Toland: Extra attention not always good

Friday, September 18, 2009

“I’m really looking forward to embracing some of the great traditions at the University of Tennessee,” Lane Kiffin declared at his first press conference as Tennessee’s head coach last December. “For instance, the Vol Walk, running through the T, singing ‘Rocky Top’ all night long after we beat Florida next year. It will be a blast.”

Instead of warming up his vocal chords, Lane should be preparing his team to get blasted this weekend. He and his players won’t feel like singing ‘Rocky Top’ or anything else after Florida runs his team out of The Swamp tomorrow. The game could get ugly, and it probably will.

It was a bold move from the new coach. Before he even had time to learn his new school’s fight song, he was already promising to grace the mighty Gators with a vocal interlude after beating them in Gainesville, Fla.

Now just days away from the big game at, Kiffin has been saying that he really just used these comments to get Tennessee in the news. It worked, but it also got his comments posted all over the Gators’ locker room.

I have never seen any reason for pregame trash talk, especially through the media. There is a time for psychological warfare, and that time is not before the game begins.

What Lane Kiffin considered a brilliant ploy is instead another handicap for his team. More attention is not always a good thing. It can bring added pressure and create unrealistic expectations. When a team is cast into the spotlight, everything is magnified,

including failures on the field.

Even after starting the 2007 season 11-0, the Kansas Jayhawks did not get cocky and start to guarantee victories. Instead, the team did what it had done all season. The players stayed quiet, they did their jobs and they let the attention come to them.

The Jayhawks eventually played Missouri on ABC in front of a primetime audience. Kansas didn’t ask for attention two seasons ago, but still received the attention it deserved. If Todd Reesing and the Jayhawks had started talking big after a few wins, they would not have been able to fly under the radar like they did for so long during their magical run.

Teams everywhere would have taken notice of what the Jayhawks were doing and it would have become much more difficult to succeed. The team would have been under intense pressure and scrutiny and probably would not have won the Orange Bowl.

If a player or coach has to talk trash, he should at least realize that it is most acceptable when done during a game.

Perhaps the finest examples of players who could talk trash and play great while doing so are Michael Jordan and Larry Bird. Both had unique playing styles and verbal skills, but each player excelled in both areas.

Jordan would sometimes have a running conversation with his defender while knocking down jumpers, while Bird preferred to ask which defender wanted to be scored on during the next possession and then give his opponents an update of his scoring total after every made basket. Both players talked an enormous amount of trash during their respective careers, but each player also did so after performing during a game.

Lane Kiffin may have gotten his Volunteers in the news last December, but he’s going to wish he hadn’t after Florida runs up the score tomorrow.

I’m confident the Jayhawks will not become overconfident this season. Mark Mangino won’t allow it and the players are smart enough to know that nothing good comes out of verbal shots at opposing teams.

Kansas has a chance to have a very good season, and it has a chance to do so while other teams are getting most of the attention. Attention isn’t always a good thing, and I’m sure the Jayhawks would rather watch their highlights on TV than their press conferences anyway.

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