When I was playing high school sports, many of my coaches would use different techniques to motivate us. Some just plain lied. One coach said that night's opponent had said horrible things about our mom's. Another said (and lied) that our biggest rival was spreading the word that we had cheated in our previous match up. In those two cases, we actually won both games. It got better over the years when people were quoted in the newspapers. Trust me, as a high school athlete, I never missed the sportspage and leading up to a big game I found some great bulletin board material to use as motivation. It didn't always work but my teams would work themselves into a frenzy.

Let's fast forward to this week in January 2008. Sports talk show hosts, television sportscasters and newspaper sports reporters have ripped San Diego Chargers Quarterback Phillip Rivers for flapping his gums at first Denver Quarterback Jay Cutler and now the Indianapolis Colts fans as he left the field with an injury vowing to return. He returned but didn't play but that didn't stop him from his chirping at the Colts fans in the nearby stands. My take, no harm, no foul. It was an immature act by a young quarterback but did it really hurt anyone? I don't think so.

Trash talking can hurt in some cases and I point to the same Colts/Chargers game, where San Diego defensive tackle Igor Olshansky said when asked about New England, "Seriously, I mean they're more worried than we are, I promise you, believe me. They know what's up". Those comments will find their way to the Patriots bulletin board but in all honesty, they don't need anything to motivate them, although you know Bill Bellechik will use it to remind his team that they can't take anyone for granted, including a Chargers team that is banged up.

In summation, I'll take trash talking over crying any time. For example, I was somewhat amused when Terrell Owens started bawling at his post game media session after the Cowboys lost to the Giants. He's much more entertaining when he's throwing someone under the bus, like a coach, or a couple of his former quarterbacks. The only limitation, don't say A BAD WORD ABOUT ANYONE'S MOM.

Gary Cruz
CBS 5 Sports Anchor

gcruz@kpho.com