I know it's a different generation, and I'm not going to sound like the past generation is better. I'm not going to say it's the greatest generation. But it's different and we have to adjust now. People grow up in different households and people grow up in different ways, and I respect that. Not what's right for every child growing up in the sixties was right for every child growing up in the eighties, and not every child grown up in the eighties was right for the two thousands and
so on and so forth and today. But I do believe there is a sense most people would agree that more kids today are a little bit more vulnerable, and more kids today are a little bit more sensitive. I mean, that's the gist. That's a painted with a broad brush, and it's not always fair, but it sure seems like that. We see certain coaches getting ridiculed by members of the media.
For losing their temperate times.
Like it's okay for you to sit at home and throw a chip bowl at the TV because your team through an interception. It's okay for you to break a television set because your team lost a game seven. But if a coach who's actually invested in it gets paid for it, is coaching and watching film and trying to prevent all that stuff gets angry, you think it's unjustified, which always finds me you left wondering what the hell are you thinking? There are certain coaches that are almost
that poster boy for it. Brian Kelly immediately comes to mind for people in college football. It was okay for Nick Saban to do that, but it's not okay for Brian Kelly. Why because Nick Saban won seven national championships and Brian Kelly has not. Tom is always often used as an example. I've got no problem with it whatsoever. I ask you, would you send your son or daughter to play for a coach? Would you send your son to play college basketball at Michigan State University?
In a second? Absolutely right.
And one of the reasons is not because he's got three hundred and fifty four Big Ten wins. It's not because he's got a national championship. It's not because that school has a national two championships. It's not because that school retired the jerseys of Magic Johnson and Greg Kelser and John Restbert and the like. It's because of the man who patrols the bench and because of what my
child is going to learn. Look, I went through this with a couple of my kids, a few of my kids actually who were good enough to play at the collegiate level, and I find that refreshing my kids.
As I said to all the coaches who.
Were recruiting them, I said, look, how do I know you're going to be one of the biggest influences in his or her life? How do I know you're going to do the right thing in help Not helping them get to a higher level or become an All conference player or become a player of the week. I want to know what you're going to do for them to make them a better man and.
Or a woman.
Because of my daughter's case, so that's what I wanted to That was one of my questions. How long are you going to be there, what's your relationship with the athletic director, because that matters? And tell me what you're going to do to help my son or my daughter become a better person and ready for life more than anything else. Not every kid is the same. You know, Trent's father probably talked to him a certain way, his
brother maybe a different way. The rules were probably the same, but how you went about conveying.
Those rules might be completely different.
There are certain people who they're just built differently, and that's okay, not that one way is right or the other way is wrong. As when I I was younger, if I got chewed out, I could hate. I could take it. You know. I remember in football one time I thought I did a great thing with a quarterback roll out on a fourth and one, scoring on a touchdown, raising the football about the two or three yard line, staying in holding for the extra point, going to the sideline,
thinking I was going to get an added boy. I got a slap in the ear hole from my Hall of Fame coach and he said, don't ever do that again.
Okay, he doesn't. He didn't want me showing people up.
If you did that today, the kid would file a police report. Police would probably look into it. Parents would probably side with their child. My youngest son was playing hockey one time, and you know we all watch our kids. I'm watching him on the bench and his coach is just chewing his ass out.
I mean, the coach is red.
In the face. My son's just nodding. Goes back out there, wins a draw, ends up, scoring game, ends I'm driving home with him, and I said it just out of curiosity, what does the coach say to you? And he said you really want to know? I said yeah, And he went into this tirade of what the coach was screaming in his ear A few f bombs. For sure, wasn't demeaning him, but he was yelling at him.
I said, what did you say back? In my sense of I will coach, that's it. It's tough enough to take it.
Not that everybody should be or would not that you'd always want every coach, but that coach was fine. But there was a moment there that was a teaching moment that was required. I didn't go to the coach and the next day and say, you know, I don't appreciate you yelling and swearing at my son. My son was fine with it. He could handle it. And sometimes, whether you like this or not, people need a kick in the ass.
