One of the powerful images of sport I have from the year to this point is from the National Football League.
Remember the game the Giants blew to Philadelphia, giving up 4 touchdowns in the last 7 minutes, including the game winning punt return by DeSean Jackson on the final play in regulation.
The image of Giants coach Tom Coughlin throwing his game notes on the sideline and then marching on to the field to admonish his kicker Matt Dodge for not kicking it out of bounds remains quite powerful.
The display by Coughlin is quite out of the ordinary, a professional coach truly losing it in full public display, abandoning professional decorum to verbally rake a player within seconds of a key play.
There’s an old axiom that coaches live by, that essentially states ” a good coach praises in public and criticizes in private “
Coughlin couldn’t wait, screaming at Dodge on the field of play as the demoralized Giants watched their divisional rivals, the Eagles, celebrate one of the all time great comebacks at their expense.
Watching that game that afternoon, we were at the annual SMHLPA Christmas Party at Ronnie Todd’s, was amazing from a competitive standpoint, with the incredible come from behind win by Philadelphia, plus equally amazing was the emotional meltdown by Coach Coughlin captured by the cameras.
It also reminded me of something, somewhat similar, that took place on June 20th, 1974 at Huron Park Public School
I’ll tell you about that tomorrow.
I’m Fred Wallace