Gutter Talk Not Needed to Uphold High Standards

He was sitting in the stands, shaking his head in disgust. As a parent, he hated what he was hearing from the practice field below. F-this, f-that. Sometimes it seemed as if his son’s football coaches couldn’t open their mouths without uttering a four-letter word.

“It makes me sick,” the father said. “This isn’t college or the pros--it’s high school. These guys should realize athletes look at them as their role models.”

Coaches as role models? It certainly isn’t an outrageous concept. Toss in the issue of profanity, though, and some coaches start tap dancing their way across a floor of excuses.

In no particular order . . .

“When it comes down to it, profanity is the best way to get an athlete’s attention.”

Of course it is. So is throwing a chair across a basketball court or flinging a clipboard across the 50-yard line. It’s scary. It’s dangerous. It’s taboo. It’s what makes Andrew Dice Clay a rich man. It’s the essence of the Shock Era we’re currently living in.

But does that make it OK?

“Sports are intense. Profanity comes with the territory.”

Profanity comes with the territory only if one chooses to make it part of the territory. No one forces a high school coach to cuss. In many cases, coaches use profanity because they don’t know a more effective way to express themselves. Profanity becomes their crutch. In other cases, it’s used for the more standard reason: it makes he or she feel tough.

“People who object to profanity in high school sports are babies, whiners and prudes.”

Perhaps, but I still say they’re the voice of reason. Why should a high school coach use profanity? What good does it really do?

Now before we go any further, I must admit I’m no angel in regard to this issue. Truth is, I have spoken my share of @!%$*&, especially on the days I write this column.

But a high school coach? It would be nice to think that when around athletes he or she might be more careful. High school athletes are still kids, let’s not forget. And kids have been known to model themselves after adults. And if, as a high school coach, you don’t want the responsibility of being a role model, it’s probably time to find a new line of work.

Otherwise, it can get pretty ugly. A head coach goes berserk, inspiring his assistants to do the same. The athletes quickly follow suit. Team chemistry turns vile. It’s a depressing thing to watch.

Fortunately, there are bright spots, coaches who take pride in keeping their cool, verbally, whatever the situation. Roger Takahashi, former La Quinta football coach and now a Los Amigos assistant, comes to mind, as does Garden Grove football Coach Jeff Buenafe and El Dorado’s Rick Jones. They might not be perfect, but they generally show self-restraint and self-discipline when the going gets tough, and their players show it, too.

At Edison, football Coach Dave White decided two years ago he wanted to do what he could to rid his players of bad habits, specifically swearing. White instituted a rule that every time a player or coach uttered an obscenity, he had to immediately do 10 push-ups.

Sore arms? Increased biceps strength? Better believe it. White estimates he and his team probably did 1,000 push-ups total through the first half of the season, then only a couple hundred the last half of the season. Two years later, the clean-language habit still sticks.

“It really did work,” White says. “But it’s like anything, if you want to improve on something, you can find a way.”

Says El Dorado’s Jones: “It’s like going on a diet when you want to lose weight. If you end up eating that piece of cake, you go out and run four miles. It’s the same with this. If you say the f-word, you really try to think about it and make a change.”

Because as opposed to $@*%!, silence is golden.