Let’s face it, bad calls happen. It is simply a part of the game. More often than not, when a bad call is made, arguing does not help the cause. Even with the implementation of instant replay reviews, judgmental calls cannot be reviewed and overturned. However, there are different ways one can react to bad calls and recent examples help illustrate different approaches.
Consider the NBA game January 11th involving the Boston Celtics and the Atlanta Hawks. Midway through the 3rd quarter, the Boston Celtics led the Atlanta Hawks by 10 points when Celtics’ forward Glenn “Big Baby” Davis was given a flagrant foul for his hard takedown of Hawks player Marvin Williams. Celtics coach Doc Rivers immediately lost his cool and began arguing with the referees. He was given two technical fouls and an automatic ejection. Quite the reaction from the coach who has been preaching to his team, “He who angers you, owns you.” The Hawks hit four of the five free throws and cut the lead to six. The Celtics were left to finish the game without their head coach, and ended up losing 102-96. In hindsight, that was not exactly the best reaction. I’m sure Coach Rivers wishes he could take that one back and follow his own advice.
Another recent bad no-call illustrates a different response. At the end of the Seton Hall v. Louisville men’s basketball game, a Seton Hall player attempted to in-bound the ball after a made basket. However in doing so, he crossed the baseline. Typically, this would be called a violation and the ball would turn over to the other team. This would have been greatly beneficial to the Louisville team, as they were only down 2 points with 0.7 seconds left. However, the referee blew his whistle, asked for the ball, directed the player back behind the line, and allowed him to in-bound it again. As expected, Louisville coach Rick Pitino was furious. He argued his case, but with no avail. At that point he dropped the case, and ater the game, Coach Pitino shook hands with the Seton Hall coach and walked to the locker room. No major scene. Coach Pitino stuck up for his team, but was not irresponsible or act out of line.
As a coach, when dealing with a bad call, or even a bad referee, remember who is watching you and who needs you. As in the case with Doc Rivers, his ejection led to the collapse of his team and cost them the game. Although the ejection may not be the sole reason, it definitely does not help the team’s cause. Some may argue there are times when a coach needs to be ejected in order to spark his team – think Coach Dale in the classic movie “Hoosiers.” His ejection at a critical point in the game was done on purpose in order to display his trust in his assistant coach and to motivate his players. But more often than not, coaches should defend their players, without compromising their role in leading the team. A prime example is Coach Yoast in “Remember the Titans.” When referees are cheating the Titans, Yoast does not make a scene and overact. He simply speaks to the referee and informs him that he better call a fair game or he will report the referees’ intentions to the press. When dealing with bad calls, let’s hope coaches act like the role models they are, resembling Coach Pitino and Coach Yoast, or even Coach Dale – but only when necessary.
Ben Frost
Notre Dame ‘10
Social Foundations of Coaching Course
Monday, January 25, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The Lost Value of Integrity
In one deft move, Lane Kiffin has reminded us all of a disturbing trend in college football coaches today. Thirteen months ago after a disastrous stint with the Oakland Raiders, Kiffin was given a great opportunity at SEC contender Tennessee. He convinced Tennessee officials to allow him to hire the highest paid staff in college football, including the $1 million-a-year Defensive Coordinator Monte Kiffin. He then proceeded to rack up six secondary NCAA violations, enough to warrant a NCAA investigation. There was plenty of talk of Kiffin removing Tennessee traditions in favor of creating the “USC of the East.” And yet, the school stuck with him and supported him. But just last week, Kiffin spent less than a day clearing out of Knoxville in pursuit of greener pastures at USC. He left so quickly that he didn’t even bother to tell some of his highly prized staff – his brother-in-law and QB coach David Reaves found out from ESPN. He told his players about his move in a five-minute meeting.
Where is the integrity in sticking to a contract? Some might argue that if Kiffin paid his $800,000 buyout, he had fulfilled that contract. I would argue that he might have fulfilled the letter of the contract, but not his obligation or mission as a coach. As a coach, Kiffin is charged with developing 18-22 year olds into players and men. In a year, I doubt the players saw the development of their physical talents. But more importantly, they saw that a man’s word doesn’t matter when money is involved. When Kiffin recruits, he promises them he will mentor them throughout their college experience. I don’t think he can be that mentor thousands of miles away at USC. As a coach, he asks his players to go that extra mile, and yet he won’t do the same for them. Perhaps the most galling story was that of calling Tennessee’s early enrollees and telling them to not attend class the next day so they could join him at USC.
