Amy: After watching a couple of baseball managers stop and storm around like 2-year-olds, I'm wondering what coaches think losing their cool teaches their players?
Chuck: Ease up. Who made you hall monitor? Coaches and managers hotdogging it with the officials is as basic to sports as, well, hotdogs. Castigating the refs comes naturally to them, although a special few have made it an art form.
But if Billy Martin's antics back in the day when he was managing the Yankees didn't throw the sports world off its axis, I doubt these most recent examples will either.
Likewise, I dare you to show me the harm of projectile spittle coming from Bill Cowher's mouth?
And what about former Orioles manager Earl Weaver being a Hall of Fame tantrum thrower long before his enshrinement in Cooperstown?
Amy: Ask any scientist. There is a lot of harm in flying saliva. And since you brought it up, it's the baseball coaches who have me the most worried.
But I also have to admit Jerry Sloan being ejected in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals bothers me — a lot.
Chuck: Look, you ought to be more concerned about the Jazz bench going AWOL in Game 5 than Jerry going APE! That's probably the underlying reason he was so exorcised.
So he watched the final minutes of a game that was a fait compli from the locker room. Big deal.
Amy: He has a young team, and by all accounts he tries desperately to teach his million-dollar athletes discipline. So isn't losing your cool at a critical moment the very definition of a lack of discipline?
If you want your players to think, stay cool and not react to what they have no control over (officials' calls), then shouldn't you as their leader do the same?
Chuck: They're well-compensated young professionals.
How hard is it for them to understand that their job is to think and stay cool and let that nicely dressed madman pacing up and down the bench worry about the matchup with the referees.
Amy: I think even in the pros the coach sets the tone — or not.
If you're not worried about the impact the behavior has on young, impressionable players and fans, then sometimes the tantrums can be pretty entertaining. I found the You-Tube video of Mississippi Braves manager Phillip Wellman getting tossed hilarious. It really looked like some kind of over-the-top skit that you'd see on Saturday Night Live.
Chuck: Precisely.
Amy: He buried the plate, stole second and third bases and belly-crawled from second to the pitcher's mound where he picked up a bag of rosin and tossed it in the vicinity of the umpire where it exploded on the ground.
And while it was very entertaining, I certainly wouldn't take tips on how to stay calm in a stressful situation from that guy.
Chuck: I'd be more worried about Wellman's players doing bar crawls after the game than belly crawling during it. Coaches or managers getting arrested for DUI, now that's setting a bad example. Almost everything else can be chalked up to harmless theatrics.
Amy: I don't believe that's true. I see high school players imitating what they see in the pros all the time.
But aside from the ridiculously bad example they're setting, I just don't understand what they hope it will accomplish to act like something that one might find at a zoo.
I have often heard that some coaches get ejected to inspire their players or get them fired up. I recently read an article that said that was mostly an urban legend.
Good coaches can inspire their players without losing control.
Chuck: Haven't you seen that priceless NFL Films piece with coaches dating back to Lombardi and Stram going bonkers on the sidelines? There are some pretty skilled ref-baiters among that group with a lot of Ws to show between them.
Next I suppose you're going to tell me that it was bad form for Nikita Krushchev to bang a shoe on the table at the United Nations.
Amy: Passion I respect. Losing it not so much. I have also never understood why coaches/players/fans believe screaming at someone will change his or her mind. If someone yells at me, I'm going to be even more defensive because I find their approach so distasteful.
But those who can offer a reasoned, rational argument, get my attention. They may even convince me they're right.
Incidentally, Wellman watched the call that caused him to lose control on video after the game and guess what? The officials got the call right.
Chuck: Perhaps it won't change anyone's mind, but you'll probably feel better, so ... STOP BEING SUCH A STUPID MORON!
Amy: See, not working.
Chuck: Tell me anything that does.
Amy: Idon't think any ejection is immediate cause for concern. But when a coach consistently abuses officials, I think team owners should take action.
Chuck: Oh yeah, let's make Mark Cuban and Larry Miller Civility Czars. These guys never berate the officials or their teams. Sheesh!
Amy: Okay, then leagues should. Chicago Cubs manager Lou Pinella was suspended indefinitely and fined for a tirade that involved kicking dirt on an umpire. MLB officials said he also made physical contact with the umpire during the temper tantrum, but he denies that.
Chuck: Hummm. Who wouldn't want their fate in Bud Selig's hands? Double-sheesh!
Pinella no doubt continues denying it because he knows his pockets will be $100K lighter if he fesses up.
Amy: Is it any surprise that Pinella's outburst came just a day after the catcher Michael Barrett and pitcher Carlos Zambrano fought in the dugout and clubhouse. Barrett needed six stitches in his lip and had a bruise below his left eye.
How can a coach require restraint when he has none himself? It's just a high-priced version of monkey see, monkey do.
Chuck: The same way they expect their players to make the plays they can't make or never could themselves.
E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com, chuck@desnews.com