admitting to a coach you made a mistake

[Berkut]

Originally Posted by mbyron

It's not about force, it's about attitude. Sarcasm rarely plays well with emotionally wrought people, and we know that going in. It's just not funny to them and usually occasions (I won't say 'causes') an inappropriate response, and that's almost always counter-productive.

Answer questions, don't discuss. Be honest but concise. Do your job.

I agree with all this - and I certainly own my own response to the coach, and have my own responsibility to be professional and not escalate the situation.

I just don't like the idea that we might "bait" someone, I guess - like it is our job to make sure they don't have a reason to say something they should not. At the end of the day, they are responsible for what they say, as I am responsible for what I say. While I am aware that I can say things that will anger them, that doesn't in any way, IMO, release them to go ahead and say something they should not.

And the idea seems, to me, to simply give them an excuse for going off - they can just claim "Hey, that official baited me!". I guess it comes back to one of my pet peeves - the idea that our job includes trying to convince adults to act like adults.

Anyway, not a huge deal, I suppose. Such is life - sometimes we have to do what even if we don't like it.