Hawaiian shirts, OK. Tennis shoes... I guess so. But barefoot?

[Lulu]

What do you guys think? Doesn't sound like too many college coaches are on board, judging by the list of those they did name. This is just getting a little too gimicky for my tastes. I do not want to see Coack K out there in his bare feet.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3818149

[bjornolf]

That just doesn't seem safe. Some coach could end up with a broken, or at least REALLY messed up, foot if a player dove or jumped out of bounds going for a ball. I get the point, and it's a good cause, but can't the coach just donate money and shoes and make a speech instead? Maybe wear flesh-colored shoes with toes painted on them? :rolleyes: I've been stepped on sitting in the third row at a Duke game. It must be a lot more dangerous right on the sideline with all the refs and players walking back and forth, let alone diving after loose balls.

[hughgs]

That just doesn't seem safe. Some coach could end up with a broken, or at least REALLY messed up, foot if a player dove or jumped out of bounds going for a ball. I get the point, and it's a good cause, but can't the coach just donate money and shoes and make a speech instead? Maybe wear flesh-colored shoes with toes painted on them? :rolleyes: I've been stepped on sitting in the third row at a Duke game. It must be a lot more dangerous right on the sideline with all the refs and players walking back and forth, let alone diving after loose balls.

I would deem the risks to be pretty low. I used to play full court basketball on black-top in my bare feet for a couple of hours at a time. You don't get stepped on that often and it's usually pretty quick.

[ehdg]

Personally I don't see a problem with going barefoot. Heck I even walk around the house all year round barefoot and outside in the yard as well. I've even walked outside to get the paper and put the trash out in Dec, Jan, Feb. barefoot and I live in NJ. It's not really a big deal and not that dangerous at all imo.

[Cameron]

I used to play full court basketball on black-top in my bare feet for a couple of hours at a time.

Why would this be done?

Not saying it to be rude, merely wondering.

[bjornolf]

Yes, but if HUNDREDS of coaches are doing, there's a decent chance that at least one of them could get injured. I'm not saying the risks are bad for any one particular coach, I'm just saying it would look bad for the event if ONE person got hurt. Plus, were you playing with 6'7"+, 220+ lb. guys with size 16 feet who had to walk past you in a two foot wide space every few minutes? Were you sitting on the sideline in a chair when someone would dive at you going for a loose ball? Were you walking out onto the floor as the ref runs by with his back to you trying to get his attention? Also, wood floor can be a lot more slippery. If this did happen and a coach had to hop quickly out of the way, it could be a problem. Or what if the coach sweated on the floor and a player slipped and hurt himself? I know my feet sweat. Like I said, for any one particular coach, it should be no problem, but I'm worried about any one of the hundreds that are supposedly doing this.

I had a football coach in club football at Duke. We were doing a two-hand touch drill during practice. He kicked his shoes off to show us something cause he was wearing skids with no tread and they were slippery. Nobody even stepped on him. He made a cut at half speed and ripped his big toe off on the astroturf. I'm not kidding. The bone was where it was supposed to be. All the flesh and muscle were flopping off to the side like Harry Potter's arm after Gilderoy Lockhart tried to heal his broken arm. It was nasty. We took him to the hospital. Eight hours of surgery later and he was in a walking cast for 2 months. I'm just saying, it's dangerous to be surrounded by athletes wearing shoes running around when you're not. I got stepped on once and lost my big toenail PERMANENTLY. And I was wearing shoes at the time, so I'm sure it wouldn't be as hard with bare feet. I'm just saying, it IS dangerous. And hundreds of guys doing it across the country at the same time, there's a decent chance that SOMETHING'S going to happen with one of them.

Plus, if you played barefoot on blacktop all the time, your feet were probably a heck of a lot tougher than the average person. There are martial artists that can do things with their hands and feet without injury that would do horrible things to most guys. I go around barefoot all the time around my house, inside and out, too, but there's no way I'd want to do it on a basketball court surrounded with guys twice my size wearing shoes. And I'm 6', 250+ lbs., so I'm more on a size with some of them.

Just my $0.02. People can do what they want. They're adults. I just wouldn't do it personally after what's happened to me and what I've seen happen to others.

