Pirate Galaxy » happened.Williams: They couldn

Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca! Hey Kerry, I have a question on a video I watched not too long ago and thought maybe you can give some clarification and or give us some stories like always. So the video I saw was NYR vs BOS, during a timeout CNBC had a mic near NYR bench. Obviously Torts was unhappy (as always) and you can see him yelling at an official. However during the video you can clearly hear the official tell Torts "thats enough" then proceeded to swear at the coach. My question is, are the officials allowed to swear at the coaches? I was always under the impression that referees were supposed to be held at a higher standard than every other person on the ice. Seems odd that a ref would go as far as swearing at a coach who is already clearly heated in that type of situation. I understand the fact that everyone has their boiling points, and this official was getting tired of hearing Torts yelling at him. However isnt is the refs job to try and defuse situations rather than add fuel to the fire? Thanks again, love the articles Kory C ------ Kerry, There is a video circulating of a linesman yelling "Eff you" at John Tortorella. Judging by public image of the Rangers coach, he probably deserved it. On several occasions, you can read lips of the officials and phrases like "shut the eff up" seem to be pretty common. Im sure some guys do it more than others but Im wondering how common and accepted it really is for officials to swear at players and coaches? Thank you, Eugene Kory and Eugene, It is inappropriate for a referee or linesman to curse at a coach or player at any time! In the heat of the battle (and as emotions escalate), it is imperative that officials fight the human instinct to engage their perceived adversary. Instead, their objective should always be to defuse the situation by becoming part of the solution instead of part of the problem! The best way to do that is for the official to remain in control of his own emotions. That being said, have I ever slipped up and cursed at a player or coach? Absolutely! After all, there are times when we just cant fight off our human instincts. I must say, I learned very early in my career that to defuse hostile situations, I needed to remain as emotionally neutral as humanly possible. I also recognized that to be successful, I needed to develop positive relationships with players and coaches through appropriate forms of communication. From a state of calm, I attempted to exert control by creating a "win-win" situation wherever possible. I recognized that every player and coach had distinct and unique personalities and it was my job to figure out what worked best in dealing with them. Body language and tone of voice are two elements that need to be kept in check as an official enters a debate/confrontation. The first time I came to understand there was a better way in dealing with an out-of-control coach was when Bryan Murray was behind the Washington Capitals bench in the early 1980s. Bryan is an emotional guy and, at the time, led the league in bench penalties for his theatrics in protest of the officials decisions. During one game in the Cap Center, the coach was standing up on the dasher boards screaming wildly and waving his arms at me. I decided to try a different approach, since bench penalties didnt seem to be altering Bryans unacceptable behavior pattern. I approached Murray with both of my hands up in front of me with palms open (a sign of peace as opposed to a finger point) and my monotone voice only loud enough so that I could be heard as opposed to screaming back at the out-of-control coach. I took control of the situation by stating to the coach that I would like to talk with him but in order for me to do so, he must calm down and to please get off the dasher boards. Bryan immediately complied to my polite request as his emotional pitch conformed more toward the one that I had presented to him. At this point, I started the conversation by saying, "You might not agree with what I have to tell you but let me explain the reason for my decision on the play." I quickly and calmly communicated with the coach what I saw on the play. Murray listened intently and then paused for a brief moment as he chose his words to respond. Bryan said, "Well youre right about one thing, Kerry, I dont agree with what you just said but thanks for coming over and explaining it to me!" In Bryans post-game interviews, he said the dialogue that he and I had was the first time that a referee ever approached him at the bench to provide an explanation and he really appreciated it. That incident taught me a huge lesson in relationship building. I also found that it was important for me to think of what I was going to say and actually hear myself before opening my mouth. When my emotions would start to rise and my voice got