USBL Coach Pulls Team off Floor

[OverAndBack]

You have to register to read the article itself (in Cedar Rapids, Iowa? Puh-leez.), so I'll summarize:

St.Louis SkyHawks (United States Basketball League) coach Floyd Irons, apparently a high school coach (and probably soon to be a former professional coach) pulled his team off the floor Friday night in Cedar Rapids as his team trailed the River Raiders 38-21 with 6:32 left in the first half.

Game officials Tom Turckas and Dave Cusick had a fun time trying to convince Irons to reconsider, but he was having none of it.

At the time Irons pulled his team off the floor, St.Louis had been whistled for five fouls and Cedar Rapids 1, with St.Louis having shot 1 free throw and Cedar Rapids 2.

Irons has won nine Missouri state high school championships, but may not get a chance to win one in the pros.

"Actions will be severe and swift," USBL PR Director Dennis Truax said. "He's a high school coach making a high school play and it's out of the question what he did tonight. It was Floyd Irons making a grandstand play because he didn't get his way."

Now, y'all have been around a lot longer than me, and this is professional ball rather than what we do (hey, it's the summer, what do you want to talk about?), but let me ask you: How long, how forcefully, and how loudly would you attempt to dissuade a coach from keeping his team from completing a game when he makes a grandstand play to protest the officiating?

I would tell him, very calmly and strongly, once, that he realistically would face very strong sanctions from his league and potentially the loss of his job if he continued with this course of action. I'd say now if you want to protest after the game, fine. But let's go out and finish the game, because as it stands, your team is going to forfeit and you are likely to lose your job. So what do you want to do?

And if he persisted, I'd say "fine," pick up my check and head home to watch the fireworks. Life's too short.