[hughgs]

Why would this be done?

Not saying it to be rude, merely wondering.

No reason in particular, just always felt more comfortable (once I got past the initial issues) in bare feet. I'd always run around in bare feet and didn't see any reason not to continue.

[hughgs]

Yes, but if HUNDREDS of coaches are doing, there's a decent chance that at least one of them could get injured. I'm not saying the risks are bad for any one particular coach, I'm just saying it would look bad for the event if ONE person got hurt. Plus, were you playing with 6'7"+, 220+ lb. guys with size 16 feet who had to walk past you in a two foot wide space every few minutes? Were you sitting on the sideline in a chair when someone would dive at you going for a loose ball? Were you walking out onto the floor as the ref runs by with his back to you trying to get his attention? Also, wood floor can be a lot more slippery. If this did happen and a coach had to hop quickly out of the way, it could be a problem. Or what if the coach sweated on the floor and a player slipped and hurt himself? I know my feet sweat. Like I said, for any one particular coach, it should be no problem, but I'm worried about any one of the hundreds that are supposedly doing this.

I had a football coach in club football at Duke. We were doing a two-hand touch drill during practice. He kicked his shoes off to show us something cause he was wearing skids with no tread and they were slippery. Nobody even stepped on him. He made a cut at half speed and ripped his big toe off on the astroturf. I'm not kidding. The bone was where it was supposed to be. All the flesh and muscle were flopping off to the side like Harry Potter's arm after Gilderoy Lockhart tried to heal his broken arm. It was nasty. We took him to the hospital. Eight hours of surgery later and he was in a walking cast for 2 months. I'm just saying, it's dangerous to be surrounded by athletes wearing shoes running around when you're not. I got stepped on once and lost my big toenail PERMANENTLY. And I was wearing shoes at the time, so I'm sure it wouldn't be as hard with bare feet. I'm just saying, it IS dangerous. And hundreds of guys doing it across the country at the same time, there's a decent chance that SOMETHING'S going to happen with one of them.

Plus, if you played barefoot on blacktop all the time, your feet were probably a heck of a lot tougher than the average person. There are martial artists that can do things with their hands and feet without injury that would do horrible things to most guys. I go around barefoot all the time around my house, inside and out, too, but there's no way I'd want to do it on a basketball court surrounded with guys twice my size wearing shoes. And I'm 6', 250+ lbs., so I'm more on a size with some of them.

Just my $0.02. People can do what they want. They're adults. I just wouldn't do it personally after what's happened to me and what I've seen happen to others.

Running around in bare feet only toughen the bottoms. I have hair to protect the tops :).

Your examples don't really address the issue. You provide one example during football which uses a completely different surface and the actions were completely different than a what a basketball coach does during game time. The story of what happened to you does not provide any context. Was it a sporting event? How was your experience related to coaching an NCAA basketball game?

I've played on a lot of surfaces in a lot of different circumstances. Sitting on the sidelines is easy. Pick your feet up when players come at you, whether you have shoes on or not. Someone sliding at you. Not a problem whether your wearing shoes or not. Worried about slipping on a sweaty floor? Not sure how shoes protect you from that. The big issue is getting stepped on by someone with shoes on. I've been stepped on plenty of times and it hurts less when I'm playing sports. The contact time is decreased by a lot and that seems to be the key difference.

So, if you want to demonstrate that coaches are going to get hurt by not wearing shoes I think you should start by showing us that a lot of coaches are actually getting stepped on during games. When was the last time you saw that happen? And if they're not getting stepped on with shoes on I'm pretty sure coaching in bare feet won't change that.

I'm not saying that the coaches should or shouldn't wear shoes. But if they elect to not wear shoes I don't see how your arguments support the idea that they will increase their risk of injury.

[bjornolf]

Well, first of all, a lot of coaches spend most of the game pacing the sideline, not sitting in their chairs. Also, I'd argue the actions aspect of what you say. K threw something down and made a demonstrative move for a player in their very last game during a timeout. Barefoot, the movement would have been similar to what my coach did, actually, and if he'd stepped on a clipboard or whatever it is he threw down while doing it, he could have gotten a nasty cut or something. I've seen coaches kick their chair or the board in front of the scorer's table in frustration. Do that barefoot and you could break a toe.

