Now, I can say that I honestly believe that Holmgren was very upset by the kick. I can just imagine that in his mind he is about to absolutely lose it. He could've chewed out Ryan, but he didn't, he just walked away. He realized that Ryan is a young guy, that he's going to have some bumps, and that you just have to let it go sometimes. In situations like that, it's sometimes better to walk away, leave your emotions to yourself. Obviously Ryan knew it was a big mistake, he's trying, leave it be, talk about it later in the week.
Now, back to basketball, I was watching a girls game the other day. There is a big local tournament called the HSBC Classic to kickoff the season. I won't name the teams, but there was one team where one of the players was just having a hard time with the pressure defense in the first half. She turned it over a few times in a row trying to dribble through the traps. The coach pulls her out of the game and goes into a 2 minute animated tirade, arms flying and all. The girl was clearly upset and she finished out the game sitting alone at the end of the bench, towel over her head, crying her eyes out. I happen to know about this girl because she's a good player and in the papers every so often. She's just a sophomore playing varsity and well, varsity is a lot tougher than JV.
I guess what I'm saying is, please coaches, exercise some restraint. I know that as coaches, we all have expectations, pressures, we all strive for perfection both of ourselves and our players, but there's nothing worse than shattering a young person's confidence. Confidence is a fragile thing, it's precious, don't attack it, cherish it, built it up, be patient with it. As the saying goes, if you don't have something positive to say, don't say it at all. Just walk away and let your emotions simmer for a while.
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