louder, I would take a breath in an attempt to return to centre or neutral. I can recall stopping in mid-sentence during a heated debate with a player and saying, "Im sorry I just said that; let me rephrase, what I meant to say was..." I learned the hard way it was much better to adopt the philosophy as a referee to "treat disrespect with respect" than to engage in or attempt to win an "Eff you" contest. I attempted to set acceptable and achievable limits for game participants similar to those I set for myself. Lastly, I tried not to take myself too seriously and to find humor in situations wherever possible. I learned that valuable quality early in my career as well when a team was getting their butts kicked at home and became extremely frustrated; especially with me. My response at the time, to their disrespect, was to assess misconduct penalties and as the score mounted near the end of the game, I had four players from the home team in the penalty box with 10s! The coach had enough of me as well and wanted to get thrown out of the game. He sent his captain over to me at the stoppage who very politely relayed a message for me. The captain said, "My coach wants to know if he can get a penalty for thinking?" Somewhat confused by the question, I responded by saying, "I guess not as long as he doesnt think out loud!" The captain then said, "In that case, he wanted me to tell you he thinks youre an Effing A#$%^&*!" I started to laugh, finding the humor in the statement. The coach, who was waiting for a battle response from me that never came, started to grin and then laugh as well. The game ended without further incident and a positive relationship blossomed with the coach. Sometimes you just have to find the humor in the situation, Torts!Paul ONeill Yankees Jersey . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. Chad Green Jersey . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. https://www.cheapyankees.com/1391g-mark-teixeira-jersey-yankees.html . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Roger Maris Jersey . There are some early surprises in the race for the Hart Trophy, but two of the contenders are the leagues biggest stars over the past decade. There are many more players in contention for the awards than just the three that Ive named, and a good or bad week can easily alter the landscape, but through the first 20 or so games of the NHL season, this is how the awards races look to me. James Paxton Yankees Jersey . The catch: It needs a lot of money, and it needs it fast.LAHAINA, Hawaii -- Chaminades 77-72 victory over Ralph Sampson and top-ranked Virginia in 1982 is widely considered the biggest upset in college basketball history, among the greatest in any sport.Unlike todays world of 24-hour sports networks, social media and smartphones, the game was played in relative obscurity.Fewer than 4,000 fans, officials, media and team members were inside Blaisdell Center that day. For those who were there, the memory of what happened on Dec. 23, 1982, left the kind of indelible mark that comes with witnessing history.Three of those people -- Silverswords point guard Mark Rodrigues, Washington Post sports writer Michael Wilbon and public address announcer Chuck Williams -- recall the events surrounding that game.---Rodrigues: The year before when we played them, we didnt get beaten too badly, so we were pretty confident, had a bit of cockiness. Everyone is a little bit cocky and we had the mentality that we could beat anyone.Few outside the team gave them much of a shot.Williams: It was really only the die-hard fans there because we probably should have been 40-point underdogs to Virginia. It was going to be a smash.---But the Silverswords had an advantage.Virginia was coming from Tokyo, where it beat Utah and Houston despite Sampson missing both games. He was still sick when the Cavaliers arrived in Hawaii.Wilbon: I was staying in the same Hyatt Regency as Virginia. Ralph was on my floor and with those circle towers, theres not much space between rooms and I could hear Ralph coughing and wheezing. I didnt think Ralph was going to play and there was opportunity for some drama.Wilbon already had a bit of drama while covering Maryland at the Aloha Bowl.Terps defensive back Bobby Gunderman fell and broke his arm on the way to the airport, then somehow ended up flying to Caracas, where he was detained for being a suspected drug dealer. Maryland receiver Mike Lewis also nearly drowned while swimming off Waikiki Beach.Wilbon: My boss, George Solomon, said `Youve already written too many pieces, take the night off. I said, Im not taking the night off. How many chances to see the No. 1 team play in an exotic situation, a different situation, Ralph Sampson already three-time player of the year? There was no way I was going to miss that.Wise decision.