Monday, April 20, 2009

Pelini picking battles carefully with refs an important matter

You’d be hardpressed not to find a Nebraska football fan that has not raved about Bo Pelini’s work as the team’s head coach.

The Huskers went 9-4 in his first year as coach but most importantly the team won six of its final seven games. His record was at the top when it comes to first year coaches around the country. He did all of that while encountering the learning curve that comes with making the transition from coordinator to head coach.

Pelini undeniably deserves high marks for bringing out that extra something in the players and developing a relationship with players that was lacking under Bill Callahan and to a lesser degree Frank Solich. The culture is definitely in place and so is the foundation. Pelini brings a contagious passion. That enthusiasm, however, can be two-fold. The plus side is that the players took on his personality in that they constantly played with maximum effort. The downside was that Pelini’s first year was also marked by sideline outbursts that he later had to make apology.

"I learned a lot in my first year," Pelini said in a press conference. "Everyone makes mistakes along the way. When you re-evaluate, you hope to make corrections and become better."

Despite the maturity, don’t expect Pelini to suddenly become a diplomat. However, he must learn to pick his battles with referees more judiciously. Pelini comes from the school of “if I feel my team is not getting a fair shake, I’m going to address it.” That’s fine but Pelini needs to learn how to do it within reason.

He seems to be aware of such issue. At least, he’s verbally addressed the matter.In all my years of being around sports as an athlete, fan or media member, I have seen many coaches, athletes or whoever seal their fate when it comes to dealing with referees.

I once had a conversation with a former high school-league commissioner in Napa, California, named Paul Hoover, who passed away in 2003. This discussion, mind you, came at another point in my career. Hoover theorized that anyone on an emotionally thinking level claims that the quality of officiating has declined in recent years, but they fail to realize one thing. Given the abuse referees take, people are not beating the door down to become one. That statement makes almost too much sense, because who in their right mind wants to deal boorish behavior?

Let's face it, for the most part, refs only hear from people when they are mad. How often do you hear someone say, "Good call, ref," and mean it genuinely as opposed to carrying a biting undertone? Very seldom.

Before I go any further, if you think the ref is "out to get your team" after most every call that goes against your team, you are out to lunch. On the other hand, if you are one of these self-righteous people who gets on your high horse and always claims that a coach or athlete is "whining" when they address a call, you are equally out to lunch. Heck, if you're a coach, athlete or fan, it's your right to disagree with a call that goes against your team because criticism is fair as long as it's valid. After all, people are human. The trick is "how" you address the situation.

There's nothing wrong with addressing a call that goes against your team as long as it's done within reason and respectfully. It's all about picking your battles carefully. Coaches or athletes who are frequently overly emotional pertaining to calls going against their team fail to realize that they are sealing their own fate by always claiming it's someone else's fault. That behavior sends the wrong message for many reasons.

For one thing, you send the message to your players is that it's OK to blame others when things go against you. I've got news for you, it's not always someone else's fault. Let's face it, we all like to believe that referees are objective, which I think most of them are. On the other hand, they have long memories. They will remember whether a coach or athlete is always overly demonstrative in addressing their call. Don’t think for one minute that college football referees are not aware of Pelini drawing a 15-yard penalty in the 2003 Alamo Bowl as interim head coach.

They are also fully aware of his 15-yard penalty in Nebraska’s 35-30 loss to Virginia Tech late in the game. The referees remember overly demonstrative coaches or athletes. At some point, that approach generates diminishing returns because those refs are less likely to give that team the benefit of the doubt on a judgment call. Just apply this idea to life, such as if you work with someone and that person always complains. You know the type - the coffee's too cold, the building is too cold, etc. Well, you get the idea. Let's be brutally honest, anyone in their right mind would tune out someone like that, even if that person's claim might be legitimate.

On the other hand, if someone rarely complains, you might take the view of, "Well, heck, it's got to be true." Anything to gain an edge.

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