I never said you did....

[ditttoo]

"Yes, Sir....I hear ya" is about all I give it. IF the coach is more than just "talking" and being a bit more emphatic, I'll give him just a look, but a direct one, when I reply, but all I give is just a simple response.

It depends on the game, the situation, the history between you and the coach, the coach's personality, etc., etc., but the interaction between myself and the coach, regardless of whether it's foul count or what look I had at a particular play, is all part of game management and I'm certainly not looking to say or do anything that is counter to what the coach is trying to communicate - why would I give them the opportunity to start or continue an argument or present myself at odds? Let 'em have their say (if we were coaching with a 7-1 foul count we'd certainly be aware of it and more than probably feel the need to mention it, too), and move on.

Believe it or not, he ain't your buddy and being "cute" or "snappy" isn't going to change that...but it does run the risk of further frusting him and that doesn't help.

[theboys]

This is long.

Rainmaker's vent on another thread got me to thinking about, why as a coach or fan, I get frustrated, and say sometimes rational - and sometimes irrational - things. This thread makes me think about it more, and offer an opinion from "the dark side".

Please understand, that I know what I'm about to say is not necessarily the "right" way to act. Sometimes, it just happens.

As a coach, if I complain about a foul discrepancy, for example, first of all, I'm not complaining because I think you're biased against me, and am certainly not trying to attack you personally. My reasons could be one or more of the following:

1. As you know, many of basketball's calls are judgment calls (see the thread Bang Bang Play). I may think I see the same amount of contact on both ends but, in your judgment, the level of contact is different. I may be trying to convince you the level of contact is the same.

2. I may be in a close game played at a fevered pitch. While you rightfully don't care who wins, I, of course, do. If a close call goes against me, I may rant, because I know its an opportunity that got away. I will also let my star post know a missed dunk at a critical time was an extremely stupid idea.

3. I may be out of options. My team may be having a bad night, or the other team might be having a good night. I may be pulling out all stops to get the momentum on my side. Hey, its not right or defendable, but it happens.

Last, if I'm frustrated, witty remarks might quiet me, but they won't defuse my frustration. I can't speak for others, but for me, Zebraman's response would be the most helpful:

"coach, we're aware of that too.... It'd be easier on us if the fouls were 5 to 5 but it just doesn't work out that way sometimes."

[cmathews]

I had a similar situation or so I thought a couple weeks ago. Small town, girls varsity,the home team had lost. We stayed to watch the boys varsity game. As we walk up to our little corner, we pass the home team girls coach. We get a thumbs up, nice job and think cool all is well... Then he approaches with the scorebook and says you want to see why we have lost the last 3 or 4 games...and shows me the free throw discrepency.... I am thinking uh oh here it comes, then he says, I just can't convince them to quit fouling....they keep fouling and the other team keeps shooting free throws....... Wheeeew LOL

[paxsonref]

Originally posted by blindzebra

It also falls under 10-4-1-B attempting to influence an official's decision.

If it has standing or gesturing along with the statement add article E.

If it is loud enough so the crowd picks it up, throw in article F.

Influencing an officials decision? So the next time a ball is knocked out of bounds and you have 7 kids pointing as to which way the ball should go, is that 7 T's? They were trying to influence the official into giving them the ball. . . . Just about every comment ever made by a coach, even the respectfully made ones, are in attempt to influence the decisions of the officials. . . . its tough to use that as a reasoning as it happens all the time.

[blindzebra]

Originally posted by paxsonref

Influencing an officials decision? So the next time a ball is knocked out of bounds and you have 7 kids pointing as to which way the ball should go, is that 7 T's? They were trying to influence the official into giving them the ball. . . . Just about every comment ever made by a coach, even the respectfully made ones, are in attempt to influence the decisions of the officials. . . . its tough to use that as a reasoning as it happens all the time.

And we complain about why sportsmanship is so bad.

#1 the coach IS attacking your credibility and integrity with the foul count comment.

#2 why would they point this out, if not to attempt to influence how you are calling the game?

#3 if they are standing up in gesturing they are not using the coaches box within the rules.

#4 if they are doing so loudly, they are bringing the crowd into the situation.

You may really need to look at 10-4 again.

What you allow you promote.