Quote:
Originally Posted by Welpe
Bull. A coach saying things about the officials when he full well knows the officials are within earshot is being a passive aggressive coward. The "Oh I wasn't talking to you" line is garbage.
The huddle is not a sanctuary. Act like a jerk and don't be surprised if you get held accountable. Gaming the officials is not going to win you very many points in my book.
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I agree with your first statement. But my response is: So what? If a coach wants to be a whiner, or indeed, a passive agressive coward, I honestly don't care. I work the wings, and if a coach (or members of his staff) wants to stand behind me and complain about how awful the calls are all day, I just ignore it.
I'm not going to let them intimidate me. At the same time, I'm not going to teach them a lesson or try to hold them accountable (just) for being jerks.
Now, if they're in my face and screaming, invading personal space, that's a little different. But even then, I'll calmly tell him that he needs to step back. If he wishes to have a calm exchange or explanation, fine. But if he only wants to rant and rave, he can do so all game as far as I care--so long as he's not interfering with my ability to do my job.
Not to criticize other officials, but I feel some of them have a little bit of "cowboy" in them. They're a little too quick, in my opinion, to put their authority on display. Or they get in screaming matches with coaches.
As the late, great Patrick Swayze says in the classic "Roadhouse":
"If somebody gets in your face and calls you a *********, I want you to be nice. Ask him to walk. Be nice. If he won't walk, walk him. But be nice. If you can't walk him, one of the others will help you, and you'll both be nice. I want you to remember that it's a job. It's nothing personal."
Movie quotes aside, I think RG's distinction is an important one. If a coach has a finger in my face, or if he's screaming for the whole field to hear that the Ref is a piece of ****, then yes, we've got USC. But if he's throwing a hissy fit (behind me) about a CALL being awful, I've got nothing.