To swear or not to swear? That has become the question. At least in National Football League circles.
Former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy—the holy man of the NFL—this week came down on N.Y. Jets coach Rex
Ryan for using too much foul language while handling his coaching duties. Dungy took it a step further and said he wouldn’t
hire Ryan (or presumably any other coach who needs their mouths washed out with soap).
I think this is a brave battle for Dungy to fight. A wise one too. I’m not saying Jim Irsay is a saint, but I think
it says a lot about him, that he specifically sought Tony Dungy, and only Tony Dungy, as his coach in 2002.
This isn’t the first go-around for the to swear or not debate.
The late all-pro defender Reggie White, another notable holy man, insisted that teammates, coaches and opponents not swear
“at him.”
And it’s not the first time a coach with Indiana ties has been in the midst of this foul-mouthed controversy. No, I’m
not talking about Bob Knight here, though I could be.
In this case, I’m talking about former Indiana Pacers coach Larry Brown, another legendary cusser in the professional
sports ranks. National Basketball Association all-star David Robinson, who like Dungy is a devout Christian, asked, then insisted,
that Brown not swear at him or in front of him. Brown coached Robinson in San Antonio from 1989-91, two seasons before he
showed up in Indiana in 1993.
Just about everyone in sports it seems, has an opinion on this. Former Notre Dame and Philadelphia Eagles player Mike Golic,
and now co-host of Mike and Mike radio show, said on the air today, that Dungy was out of line in asking NFL Commissioner
Roger Goodell to take action against Ryan. Golic almost boastfully admitted on the air that he uses swear words on a relatively
regular basis.
Maybe Golic was joking, but Rex’s father, former Eagles coach Buddy Ryan, was not. Yesterday, the elder Ryan, himself
a hot-head, basically told Dungy to stuff it.
“Well, it’s none of Dungy’s business,” Buddy Ryan said.
Except that it is. It’s everyone’s business who has a stake in the NFL—and professional sports. Unfortunately,
I’m not sure those folks running those businesses realize it. Golic says cussing is simply part of sports’ culture,
and it’s a culture, I think, that over time could erode the fan base.
I’m not going to argue the anti-swearing tact on moral grounds, though I could. But I will argue that allowing swearing
to permeate the culture of sports is bad business.
First, the cussing took place on a nationally televised show which aired on HBO. Yes, it’s cable, but still, I’m
not sure that’s the image people want their kids to see and hear—or want to see and hear themselves.
If it’s part of the culture, then it’s not confined to the locker room, out of the earshot of people who pay
to watch the product. I’ve sat courtside and fieldside at more than a few sporting events and had my ears set on fire
by a profanity-laced tirade. Golic this morning laughed about being caught on TV dropping the worst kind of cuss word. Again,
not funny. Not from a business standpoint.
Slowly over time that sort of behavior erodes an organization’s—or an individual’s—good brand. Exhibit
A; Bob Knight. I don’t want to pick on Knight, but just think of what his brand would be if not for his decades of boorish
behavior. His numerous good deeds for this state now almost get overlooked in a blur of cuss words, questionable comments
and childish acts.
The NFL is so incredibly cautious about protecting the brand of its “shield,” that a million different kinds
of player celebrations are illegal after touchdowns. But a coach—or I suppose a player—dropping the foulest kind
of cuss words like they were going out of style is just part of the culture. Eventually, fans (especially those with kids)
will ask themselves if that’s the kind of culture they want to be a part of.
Yes, the NFL is the most profitable, powerful professional sports league in North America—by a wide margin. That didn’t
happen overnight. It took a lot of bricklaying to build that fiefdom.
Rome, after all, wasn’t built in a day.
It didn’t fall in a day, either. But fall it did.
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Welcome to The Score, your place for hard-hitting sports business news, fast-breaking updates and fuel-injected debate. Buckle up. I'm your host, Anthony Schoettle, IBJ sports reporter.
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These higher rates Co. e about only because physicians are now hospital employees. otherwise physicians couldn't charge these rates and share the windfall with the hospital. Community/rural hospitals probably not buying physicians practices and thus weren't getting the windfall anyway.
