A Brief Aside

by SMQ on Apr 7, 2008 8:20 AM EDT in News

Readers interested enough to brave the depths of message boards and certain blogs have probably noticed for a while now the habit of refering to a popular boss by full name as "Coach X," as in "Coach Nick Saban," "Coach Mark Richt," etc. This seems to be an overwhelmingly Southern phenomenon (we still have a thing for authority figures), but not exclusively, since "Coach Rick Neuheisel" has become the entrenched style at previously coach hating Bruins Nation. You can get a one-line summary of the difference between a regular coach and a Coach in this comment by a beleaguered Georgia Tech partisan after the Jackets' loss in the Humanitarian Bowl: "The Chan Gailey `me' will be replaced with the Coach Paul Johnson `we' and we will have players who will be held accountable." No doubt - Chan, after all, is just Chan, but his successor is Coach.

Yea, my children, I commandeth not thy reverence.
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It's a sort of all-or-nothing designation: the transition from 'Coach' to 'Doofus' is destined to be a small one.

By itself, this is annoying enough, and good evidence to my theory that coaches these days are really politicians. The only other professions wherein people are casually referred to by some predicate title are the life-and-death jobs - doctors, soldiers, politicians and reverends (you used to see `professor,' too; not any more, the ivory tower bastards). And even then, never in any reputable form of print. Newsletters, maybe, and press releases; certainly never in any newspaper or magazine or any other publication worth its salt except as an introductory title, after which the reference always reverts to last name only. This is for good reason: a person is not their job, even if some people define them exclusively in that context, and no honest assessment sees a person as a job. "Coach" is a title of authority for the people being coached, but for an independent observer to permanently affix a job title to someone's name is absurd deference. In some contexts, the life-and-death businesses, it might be dangerous. Here, it's just obnoxious.

Fine, though, whatever. Most fans don't consider themselves independent observers. They identify strongly with their programs, and it wouldn't be fun if they didn't. So if it furthers the emotional bond to Bulldog/Bruin/Buckeye Nation call Les Miles Coach Les Miles, so be it. But this business with the initials - CLM, CMR, CNS, CRN - this sort of brainless groveling sends blood spurting out of my ears. As if "Coach" was on the birth certificate. This is a sure sign of an opinion that can't be trusted: we may be talking about message boards and openly biased blogs here, but all any writer has is critical honesty; when you lose perspective to the extent that man becomes one with the job, and with everything you think the job should embody, you've forfeited honesty for loyalty. Which makes you a press release. Which makes you, under certain circumstances, inherently a liar.

For a counter example, take Brian Cook (among many others), a rabid Michigan fan who never lets his desire for Michigan's success cloud his judgment of the people trusted with it. He respects coaches and players but is brutally honest about their performance. He may not be right, but he can be trusted to tell the truth as he sees it - I read MGoBlog on a near-daily basis, but if he ever typed "CRR," I'd ban that url from my browser forever. This critical detachment is still true of most other blogs and of virtually all mainstream outlets, particularly the ones people actually read; Every Day Should Be Saturday is currently the pinnacle of the form because it has no respect for anyone or any particular code of ethics. It's also true that even the most partisan Kool-Aid drinkers are fickle and won't maintain their fawning deference for long in less-than-ideal circumstances. But I sense the cult of `Coach' as Ingrained Personality Trait is growing, and I need to articulate that particular frustration before it cost me money on laptop repair.

This is not an important complaint. It's just a complaint. That is all.

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Full disclosure: my dad was a coach. The argument is rhetorical.

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Right On, Brother

I wondered if that bothered anyone else. I'm just glad my fellow Florida fans can't pick up on that initials trend thanks to what Coach Urban Meyer spells out.

The only person I know of that has always had his title mentioned is Dr. Jack Ramsay. Funny, since I bet his doctorate is not in basketball. Well, him and Dr. Jerry Punch of NASCAR pit road reporting fame, but at least he has actually used his medical skills to attend to injured drivers and pit crew members while reporting at races.

by Year2 on Apr 7, 2008 10:37 AM EDT 0 recs

Agreed.

I think the only coach in recent history it didn't bother me with was Coach Franchione. And that's because they called him Coach Fran. I don't know if it was just because his name was redacted or the fact that he had www.coachfran.com. Other than him it bothers me profusely.

The only people that I give the title to are Dr. Smith. Lt. Johnson, Rev. Roberts, and President Bush.

Other than that... you're Joe to me.

by ThreeNout on Apr 7, 2008 11:04 AM EDT 0 recs

Generally agreed, but with a caveat

Whenever I mention a coach (of any team, in any sport) in a posting, I always refer to him by name on the first mention ("Mark Richt," without the "Coach") and by title and last name ("Coach Richt") on all subsequent mentions. I do not believe I have ever used "Coach Mark Richt" and I certainly have never used "CMR," which I completely agree is a bit much.

