Thursday, November 08, 2007
What the ...?
Aaron McFarling
Recent columns
Oh, that's just bleepin' great.
Here we are, coming off one of the most exciting college basketball seasons this region has seen in more than a decade, and now the NCAA decides it wants coaches to behave themselves during games.
Yep. No more profanity. No more straying outside the coaching box. No more wild gesticulating to show annoyance with officials. The refs have been ordered to enforce the policy by calling technical fouls, and those officials who enforce it best will be given preference for postseason assignments.
This might not be a big deal in a lot of places. Around here? It could mean 6-hour free throw shooting contests for Virginia Tech and Virginia. Games against Duke and the bombastic Mike Krzyzewski -- who says he's "not going to pay attention" to the rule until he is actually punished for it -- could last three days.
Even if you've never attended a game, surely you've seen the pictures of Tech coach Seth Greenberg during heated competition. He screams. He stomps. He smacks the scorer's table. Calling him a man possessed would not be fair to men who are actually possessed. At least those guys have a theological excuse.
And Virginia coach Dave Leitao? As placid and reasonable as he normally is away from the court, he can be a maniac on it. By the end of last season, we stopped asking guard J.R. Reynolds what Leitao was saying to him in the huddles. We knew what the answer would be: "You can't print it."
Reynolds would usually smile when he said that, because he liked the blue back-and-forth. It motivated him, and Leitao knew it. That's why the coach did it.
The fact is, cursing is a part of sports. Has been ever since a young Greek runner named Greenbergius yelled "Zeus [dang] it!" after losing the stadion race in the inaugural Olympiad. Greenbergius was struck by lightning immediately, but there is no record of anybody calling a technical foul.
Still, the policy is a good idea in theory. Too many coaches throughout the country use their sideline histrionics as a way to bully officials. And considering basketball is the sport that features the most judgment calls, many coaches feel they can't simmer down for one second lest their counterpart grab the edge.
Besides, children come to basketball games, and children have ears. No parent should have to listen to "Daddy, what does the F-word mean, and why did that grown-up keep saying it?" on the car ride home. A little self-control isn't too much to ask.
When it comes to verbal motivation, the coaches can still use whatever language they want to in practice. These players are adults. If they can't take it, well, in the legendary words of Colorado football coach Dan Hawkins: "go play intramurals, brother."
Check that. The cursing in intramurals is much, much worse.
The major problem is, this might not be the easiest season for Greenberg and Leitao to stay profanity free. Consider:
n The Hokies had three 1,000-point scorers graduate, leaving them a young, untested team that was picked to finish 10th in the ACC.
n UVa's 6-foot-11, 252-pound center is bound to have another one of those baffling nights where he grabs only two rebounds in 30-plus minutes. Seems like the bigger Tunji Soroye gets, the smaller he plays. Sometimes he might need a little verbal "encouragement."
n The Hokies' projected starter at the point -- Nigel Munson -- transferred, meaning the most important position on the court will be staffed by a rookie. If that doesn't test a coach's composure, nothing will.
n While the Wahoos got a huge boost with the return of Sean Singletary, a second scoring option will have to emerge now that Reynolds is gone. Mamadi Diane and Adrian Joseph have each been outstanding at times, but their inconsistency has a tendency to enrage.
So there are the challenges as a new season dawns. For Greenberg and Leitao, there's nothing left to do but zip it and tip it.
