgable players on my team raised his hand and said "But coach, that is against the rules."
The coach replied "True, but the umpires that we get will never call it so do what I tell you."
All season long we swung late and stepped across the plate into the way of the catcher throwing to second. Guess what, the coach was right. Not one umpire ever called "INTERFERENCE". Furthermore, I don't remember the defense every complaining about it, either. It was part of the game that both sides played.
Little has changed in the coaching world over the last thirty years. The top coaches are still observing the competence of umpires and adjusting their instructions accordingly. In their minds, the rules are NOT what is written in the rulebook, but rather what is actually called on the field.
For an NCAA coach, his day job depends on winning games. Would you expect him to behave any differently?
I see this all the time in the games that I do. The illegal tactics are obviously coached. The coaches vigorously object when a knowledgeable umpire with courage actually makes one of these tough calls. The yell and scream "Nobody makes that call." That's not exactly the truth, but it's close.
In the specific situation mentioned above, I would guess that well over 90% of NCAA umpires will not call an out when only one foot is out of the box. Most won't call anything even when two feet are out of the box unless it is really blatant.
Finally, you wrote "That coach better read a rule book, BEFORE handing out such stupid advice."
If winning games is what is important to a coach, he will ignore the rulebook and watch the umpires instead. OTOH, if building character is what is important, he might want to start with the rulebook, BUT..
This is America, "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." I doubt that character building will overtake winning on our priority list anytime in the foreseable future.
Peter