On Saturday, Oct. 2, I was watching the Boise State University Broncos beat the University of Utah Utes 26-20 on TV. I was greatly disappointed when a BSU coach angrily -- and childishly -- threw his headset on the blue turf after the Broncos' quarterback threw an interception, which prevented the Broncos from having a field-goal attempt just before the half ended.
This was a blatant example of pathetic sports decorum -- by none other than a university official; yet, nobody covering the game seemed to care, even though it was clearly caught on camera, I guess because we have become numb to it.Fit-throwing by college coaches is too common. Many routinely lose their cools and throw or kick things, pull faces, violently scream at their players and/or the referees, and otherwise become very histrionic on even nationally televised contests. We can only wonder how they act during private team practices.
Ironically, we penalize players for "excessive celebrating," yet do nothing to coaches who act like out-of-control imbeciles. Just imagine what would happen to a college basketball player for example, if he or she came off the bench and angrily threw over the team's water cooler or tossed a chair onto the playing area, as we have seen coaches do.
I find it curious that university "role models" who coach athletes can act like this with impunity in front of the tens of thousands of people. After all, no other college officials could get away with this type of behavior.
Imagine what would happen to a science teacher who became angry over a missed answer in class and responded by throwing a pen across the room or violently screaming at the student whose answer was not what the teacher wanted. At the very least, he or she would be reprimanded.
So much for "higher learning."
Greg Smith
Salt Lake City