While your complaint about the use of the title "Coach" might fairly be leveled at me (although I realize, of course, it is not being leveled at me), I believe that practice is mitigated by the fact that (a) I apply it across the board, even to opposing coaches or to coaches of my own team whom I dislike (e.g., Ray Goff, Jim Donnan), and (b) I criticize coaches even while being respectful to them (i.e., I always referred to Willie Martinez as "Coach Martinez," even when I was calling for him to be fired in 2006).

Accordingly, while the use of the title "Coach" might be overly deferential in some (perhaps even all) situations, I don't believe it alone is indicative of blind loyalty or unreflective genuflecting. You cited MGoBlog's Brian Cook as an example of the proper way of referring to coaches---by name, not title---but, despite the fact that he doesn't use "Coach Rich Rodriguez" or "CRR," I believe you would be hard-pressed to find any criticism of the Wolverines' new head football coach at MGoBlog (or, for that matter, any criticism of Les Miles at MGoBlog after the 2007 Florida-L.S.U. game).

In other words, you're right about the use of text-message abbreviations as a message-board tic and you're generally right that coaches probably ought not to be given the degree of deference they receive, but the mere fact that I begin a sentence with the words "Coach Richt" rather than the word "Richt" does not necessarily make it fair to presume that the rest of the sentence will consist of the words "is the greatest thing since sliced bread" rather than "needs to turn over the play-calling to Mike Bobo." I may believe the former (although likely not to any greater degree than Brian believes the same thing about Coach Rodriguez, however much more informal his stylistic conventions may be than mine), but I still am willing to write, and have written, the latter.

Dawg Sports

by T Kyle King on Apr 7, 2008 1:52 PM EDT 0 recs

Not You

Your style of calling them "Coach Lastname" is the same as the New York Times' style of referring to people as Mr./Mrs. Lastname after writing their full name the first time they're mentioned. It's a bit on the formal side, but not at all of the character he's talking about.

I agree about MGoBlog though; the Peanut Butter Jelly Time stuff after hiring Rodriguez was funny the first time but got tiresome. I think it's just the afterglow of hiring a big name combined with the giddiness of beating Florida in the Citrus Bowl and somehow "shutting up" the SEC fans he hates so much. Believe me, Gator fans had a nice honeymoon after hiring Urban Meyer, but it took almost no time flat for them to turn on his offense after scoring only 16 points on Tennessee that year. Michigan's time will come.

by Year2 on Apr 7, 2008 3:05 PM EDT up 0 recs

a

I agree with most of that.

Most people that follow college football played sports in high school/college and instinctively refer to a coach as Coach so and so.

And it should be a sign of respect to the Coaches that run the program that most people devote their lives to following.

While it may be annoying to see those abbreviations, which are pretty useless, it isn't a real big deal.

by gahnki on Apr 7, 2008 8:19 PM EDT up 0 recs

My issue...

Is more rooted in the anal english major side of things. Even when I AM typing text messages, I usually type as much out as possible -- the hyper shorthand that has taken over electronic communication drives me insane. Aside from an occasional LOL! or the like, I tend to write online as if my parents are gonna be reading it. Some ASU fans have started with the CDE nonsense and it just makes me want to reach through the computer and smack them. I think a part of it is reverence (witness Alabama fans still referring to "Coach Bryant" as if he were still walking the sidelines today) and a part of it is just laziness.

I imagine that the trend would probably annoy you more than most cause you are as good as any sportswriter, blogger or MSM, at writing dispassionately and taking in the whole picture. Even when you write about Southern Miss, you're levelheaded about it without the hysterics that run rampant when most people talk about their teams. You're like the great Anti-Homer.

by Beatuofa on Apr 7, 2008 4:20 PM EDT 0 recs

Your should try the Germans

I've been there for work several times and am routinely adressed as Herr Doktor and on occassion as Herr Doktor Professor. This is not a joke. As a referance point I think in Germany anyone who's completed the 8th grade qualifies for the Doktor and anyone who's out of high school gets the Professor (an exageration but a disturbingly slight one). I am told the Germans have significantly reduced the formality in their conversation over the last several decades. Hmmm.

I do think that elaborate forms of courtesy and extreme deferance can be used to good effect when mocking those who use them with a straight face (or whatever the internets equivelant of that would be be).

Oh, and stay away from the Saint-Simon.

by marcillac on Apr 7, 2008 10:20 PM EDT 0 recs