It’s double fist clinch season in college hoops
March 4, 2010 by
John Stansberry
It’s March and that means that television cameras at college basketball games will start capturing a phenomenon that manifests itself around this time every year: the head coach double fist clinch.
When the stakes are this high and those knucklehead players need a little extra coaxing, coaches don’t rely on shouting alone. Oh, that sufficed during the tournament in Maui back in December. But dammit, to quote Champ Kind, things have now “jumped up a notch,” so the arsenal has to be expanded.
What does the double fist clinch provide? Well, for starters, it tells a team’s fans that the coach doing the clinching cares THAT DAMN MUCH. Oh, their team might lose the game, but disappointed fans will remember those shaking fists as they walk out of the arena and think, “Coach so-and-so really gives a damn, the school should give him that extension.”
To the players, the sight of the double fist clinch generates an altogether different reaction: fear. When a point guard looks to the sidelines and sees a grown man screaming while balling both hands into fists, a player thinks, “This son of a bitch is crazy, I’d better play harder.”
Nothing in the history of college basketball has inspired more halfcourt defensive stops than the prospect of dealing with a lunatic coach in the next practice. So as a motivational tactic, the double fist clinch has no peer.
Do you think the head coach of your favorite team doesn’t care? If he looks like he’s squeezing a couple of stress relievers as hard as he can, maybe you should reconsider.
Kevin on Fri, 5th Mar 2010 8:20 am
You are spot on….. Good coachs seem to know just do of say to get thier teams to full potential. When thier ability to push the team to full potential diminishes is really when a coach should fired. As an administrator it must very hard to determone this becuase you want to believe your program has the best players and can win every game it plays, when in reality administrator must just as of talent eveluators as pro teams so they just eveluate the coach to know if the team reached it potential.
Cheers!
clingy on Fri, 5th Mar 2010 3:42 pm
I cannot understand anything the previous poster wrote. And I guess sarcasm is lost on him.
David on Fri, 5th Mar 2010 3:54 pm
While the article is clearly stunning brilliance, I really want to just comment on Kevin’s comment. Kevin, before you ever type another word, please attend an English as a second language class. The kid from Honduras that just got done cutting my grass read your comment and he can’t stop laughing at the poor grammar and horrible spelling. If you are already in an English as a second language class, next time you’re in class, walk up to your teacher and punch them in the face.
clingy on Fri, 5th Mar 2010 4:13 pm
David - I tried to be diplomatic but you took an entirely different tact with the assessment of the comment. And how are Honduran lawn care providers? As good as their Panamanian counterparts?