IDIOT!!!!!!!!

Okay all you coaches who read this, one of you, any one of you, answer me this. Why in the hell do you intentionally kill your own team's momentum?
It drives me absolutely crazy and it did again on Saturday in the NCAA Women's Tournament.
I was watching as TCU was dominating Dayton. The Lady Frogs led by 18 with 13 minutes to go.
Inexplicably, TCU coach Jeff Mittee, when his team is on a roll, takes his star players, including Mountain West Player of the Year Helena Sverisdottir out of the game.
TCU was cruising, clicking on all cylinders. The players were in a rhythm. The bench was excited. The crowd was pumped. More importantly, Dayton was reeling, back on the ropes, ready to be knocked out.
But, instead of smelling a victory, the TCU coach sniffed an opportunity to get his bench players some TV time. Good move, Coach. Idiot.
Dayton rallied, got back into the game and won it at the buzzer.
Hey, that really was smart. Coach wanted to give his players a breather. He sure gave 'em one. Hey, Coach Mittee, is six months enough time for them to catch their breath?
Unbelieveable.
I see this too often. Coaches think they're so smart. They're going to think ahead to the next round or to the next quarter. That's so smart. How about trying to win the damn game when the damn game is there to be won?
You don't get many opportunities to knock a team out, especially a good team in the NCAA Tournament. When you get an opponent dazed and on the ropes, only an idiot backs up.
Like I said, I've seen this all too often at every level. A team gets a 15-point lead in the first quarter and suddenly empties the bench. Yeah, that's good coaching Boss, except when the opposing team gains confidence against your reserves and climbs back into the game.
I hate it when a player hits back-to-back 3-pointers and is then immediately subbed out of the game. I hate it even more when a team finally gets into a rhythm and is running like a well-oiled machine and its own coach calls timeout.
TCU was playing as well as it could play on Saturday. Yeah, sounds like a great time to sit the starters down, doesn't it? By the time, Sverisdottir and the other starters got back into the game, their flow was interrupted, their rhythm was gone and, more importantly, Dayton's confidence was over-flowing.
If it sounds like I'm hacked about a game most folks could care less about, I am. I followed TCU all season because I love watching Sverisdottir play. She can play all five spots on offense and is just a specially skilled player at 6-1. I had already TIVO'd the TCU vs. Tennessee game on Monday.
How was I supposed to know the coach would stupidly give an 18-point second half lead away?
IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

state tourney was good

Thanks to no-wireless internet in my hotel last week, I haven't posted on this site in awhile. The 3A State Tournament in Jessieville was great. Parkers Chapel's boys lost in the first round in an overtime thriller.
I was worried about which girls team I would follow and PC's Lady Trojans made me feel good about my choice when they advanced to the semifinals. Of course, I wish I could've seen El Dorado in the semifinals of 6A and Norphlet in the semifinals of 2A.
Having to choose between three good teams is a good problem to have, I guess. The decision should be made easier next year when PC drops back to 2A and, hopefully, the Lady Trojans and Lady Leopards will be playing in the same state tournament.
Kev Moye' covered the Lady Wildcats in West Memphis and told me a horror story of piss poor fan support for the El Dorado girls. It's disappointing, though not surprising.
I've been here more than 20 years and I can tell you, it's not a basketball thing. It's a girl thing.
Coach after coach has taken over the girls program and said, "if we win, the fans will come."
El Dorado won 26 games and played in the state semifinals with a great opportunity to win the state championship.
Most of the fans didn't show up.
After watching the incredible support given to El Dorado's football team, I thought maybe some of the excitement would spill over to other sports. How foolish of me.
I have to be honest, when I was debating on which state tournament to watch, the 6A tournament wasn't really in the running. Not because I don't like watching El Dorado play but because I prefer the small school atmosphere.
I love the way the towns travel to support their teams - boys and girls. Jessieville's arena was jam-packed for every game, whether it was at one o'clock in the afternoon or eight-thirty at night. It was loud, raucous and rowdy. It was fun, just like I knew Jessieville and Carlisle would both be.
As far as Class 6A, I knew it would be totally different. Oh sure, some of the bigger schools support their teams. But, more of them are similar to El Dorado, whose fans go into hibernation as soon as football season is over and wake up during spring football practice.
I feel bad for the Lady Wildcats, who worked hard to get to where they were and deserved more support. Congratulations to the Lady Trojans and Lady Leopards both for your outstanding seasons and for having the support of your school and communities behind you.