This trend of lack of integrity goes beyond Kiffin. We saw it with Pete Carroll and his staff not returning any calls/text messages from recruits as was flirting with the Seahawks. We saw it with Bobby Petrino skipping town on Louisville for the NFL and then bolting from the Falcons midseason for Arkansas. We saw it with Nick Saban leaving the Dolphins for Alabama. Urban Meyer resigns for 18 hours, only to change his mind without consulting even his family. We even saw it with Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly skipping Cincinnati’s bowl game. How can players trust a coach to be their mentor in today’s world? I can’t see it.
So why does this happen? I believe it boils down to recruiting and to m oney. Brian Kelly certainly fulfilled his obligation to Cincinnati, leading them to two BCS games and establishing the school on the college football map. The problem is that Brian Kelly left Cincinnati on the eve of the Sugar Bowl. He did this so he could begin recruiting for Notre Dame. Recruits are the life-blood of the program. It is common for coaches to leave before the bowl games in order to get a start on maintaining their classes. The NCAA can fix this problem by making the period between the end of the season and the bowl games a dead period, where recruits can’t be contacted. The money is a different issue. Mack Brown just received a contract for $5 million a year. And this is skyrocketing. Compared to the $150,000 that Lou Holtz made in the early 90s, the salaries coaches are paid today are unfathomable. Coaches leave for the sweetest deal they can find, consequences.
Perhaps Penn State QB coach Jay Paterno says it best.:
This profession has lost touch with the reality of the world around us, and some coaches have lost touch with what the mission of our profession should be. We are starting to look as arrogant as the Wall Street bankers raking in seven-figure bonuses. The astronomical explosion in coaching salaries continues at a time of 10 percent unemployment in America and exploding tuition costs burdening working class families ... Coaches walk into a recruit's home and talk about how they will look out for that young man's future. The expectation is that the coach will help to guide him through a very formative time. A year later the same coach is off to another job for more money and left behind are the young men he promised to nurture towards their future.
Hopefully, coaches can remember their mission in the future and show integrity.
Barrick Bollman ‘12
Social Foundations of Coaching
University of Notre Dame
Where is the integrity in sticking to a contract? Some might argue that if Kiffin paid his $800,000 buyout, he had fulfilled that contract. I would argue that he might have fulfilled the letter of the contract, but not his obligation or mission as a coach. As a coach, Kiffin is charged with developing 18-22 year olds into players and men. In a year, I doubt the players saw the development of their physical talents. But more importantly, they saw that a man’s word doesn’t matter when money is involved. When Kiffin recruits, he promises them he will mentor them throughout their college experience. I don’t think he can be that mentor thousands of miles away at USC. As a coach, he asks his players to go that extra mile, and yet he won’t do the same for them. Perhaps the most galling story was that of calling Tennessee’s early enrollees and telling them to not attend class the next day so they could join him at USC.
This trend of lack of integrity goes beyond Kiffin. We saw it with Pete Carroll and his staff not returning any calls/text messages from recruits as was flirting with the Seahawks. We saw it with Bobby Petrino skipping town on Louisville for the NFL and then bolting from the Falcons midseason for Arkansas. We saw it with Nick Saban leaving the Dolphins for Alabama. Urban Meyer resigns for 18 hours, only to change his mind without consulting even his family. We even saw it with Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly skipping Cincinnati’s bowl game. How can players trust a coach to be their mentor in today’s world? I can’t see it.
So why does this happen? I believe it boils down to recruiting and to m oney. Brian Kelly certainly fulfilled his obligation to Cincinnati, leading them to two BCS games and establishing the school on the college football map. The problem is that Brian Kelly left Cincinnati on the eve of the Sugar Bowl. He did this so he could begin recruiting for Notre Dame. Recruits are the life-blood of the program. It is common for coaches to leave before the bowl games in order to get a start on maintaining their classes. The NCAA can fix this problem by making the period between the end of the season and the bowl games a dead period, where recruits can’t be contacted. The money is a different issue. Mack Brown just received a contract for $5 million a year. And this is skyrocketing. Compared to the $150,000 that Lou Holtz made in the early 90s, the salaries coaches are paid today are unfathomable. Coaches leave for the sweetest deal they can find, consequences.
Perhaps Penn State QB coach Jay Paterno says it best.:
This profession has lost touch with the reality of the world around us, and some coaches have lost touch with what the mission of our profession should be. We are starting to look as arrogant as the Wall Street bankers raking in seven-figure bonuses. The astronomical explosion in coaching salaries continues at a time of 10 percent unemployment in America and exploding tuition costs burdening working class families ... Coaches walk into a recruit's home and talk about how they will look out for that young man's future. The expectation is that the coach will help to guide him through a very formative time. A year later the same coach is off to another job for more money and left behind are the young men he promised to nurture towards their future.
Hopefully, coaches can remember their mission in the future and show integrity.