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The incentive for poor people to get themselves off public assistance and "no longer be poor" is even with help...they're STILL POOR! Being poor, even with some assistance, isn't all that pleasant. (I speak from experience) It's a stubborn myth that poor people, who are on public assistance, are sitting in the lap of luxury. You should try living on just those "freebies" that you mentioned and see how meager they actually are. By the way, I didn't mean you had to buy/own a puppy...just pet one. :)
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As near as I can tell the minority has ZERO constitutional obligation to offer a quorum to the majority. A requirement for quorum was inserted into the constitution so that tyrannical majorities could not simply shove through odious and objectionable legislation (which is exactly what they did.) By allowing a tyrannical majority to charge fines against the minority for exercising their constitutional prerogative to deny quorum the court as made a mockery of constitutional governance in the state of Indiana.
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The voters elected the Reps to make a vote not walk out on the vote. They had to the right to exercise their opinion and vote "no" to the bill. Let me ask you this if you walked out of your job for 5 straight weeks would you get paid? Would you even have a job to go back to? If any elected official walks out on the people they should be arrested for stealing tax dollars from the public. They were elected to do a job and not leave when the job gets stuff.
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I have been to several of their locations in Pennsylvania and always go in for 1 item and leave with a basket full of things. I'm very happy they decided on Indiana, now if only they would put the other store in eastside.
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My problem though is with you assuming that cussing = bad business. Why do you make this assumption? You never give any empirical data to support this assumption. It looks to me like you are assuming the audience has the same morality as you do and thus there would be no reason to explain why cussing is bad for business.
You do mention something about children, as if everyone is sitting court side with young children and can hear the swear words said on a basketball court. I think you are grossly over stating the exposure that the general public has to what supposedly is a semi-private exchange between players or coaches and players.
At it's roots, this argument is extremely similar to the marriage debate raging in this country right now which is basically a group of individuals attempting to impose their morality (and honestly their spiritually) on the rest of us through legislation and ultimately law.
The vast majority of people do not take too kindly to people who try to impose a personal belief on those around them and the person forcing the issue should, in my opinion, take a step back and evaluate what the true reason is for his actions. Just as Dungy should really take a step back and re-evaluate his position and be honest with what his true intentions are. If his intentions are truly for the good of the business then I think some explanation needs to be made as to why Dungy's course of action will benefit (or really, why inaction would harm) the business of sports.
You opened the marriage argument door. First of all, it is not a group of people trying to impose their morality on anyone. It is, in fact, quite the other way around. We have a minority group that wants to force their morality into our laws and traditions that have been in existence for centuries.
For all are free to live their lives as they choose. The sanctity of marriage, on the otherhand, was established by God. The rules of marriage between a man and a woman have been part of our laws and our traditions for thousands of years.
If people want to live as two husbands, then fine, but don't ask to change our Godly heritage to fit your lifestyle. Find another solution and leave what God put in place as an established tradition alone.
And stop your cussing........
If parent's are letting their kids watch HBO at 10:00pm, then that is the bigger issue.
It's training camp in the NFL with a bunch of juiced up 300 pound men and a 400 pound coach. What do you expect to see? Ballroom dancing with boys wearing pretty outfits and talking all prim and proper? Give me a break.
I'm pretty sure swearing is WAY down the "why they abuse women, dogs, and themselves" correlation list.
Frilly Lace summed it up - the bigger problem by far is Dungy's attitude that he is going to clean up the NFL and tell everyone what they can and cannot say.
Oh and berwickguy - the nice people in the white coats are saying computer time is over.
Players at very competitive levels don't typically need someone constantly yelling a string of profanity (often with the effect of singling out a particular player for ridicule). Players at those very competitive levels want playing time. There's nothing a coach could possibly say to a player that is more effective than "if you play better you'll be able to get in the game for more downs." Beyond that, it's instruction on technique, encouragement to be aggressive and hustle. There may be some small group of players who are best motivated by being yelled at - it may be that yelling/profanity is the ONLY thing that some people respond to and its the only way for a coach to find something inside that player that will inspire getting outstanding performance - unfortunately, as much as people think of football players as the typical "dumb jock" there are very few who respond in any positive way to yelling and profanity. This is not a "one size fits all" proposition, people are all motivated in different ways. A truly successful coach, like Coach Dungy, will figure out what it takes to motivate players without profanity or yelling. With a very few exceptions, most of the yelling is by people who don't know how to LISTEN to their players, and figure out how to deliver the right message to each player without employing a small minded, "one size fits all - these players are stupid jocks anyway" mentality that employs yelling as a means of motivating by ridicule and intimidation.
Again, I think most coaches who find they have to yell and use profanity are guys got their jobs through a "good ol' boy" network - and their brand of bullying is simply another version of hazing that really doesn't need to be there to inspire outstanding performance.
So sad.........