Captains meeting

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

Hello, Mr. Unapproachable.

I do not want to be approached by players, that is what their coach is for. And I hardly have a problem talking to coaches. But considering the things I read you say about situations, I certainly cannot be seen as any more unapproachable than you are (and I do not mean that in a bad way before someone takes it that way). You put up with a lot less crap than I do.

Peace

[zm1283]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I do not want to be approached by players, that is what their coach is for. And I hardly have a problem talking to coaches. But considering the things I read you say about situations, I certainly cannot be seen as any more unapproachable than you are (and I do not mean that in a bad way before someone takes it that way). You put up with a lot less crap than I do.

Peace

You won't talk to players on the court/field at all? Even if they're asking a question and being polite?

[Rich]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I do not want to be approached by players, that is what their coach is for. And I hardly have a problem talking to coaches. But considering the things I read you say about situations, I certainly cannot be seen as any more unapproachable than you are (and I do not mean that in a bad way before someone takes it that way). You put up with a lot less crap than I do.

Peace

I actually want to be approachable to players, provided it's not to whine about individual calls.

I'm a lot more mellow than I used to be the first 15 years I worked. I had two situations this week where I would've whacked the coach/player 10 years ago. The first was an assistant coach that accused me of fouling out a player (on a call I didn't even make) during a timeout and instead of engaging him, I turned my back and walked away. The second was a kid who threw his arms in the air and disagreed pretty vehemently after I called a foul on him and I had a few words with him rather than calling a technical -- as I reported, his coach told me "I'm sorry about that, I'll take care of him." The other coach wanted a technical called, but then again of course he did.

I suppose I seem pretty inflexible on the first name thing and there's a chance I'm intentionally winding people up on this thread , but mainly it's just a quick chuckle under my breath on the court and I could easily work with Jeff and others anywhere. I'll admit it and let it go -- it's really not that big a deal.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

I actually want to be approachable to players, provided it's not to whine about individual calls.

When do players talk to us seriously when they are not whining? That is the vast majority of the time they say anything to us unless we address them first. And even then I do not call them by their name, I call them by their number. And there are many players I know who they are based on the status the media gives them.

Originally Posted by RichMSN

I suppose I seem pretty inflexible on the first name thing and there's a chance I'm intentionally winding people up on this thread , but mainly it's just a quick chuckle under my breath on the court and I could easily work with Jeff and others anywhere. I'll admit it and let it go -- it's really not that big a deal.

It isn't a big deal at all which is why I said if you did one thing I would not bat an eye and do what I always do.

Peace