Brian Billick, coach of the Baltimore Ravens, defends his players’ trash talking saying,
Folks, when you go into the lion’s den, you don’t tippy-toe in. You carry a spear. You go in screaming like a banshee and you kick whatever door in and say, ‘where is the son of a bitch.’ If you go in any other way, you’re going to lose. Somebody has forgotten they had to fight their way up there last year.
Fine, but did Chris McAllister really need to say something as absurd as claiming that Eddie George “folded like a baby” after getting hit by Ray Lewis in an earlier game? And certainly if you’re going to dish it out, do not whine like a baby — as Billick did — because the Titans broadcast some of Billick’s comments on their Jumobtron just before the game (Billick had the nerve to suggest the action lacked class — which it did, but how would Billick recognize class if he saw it?)
The two things that annoy me most about sports these days are players who a) incessantly complain to referees about bad calls (it’
s part of the game, get over it) and b) spend more time trash talking than actually playing the game. It is as if it is no longer good enough to simply beat the opponent, but rather the opponent must be held in absolute contempt (and this attitude is highlighted most in the sports setting, but seems to be on that has spread throughout our society).