Barrick Bollman ‘12
Social Foundations of Coaching
University of Notre Dame
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Growing up with Mark McGwire
Somehow it doesn’t bother me that McGwire took steroids.
So what if he took performance enhancing drugs? I was in the stadium the night he hit his 61st. It was magical. At the height of McGwire’s homerun prowess, I was a naive elementary school student living in the suburbs of St. Louis. McGwire bobble heads, pencils, shirts, and PEZ dispensers - my friends and I had it all. Oh believe me, I didn’t like baseball. I still don’t. But for some reason, during the fall of 1998, I could imagine myself growing up to be a baseball player, just like McGwire.
Parents today often talk about how celebrities can no longer be good role models for their children. Drugs, alcohol, sexual affairs, and scandal after scandal appear in the news daily. Where are the great athletes that children everywhere can aspire to be? Nonexistent. Realistically? Every great athlete. Honestly, children only understand what happens on the field and who wins the game. Saying that he or she cheated by taking enhancers and drugs; none of that would have made sense in my 3rd grade head. Drugs..is that like the Tylenol I take when I’m sick? Enhancers.. my gummy bear vitamins? Especially in sports, none of this brouhaha matters to children. What they see at a game is life changing. Nothing will take away my feelings when I saw McGwire hit that homer, just like I will always remember watching in awe Marion Jones win 3 golds in Sydney. Those performances are inspiring. A child needs to see those kind of performances, drug enhanced or not.
I doubt anyone is surprised that McGwire actually took steroids. It’s like a fairy tale. It’s almost supposed to happen. Great athlete achieves despite the odds, and then spirals into oblivion. Come on, look at Tiger Woods. As long as the black hole opens after a child sees an amazing performance by the athlete, nothing else matters.
All in all, I’m glad McGwire took steroids. Otherwise, I probably would not have seen that homer, or felt the amazing power of 45,000 fans all cheering for the same person. Knowing he may have took steroids during that game does not in any way change my experience.
After all, in my mind, he’s still the Mark McGwire I grew up with.
Ching-Ting Hwang
ND '12
So what if he took performance enhancing drugs? I was in the stadium the night he hit his 61st. It was magical. At the height of McGwire’s homerun prowess, I was a naive elementary school student living in the suburbs of St. Louis. McGwire bobble heads, pencils, shirts, and PEZ dispensers - my friends and I had it all. Oh believe me, I didn’t like baseball. I still don’t. But for some reason, during the fall of 1998, I could imagine myself growing up to be a baseball player, just like McGwire.
Parents today often talk about how celebrities can no longer be good role models for their children. Drugs, alcohol, sexual affairs, and scandal after scandal appear in the news daily. Where are the great athletes that children everywhere can aspire to be? Nonexistent. Realistically? Every great athlete. Honestly, children only understand what happens on the field and who wins the game. Saying that he or she cheated by taking enhancers and drugs; none of that would have made sense in my 3rd grade head. Drugs..is that like the Tylenol I take when I’m sick? Enhancers.. my gummy bear vitamins? Especially in sports, none of this brouhaha matters to children. What they see at a game is life changing. Nothing will take away my feelings when I saw McGwire hit that homer, just like I will always remember watching in awe Marion Jones win 3 golds in Sydney. Those performances are inspiring. A child needs to see those kind of performances, drug enhanced or not.
I doubt anyone is surprised that McGwire actually took steroids. It’s like a fairy tale. It’s almost supposed to happen. Great athlete achieves despite the odds, and then spirals into oblivion. Come on, look at Tiger Woods. As long as the black hole opens after a child sees an amazing performance by the athlete, nothing else matters.
All in all, I’m glad McGwire took steroids. Otherwise, I probably would not have seen that homer, or felt the amazing power of 45,000 fans all cheering for the same person. Knowing he may have took steroids during that game does not in any way change my experience.
After all, in my mind, he’s still the Mark McGwire I grew up with.
Ching-Ting Hwang
ND '12
Notre Dame Undergraduate Social Foundations of Coaching Course
Play Like A Champion Today(TM) Directors Clark Power and Kristin Sheehan have the distinct pleasure of teaching a course to Notre Dame Undergraduates entitled "Social Foundations of Coaching." The course educates Notre Dame students who aspire to become coaches to understand the nature of coaching as an educational ministry. The course's goal is to help these students develop an approach to coaching that is based on sound philosophical, psychological and sociological foundations. Students become conversant with theories about sports and coaching as well as learn how to apply these theories to the practice of coaching. Class members have been invited to share a blog post this semester. We are confident that PLC friends will glean knowledge and insight from the posts of our students. Watch for the student posts - coming each week!
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