Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Dean Smith’s record of 879 NCAA victories was broken last season. But he still has another record — a behavior record.
Smith, a former North Carolina coach, never cursed, and according to John Feinstein’s “A March to Madness,” he had a good reason.
Smith smoked. He drank. He was afraid if he started cursing his mother would stop speaking to him.
nutgraf
Four-letter words are as much a part of the game as shoelaces and sports drinks.
Well, if all mothers feel that way, this could be the Year of the Mom in college basketball. The NCAA is emphasizing bench decorum for the 2007-2008 season. Referees are supposed to give technical fouls for using inappropriate language, disrespecting an official or attempting to influence a call, taunting opponents and leaving the coaching box. That means coaches can’t curse at referees or their players.
The NCAA has come up with strange rulings in the past. It once punished the Utah basketball program for violations that included former coach Rick Majerus buying a player breakfast at a diner the morning after he found out the player’s father died. Heinous, huh?
But “bench decorum” doesn’t even make sense. These are college basketball games, not debutante balls.
Four-letter words are as much a part of the game as shoelaces and sports drinks. Smith is unique. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s sailor mouth is renowned throughout the sport. North Carolina coach Roy Williams can only say so many “aw shucks’s” and “dadgummit’s” before he starts sounding like the sergeant in “Full Metal Jacket.”
Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun wrote about the need to use foul language in his book “Dare to Dream.” He wrote that cursing gets a player’s attention and creates a sense of urgency. Senior guard Rodrick Stewart can relate.
“The only time you really see coaches yell at players is when they do something wrong,” he said. “They correct them on a mistake. Sometimes it’s easier to get through to a player by yelling.”
And really, what’s wrong with a little bit of colorful language? The players are adults. So are the coaches and the referees. Kids watching the game from the stands are too far away, and they wouldn’t be able to hear it through the television screen. Outside of Bob Knight’s chair throw in the 1980s, a cursing outburst rarely turns into a bigger ordeal.
Besides, referees will have a tough time drawing the line. Is “hell” an inappropriate word? What about “damn?”
The ruling could also create controversies about how it would be enforced. Former Kansas State coach Bob Huggins barely said a non-curse word last year when his team played host to Kansas. If a coach really does get T’d up every time he curses, Huggins will have trouble making it to the first TV timeout for West Virginia.
Surprisingly, coaches are still in support of the new ruling, including Kansas coach Bill Self.
“I think it’s good,” he said. “That’s something the officials and the rules committee have been adamant about. We got so many memos about that last year. I really don’t see it being a problem in our league. I think it’s good as a whole.”
But will he think that when a curse word changes the outcome of a game? Just wait. It will happen. A coach could easily lose his temper during the last minute of a close game, curse and get a technical. The other team would get two free throws and possession of the basketball.
A close game won’t just come down to one basket anymore. It will come down to one word.
Damn. At least mom will be happy.
— Edited by Rachel Bock
Davison: Huggins departure bad news for Kansas
Huggins departure could spell bad news for future of K-State program.
Better Options for Bad Situations: Cursing
How to clean up your dirty mouth (at least when you have ...
Sarraf: Everyone dotes on Duke
Duke is slowly on track to becoming the Notre Dame of basketball, ...
College basketball referee at the top of ...
Welmer’s lenient refereeing style has some players and coaches thankful, and others ...
Dar(r/n)ell off the bench
Darnell Jackson and Darrell Arthur took entirely different roads to Kansas basketball. ...
Moore: NCAA allowing itself to be used
Players like K-State’s Michael Beasley are just biding their time until they ...
Athletics go pink
The University’s sports teams have joined other schools across the country in ...
Duke football fights for attention
Team struggles for prominence at a school where basketball rules.
Morning Brew: Still games to enjoy in ...
Despite KU's disappointing loss, there will be exciting match-ups to check out ...
Legends game helps charity, recruiting
The Legends of the Phog alumni game invited former players to Allen ...
Paying tribute to James Naismith, the man ...
It wasn’t long before he ended up in the Midwest, where James ...
Nystrom: The guarantee of a Wildcat
Wildcat’s head coach supports his player’s guarantee to beat the Jayhawks, but ...
Degrees of success: athletes after college
College athletes' payment is their degree. But what if they never get ...
Jayhawks dominate Wildcats, 73-46
Dent: New K-State coach a mixed blessing
K-State might be good in spite of Martin next season, but success ...
No respect at all
Big 12 coaches are tired. Sick and tired of the unfair treatment ...
For the love of the game
Several one-time KU basketball players have missed out on the riches of ...
NCAA orders additional penalties for Kansas
After years of investigation, a hearing and eight more weeks of waiting, ...
Profiling the legends: Graves, Thomas and more
The legends of the Phog
Huggins bolts from Manhattan after one season
Bob Huggins resigned as Kansas State's men's basketball coach Thursday to take ...
Jayhawks' big three hammer Miami, 83-56
The Morris twins and Josh Selby keyed an offensive assault that left ...
NCAA votes to restrict recruit texting
Kansas coaches show mixed reactions toward issue. Advantages and disadvantages to texting ...
Roadblocks to redemption
Unpaid professionals
Student athletes navigate two worlds.
Athletes with children
These KU athletes must find time to excel in both sports and ...
Bracket Bash
Men's basketball writers Tim Dwyer and Mike Lavieri shed insight on the ...
Simien makes move to minister
Former Kansas basketball player Wayne Simien has turned from NBA to sports ...
Morning Brew: Revisiting America’s original pastime
Moving on from March Madness and focusing on lacrosse.
Iowa coach can learn a lesson from ...
Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz let his team down while Jayhawks’ Self cares ...
Living the Wright life
Wright left Kansas for the NBA last year. His life outside of ...
Soccer or Futbol? Women’s soccer team travels ...
The Kansas women’s soccer team completed a nine-day tour of Brazil on ...
Intramurals create memorable sports moments
Clutch moments happen at all levels of sports, including intramurals.
Morning Brew: The top basketball movie athletes
A cinematic dream team in honor of The Oscars and the NCAA ...
Morning Brew: NCAA shouldn’t expand tourney from ...
College basketball’s championship tournament shouldn’t let in mediocre teams, even if the ...
Unlicensed: A T-Shirt Tale
Meet Larry Sinks, the man behind JoeCollege.com and its controversial T-shirts.
Ranked soccer team prepares for tough weekend ...
Soccer Coach Mark Francis wants a win against his alma mater during ...
Brown officially named SMU coach
After a week of speculation, Larry Brown will coach his 13th team ...
Top 10 players in Kansas basketball history
Find out who the top 10 players in Kansas basketball history are.
Morning Brew: Guide to the Sweet Sixteen
Learn all you need to know about the next round of the ...
Kansas baseball team begins practice today
Rules established by the NCAA Baseball Issues Committee standardized the season openers ...
From left: Kimberlee Hinkle, Libby Johnson and Hannah ...
1 comment
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
Comments
Dent: Cursing ban to lower game intensity
Ahhhhhmmmmmm!?!? Did Bill Self really say "adamant" as quoted??? If so, since "dam" is in the word, isn't he already in violation of the new rule????
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID