Tuesday, October 2, 2007

It's a guy thing

Speaking of calling out players, it looks like it's that time of year when the balls being discused aren't always the ones rolling on the field. The macho metaphor gets hauled out again as motivator.

From the Columbus Dispatch, after the Crew lost to the Galaxy;

Coach Sigi Schmid did something he doesn't normally do -- he questioned the manhood of some of his players. He noted that the Galaxy packed the midfield in the first half -- which allowed it to put numbers behind the Crew -- and decried the fact that his players didn't adjust. He said this was evidence of a lack of resolve.

"Soccer's not a game where you can call a timeout," Schmid said. "We need a couple of individuals on the field who can solve a frickin' problem when a problem exists."

He also said, "We've got to find some men to play."

Further, he said, "I'm not one to check underwear, but …"

It's time to examine the drawers.

Last year, John Ellinger, then-coach of Real Salt Lake;


"There's something that goes in a jock strap; I guess you've got to have that in order to play this game," Ellinger said.


U20 US Coach Thomas Rongen, at the U20 World Cup after a win versus Uruguay:

"As they say in Spanish, cojones, cojones grandes," U.S. coach Thomas Rongen quipped afterward, talking about the key to victory. After a brief pause, he needlessly offered up, "Big balls," for the English speakers.

Honestly, maybe that's the reason that male players don't take stuff too personally. They hear it a lot.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Andrea, this is a pet theory of mine! Years ago I went to watch a youth basketball game (boys) and was shocked at how "harsh" the coach was with the players -- no cursing but still, he almost made ME cry. I asked my husband if coaches were allowed to talk to kids that way, he looked at me as if I were daft, and the boys didn't even flinch. I thought, no wonder so many men are less sensitive in the work environment, they've been lead in this tone since they were kids while girls got treated with kid gloves. With more girls playing school sports, many now get treated to the same tongue lashings from coaches -- it starts a little older than with boys, but by middle and certainly high school ...

There are still less girls playing than boys, and some coaches still apply the double standard, but I wonder if female athletes will grow a collective thicker skin.

Anonymous said...

It was Mia Hamm to gave the following advice to Tony DiCicco:

"Coach us like men, but treat us like women."

Here's a great article about coaching men versus coaching women from the Boston Globe. It has some quotes from Kristine Lilly and Tony Dicicco:

http://www.boston.com/sports/articles/2007/05/06/when_men_coach_women/?page=1

A.C. said...

I've heard that line from Mia before and I've never liked it. For one thing, I think the way you coach players is connected to the way you treat them. It can't be divided out. Secondly, I dislike the pop psychology of "Women are from Venus" pap that acts like all females are the same, and then does the same for all males.
We are not. There are a bunch of different people in the world. Drama queens can be male or female. Of course, there are tendencies, but this gender classification bugs me as much as some of the "Latinos are like such-and-such" lines I hear - as if entire group of people is homogenous. It's equal-opportunity stereotying. It's not that simple.

Anonymous said...

Well, no-one can accuse Sigi of lacking bulge.