South Carolina Basketball Coach Suspended Over Language

[skb12172]

Geez, Coach Watson was cussing at us when I was in 7th grade. None of us melted. He was a good coach and never pushed us past the point of common sense.

What say you all? Appropriate response from the school or another sign of Pussification?

South Carolina coach Frank Martin regrets the sideline actions that earned him a one-game suspension and told ESPN.com that he intends to work on his issues.

"I screwed up," Martin said Friday, a day after the school suspended him for Saturday's regular-season finale at Mississippi State. "I'm not perfect. I've got issues and I've got to work through them."
"I met with my athletic director and fully support his decision," Martin added of Ray Tanner, who issued the suspension.

Martin was caught on national television yelling profanities at freshman point guard Duane Notice midway through the second half of South Carolina's 72-46 home loss Tuesday to top-ranked Florida.

"I embarrassed my family, my kids, my current and past players and my bosses," Martin said. "My actions are not acceptable. I work at my problems every day. I've got to get better. I'm still not where I need to be."

Martin is a fiery, intense coach on the floor. He was hired before the 2012-13 season by former athletic director Eric Hyman, who left to take a similar position at Texas A&M. Tanner, formerly South Carolina's baseball coach, took over as AD in July 2012.

"The one-game suspension is a result of inappropriate verbal communication as it relates to the well-being of our student-athletes," Tanner said in a statement released Thursday.

Martin took Kansas State to the NCAA tournament in four of his five seasons as coach of the Wildcats. He told ESPN.com that he stopped using profanities in his final season in Manhattan after coming home from a game and hearing his young son, Christian, telling him he was in trouble for using a bad word.

"I stopped, but then I got here and it was a new environment," Martin said. "It's not an excuse. I think my greatest asset is my passion -- and that passion also gets me in trouble.

"I've got to learn how to manage it. I've stopped before, and I'm going to stop again. I don't want my child to be exposed to it, so I can't expect other people's children to be exposed to it."

Martin will not accompany the team to Starkville. Associate head coach Matt Figger will serve as the acting coach against Mississippi State. South Carolina is 11-19 this season, 4-13 in the SEC.

"For the last 30 years, I've gotten on and off the bus with the players and been there to fight with my guys," Martin said. "To see them have to play and me not be there is real selfish. I created the problem. I'm not the victim here."

Fire Away!

[PawPaw]

What did old Bobby Lee say? "I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself."

Profanity bespeaks a lack of education, an inability to properly articulate his thoughts. While I am capable of cussing like a shipwrecked sailor, I certainly don't hold with those who cuss in public. It reveals a lack of respect for himself.

On the other hand, South Carolina is having a 12-19 season, with 5-13 in conference. Do you really think that they have a shot in the post-season? Not likely.

In short, screw Coach Watson. He's having a crappy season and doesn't need to be on the floor with his players until he learns how to control himself.

[Jericho941]

What say you all? Appropriate response from the school or another sign of Pussification?

If your authority figures do not allow you to swear, they can't just go around doing it themselves. Well, they can, but it makes them hypocrites.

This isn't pussification, it's being held to a standard. If roles were reversed and students were going around swearing at coaches and teachers, we'd all be hearing things like "LAWDY, BACK IN MY DAY YOU'D BE DEAD! KIDS! THE YOOF! MY PARENTS WERE TOUGH!! PUSSIFICATIOOOOOOON!!11one"

I'm someone who believes wholeheartedly that society's hangups about certain words are completely superstitious nonsense. But if you're in a position of authority, especially in an educator/coaching role, you have a responsibility to always live up to the same standards to which you hold your charges. Otherwise, you don't belong in that position.

[PawPaw]

Geez, Coach Watson was cussing at us when I was in 7th grade. None of us melted. He was a good coach and never pushed us past the point of common sense.

He was cussing 7th graders? He should have been disciplined right then. He never should have gotten into college ball.

[skb12172]

Geez, Coach Watson was cussing at us when I was in 7th grade. None of us melted. He was a good coach and never pushed us past the point of common sense.

He was cussing 7th graders? He should have been disciplined right then. He never should have gotten into college ball.

Two different guys. Coach Watson was my coach and never taught beyond HS. The guy in the article is a different person.

[Aesop]

The coach and players in question are all theoretically adults.

If the little buttercups playing college ball can't stand the heat, perhaps they could take up cheerleading or glee club.
Unless the player in question was Amish or something, or just emerged from his 1950s era father's underground nuclear shelter, I suspect he's expressed language himself by the age of 18 that's far saltier than anything he's heard from that coach.

There's nothing here that suggests that there was any no-profanity rule in place regarding students or coaches, just a priggy athletic director trying to pretend it never happens.
Somebody needs to tell AD Tanner to take off his apron and dress, take the stick out of his ass, and stop getting all pseudo-sanctimonious, and "shocked! Shocked I say, to find out someone was swearing on a basketball court."
Unless he intends to issue a statement begging forgiveness for his near-certain career profanitites, barring verification that his past is whiter than a dashboard Jesus.

The main question is why ESPN wouldn't have edited out the tirade, given that it certainly isn't the first time a college basketball coach has probably let fly blue language, other than a naked attempt to garner for themselves a fresh teapot tempest controversy, and millions of video views. Which makes them the biggest douches in the entire sad saga.

[308Mike]

The coach and players in question are all theoretically adults.

If the little buttercups playing college ball can't stand the heat, perhaps they could take up cheerleading or glee club.
Unless the player in question was Amish or something, or just emerged from his 1950s era father's underground nuclear shelter, I suspect he's expressed language himself by the age of 18 that's far saltier than anything he's heard from that coach.

There's nothing here that suggests that there was any no-profanity rule in place regarding students or coaches, just a priggy athletic director trying to pretend it never happens.
Somebody needs to tell AD Tanner to take off his apron and dress, take the stick out of his ass, and stop getting all pseudo-sanctimonious, and "shocked! Shocked I say, to find out someone was swearing on a basketball court."
Unless he intends to issue a statement begging forgiveness for his near-certain career profanitites, barring verification that his past is whiter than a dashboard Jesus.

The main question is why ESPN wouldn't have edited out the tirade, given that it certainly isn't the first time a college basketball coach has probably let fly blue language, other than a naked attempt to garner for themselves a fresh teapot tempest controversy, and millions of video views. Which makes them the biggest douches in the entire sad saga.

They are ALL in this voluntarily, and if ANY of them don't like the program, they ALL have the ability to leave.

Apparently, we're raising too many buttercups and they're getting a little melted by salty language - which has been used for DECADES (and probably CENTURIES) on teams/groups/troops. It's LANGUAGE, nothing more!

Remember the OLD saying: "Stick and stones may break my bones........." We've become too PC for our own good and we're ALWAYS and FOREVER walking on eggshells to not offend ANYONE, and it's NOT doing us any great favors - especially since the rules are ALWAYS changing!!

What's WORSE is the inclusion of these types of thoughts/rules when dealing with military RECRUITS ("I'm raising my little RED card to show I'm getting stressed out" - would you REALLY want to be fighting next to this dweeb??????) - recruits who may be looking at destroyed human bodies and watching their friends die in less than a year???? And they're worried about a few WORDS upsetting them???

Whatever happened to the STRENGTH of American character and toughness (rhetorical question)????