---Inside the locker room at Blaisdell, Silverswords coach Merv Lopes turned off the lights so the players could meditate, then went down the line.Williams: He says to Mark Wells: Mark, is this guy faster than you? No. Can he shoot better than you? No, coach. He goes all the way down the line to Tony Randolph who was going against Ralph Sampson, looked at him and said, `What can I say? Everyone got a laugh out of that.Rodrigues: The point is theyre only as good as you allow them to be. One of the things he always said was, if they take 40 steps, you take 41. He didnt say anything else but lets go give the people something to see.They did.----The Silverswords were the aggressors from the start, scoring six of the games first eight points. They swarmed Sampson whenever he touched the ball and had a game plan for getting him away from the basket on defense -- one that started with Randolph shooting jumpers over a team manager holding a broomstick at practice.Williams: In locker room, Merv said to Tony Randolph, you need to go out there and hit 15-foot jump shots to get that monster of a player out away from the basket. Tony hit five or six shots in a row from medium range and brought Ralph out, which opened things up for the other guys. That was the real key. If he was throwing bricks up there, 1 for 7 of something like that, Ralph would just plant himself underneath.---Chaminade continued to go at the Cavaliers and the game was tied 43-all at halftime, prompting a call from Wilbon to his desk.ddddddddddddWilbon: I said are you guys listening to this on the radio? If this stays close, save me some space, dont put the paper to bed. They said OK.Rodrigues: At that point, it just gave us more confidence.When Virginia scored the first seven points of the second half, it appeared the game would turn quickly. But the Silverswords answered with a 7-0 run of their own.Then Rodrigues found 6-foot guard Tim Dunham, who soared over the 7-foot-4 Sampson for an alley-oop dunk.Rodrigues: People said from that point on, you could see it on Virginias face that they knew they were in for a serious challenge.Williams: Sampson is running down the floor shaking his head, like hes saying I dont believe that. Timmy just went up, up, up ... slam! As Im announcing, I see this thing unfolding and as the ball goes through, Im saying Ti-iiiim Dunham!---Chaminade led by two with a minute left and Virginia had three chances to tie, missing all three. Virginias Othell Wilson was then called for a carrying violation and the Silverswords closed out the improbable victory by hitting three free throws.Wilbon: People were in disbelief. It wasnt like today. I dont remember people rushing the floor. It might have been chaotic then, but not by todays standards. You had the biggest upset in the history of college basketball and no one quite knew what to do.Williams: Richard Haenisch, I dont know he did it, he ended up sitting on the rim with a basketball in his hand. The celebration was crazy.Rodrigues: We went into the locker room and the fans were calling for us to come back. We came back out on the court, sat there for a while, celebrated and talked.---After the game, Wilbon waited to get Virginia coach Terry Holland before calling his desk.Wilbon: It must have been the local AP reporter who said: `Coach, is this the greatest upset of all-time? I remember almost looking down because this question is going to get us one and done. Hes going to answer angrily and walk off. And I remember there was no sound coming out and Terry Holland was shaking his head affirmatively, saying something to the effect of I think it is. I was like `Oh my god, oh my god, called the paper and asked are you guys listening. They were like, `Yeah, but we put the paper to bed. Ive never been angrier in my life, professionally because they put it to bed and the next morning there was nothing in my paper.Rodrigues: We didnt really realize how big it was until the next day. Thats when AP was calling, everyones sports department was calling, it was getting on CNN news, the local news and then you realize what really happened.Williams: They couldnt even pronounce the name of the school. They kept calling it, Chami-NADE, like lemonade.---The shockwaves of the upset took a while to reach the mainland, but continue to resonate today.Williams: It put Chaminade on the map, a little school 2,500 miles from the nearest land in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.Rodrigues: They wanted to change the name of the school to Saint Louis-Honolulu, to have a more recognizable name in the title. They changed their mind after that game.Wilbon: Every day I get further away from it, I realize its the greatest upset in history. Can you imagine Kentucky losing to an NAIA school? The whole thing was surreal. It wasnt the game that was surreal, it was the surroundings of it. It was just not possible for it to happen.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 ' ' '