I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
For the final minute of DePaul's 68-55 loss to Memphis last week Blue Demons coach Dave Leitao had his back to the court.
That's because Leitao had launched into a 30-second tirade directed at a pair of hecklers in the front row who called his choice to use a timeout a dummy move.
Leitao lost it.
"You're proud of this team? You're proud of them?" he shouted into the stands. "You're proud of the way they beat women? Just on the court not off, right? So do you go home and beat your wife? I bet you beat your wife."
The loud, malicious and inappropriate remarks were in reference to Tiger guard Jeremy Hunt who was charged with assaulting his ex-girlfriend.
But the most alarming part of the whole rant was how unprovoked it was.
The hecklers didn't scream obscenties. They didn't say anything you don't hear behind visiting benches around the country every night. Leitao's reaction was inexcusable.
The guys didn't curse at Leitao or any of his players. They didn't get very loud either. They stuck to "dingbat" and "goofball" mostly. To be honest, it was the most polite heckling I've heard in a long while. Dave, if there's one person with anger management issues, you're looking like a prime candidate.
Against such mild criticism, how do you explode like that? How do you justify shaking with anger, pointing into the crowd and spitting so hard that you gave the folks in row H a shower?
Did you notice the children sitting not 10-feet from you?
We don't know. Leitao didn't return my phone call.
Give this to him, however.
He still found the poise to go and shake the hands of Hunt and Memphis coach John Calipari -- with the veins in his head still bulging.
Class move.
Sad thing is Leitao's reaction, although deplorable, isn't surprising or even uncommon.
It might not have even been the worst performance this year from a visiting bench.
When Marquette lost to Memphis earlier this month Golden Eagles coach Tom Crean was livid. A few fans in the front row were apparently too much for him to take.
He flung a profanity-laced attack that was so irreverent that The University of Memphis college radio station seated near Crean had to cover their microphones to keep the expletives -- which they said he used twenty-five times -- off the air.
Way to show them Tom.
Call me a dreamer, but whatever happened to class and dignity?
Is that too much to ask?
When you're dealing with life-and-death matters like conference play, I guess it is.
I know the Tiger basketball team has had its fair share of turmoil and trouble this season, but I've never seen players or coaches berating fans.
The Commercial Appeal reported that at a game against South Florida earlier this month a kid was wearing a nice suit and slicked back hair. He was sitting behind the Memphis bench and he was in Calipari's ear for 40 minutes. He was yelling that he was Calipari's long lost son.
Calipari didn't budge.
He did what should reasonably be expected from any coach in America who knows they are a reflection of their team.
He took it.
So Tom and Dave listen up and say it back with me: this is just a game.
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes you get called a dummy.
But I ask you, who's the dummy now?
Read other articles by Daniel Ford:
- No hockey, no big deal
- Tigers not worth the ticket
- "DeAngelo for DeHeisman"
- Recent firings leave football programs scrambling for replacement coaches