I know.
That's Oh my god. I can't believe who would do that. Who would subject their kid? When do you consider a child.
Old enough.
To be able to take it? Is a high school when they can learn to drive. I don't know's that's up to you as a parent up to you as an individual. I suppose for me it's not a huge deal as long as you're not assaulting or demeaning my child. I never felt like that was a big deal. Now, if you're going to sit there and all you're going to do is talk about him negatively and try to crush his confidence, then we're going to have a problem.
But if there is an issue where you see he's not giving one hundred percent, you don't think he's giving you your attention, the attention that is desired and needed, and you don't think he's doing what's best for the team, and you want to chastise him, go ahead, because I got news for you. It's kind of the way life is. It's not always fair, but sometimes it requires you to push yourself a little bit. There's nothing wrong with that
as far as I'm concerned. So what I have my son play for time is all You're damn right.
I would. Well, I've had my daughter play for somebody like pat Summit, no question.
But they were coaches who they force you, they push you to be better. I love that. I have never been a big Rick Patino fan, but Rick Patino, to his credit, in his early seventies, is a disciplinarian. He is going to push his players. He has made, whether you believe it or not, Saint John's relevant.
Again.
I don't know how often you are watching college basketball, if you're just watching Michigan State or Michigan or whatever. But taking Saint John's to number ten, which is what Rick Patino has done with this team, it's it's really impressive. They're twenty two and four, they're number one in the Big East. They are packing Madison Square Garden, and they just played Villain, No, not Villanova. They played Creighton over the weekend and they were down big at the half
and they came back and won. A lot of it is because they started making buckets and they started buying more into the system, right. But also a big part of that is because of Rick Patino and what he told them at halftime. This with some of the salty language beeped out, is what he said to his team.
The game and be a basketball player.
They did.
Every time you miss a shot, your game to plays. We don't care about your mid shots. Playing defense.
You guys keep blowing opportunity upon opportunity upon opportunity. You're like children with bad things happening. Instead of digging it, be tougher, you will. Where is your toughness? Where have you guys been raised that you'd so wee nally give up putting something that's all right for you? Don't you know what diversity about? That's the game one, not the game of basketball. You don't get down on things go wrong.
You're thinking it can comfort your whole life's gonna be adversity, whatever dealing it.
Thumbs up or thumbs down on that? Because I love it. I give it a huge thumbs up. Yeah I do, two thumbs up, three thumbs up, whatever, Yeah, I think that's awesome.
So they were down by as many as ten in that game and came back and won it. Actually won the first one both halves, but came back and won it. But the bottom line is, even though it was just a one point game at the half, Rick Patino and they were up by one, Rick Patino.
Had that type of message. Now, some people.
Who might be of a different era, and some people who may have been raised differently, would find that very offensive.
I find it refreshing.
The word awesome comes to mind, the phrase good for you comes to mind.
Does that work every time? No, Nope, it's not gonna work every week. It's not gonna work every game.
If you're down at the half, or you're down at some point in the game, they would have to be the half because you're in a halftime scenario there seen where you're listening to the coach and he's getting that type of captive audience. That's not him on the sidelines midway through the second half. That's him at the half and his team was up forty to thirty nine, I believe, at the break. So he's basically saying, even though you're up, look at the body language.
What has happened when they went on the run. When are you going to fight back? Maybe there might be a parent or two who might be a little offended by how were you raised? Where you just kind of sulk and begin to give up. That might be a little offensive to.
Parents, maybe even me if I were had my child playing on that team.
But the overall message is dead on.
It's right there, and it's something that I'm sure many of those kids will remember and will use moving forward.
So that's an example of emotion working. Don't you think I've said emotion can only take you so far. And I truly believe that.
But when that emotion is stirred up, there's something there, and Rick Patino was able to deliver