Second of all, like I said, there's more danger of getting stepped on by a player walking up the sideline to go in or come out of the game. The coach is watching the game, the player is watching the game, the player might not even realize he's stepped on his coach's foot as he goes by, slowly (hence contact extended). There's only a foot or so of space to the sideline in some gyms, and these guys are 6'7" wearing size 16 boats. I bet guys get stepped on more than you see, cause they DON'T get hurt cause they're wearing shoes. Besides, I'd be more worried about a shod foot sliding or bumping into the bare foot. That's how some projection on shoe peels up your toenail in a nasty way. What would be a little unfelt bump to a guy in a shoe is a trip to the pediatrist with a bare foot.

Third, the sweat I was referring to was the FOOT sweat OF THE COACH. The coach walks out onto the floor a little to complain to the ref, walks back, player slips on sweat or loses the ball next time up the floor. Think if sweaty Gary weren't wearing shoes at a game! The towel boys' arms would fall off trying to keep that area dry! ;)

I haven't seen Coach K get stepped on, per se, but again, if it didn't hurt him, no deal would be made of it. I've seen it happen to other coaches, who again weren't hurt cause they were wearing shoes, but I bet it happens more than you'd think. I've definitely seen K get jostled by both his own players and opposing players. If he's barefoot, he just has to worry about his feet as well as protecting his body. Another danger is the walk to and from the locker room. I've personally SEEN Wojo get his foot stepped on by a player on the way in at halftime.

I'm not saying something horrible IS going to happen. I'm just saying you're tempting fate by having several hundred coaches do it. So many freak things can happen, and it would look bad for the event IF a coach WERE injured. That's all.

Look, this is mostly tongue-in-cheek. I still wouldn't let Gary anywhere near the court barefoot though. ;)

[DukeDevil]

Maybe wear flesh-colored shoes with toes painted on them? :rolleyes:

JJ casuals?

http://www.jackjohnsonmusic.com/video/ (go to bonus videos tab, 2nd video down on the right side).

[bjornolf]

I've seen cheerleaders wearing slip-ons that are flesh-colord and it's really hard to tell they're not barefoot. Why not go with those? The viewing audience won't know the difference, unless they do a HD close-up.

Or go the opposite way. Go redneck, Jeff Foxworthy on them. Wear $1500, blue, ostrich-skin boots, then auction them off for money for the charity.

[Gunnar Kaufman]

No one should ever be barefoot anywhere.

[hughgs]

Well, first of all, a lot of coaches spend most of the game pacing the sideline, not sitting in their chairs. Also, I'd argue the actions aspect of what you say. K threw something down and made a demonstrative move for a player in their very last game during a timeout. Barefoot, the movement would have been similar to what my coach did, actually, and if he'd stepped on a clipboard or whatever it is he threw down while doing it, he could have gotten a nasty cut or something. I've seen coaches kick their chair or the board in front of the scorer's table in frustration. Do that barefoot and you could break a toe.

Second of all, like I said, there's more danger of getting stepped on by a player walking up the sideline to go in or come out of the game. The coach is watching the game, the player is watching the game, the player might not even realize he's stepped on his coach's foot as he goes by, slowly (hence contact extended). There's only a foot or so of space to the sideline in some gyms, and these guys are 6'7" wearing size 16 boats. I bet guys get stepped on more than you see, cause they DON'T get hurt cause they're wearing shoes. Besides, I'd be more worried about a shod foot sliding or bumping into the bare foot. That's how some projection on shoe peels up your toenail in a nasty way. What would be a little unfelt bump to a guy in a shoe is a trip to the pediatrist with a bare foot.

Third, the sweat I was referring to was the FOOT sweat OF THE COACH. The coach walks out onto the floor a little to complain to the ref, walks back, player slips on sweat or loses the ball next time up the floor. Think if sweaty Gary weren't wearing shoes at a game! The towel boys' arms would fall off trying to keep that area dry! ;)

I haven't seen Coach K get stepped on, per se, but again, if it didn't hurt him, no deal would be made of it. I've seen it happen to other coaches, who again weren't hurt cause they were wearing shoes, but I bet it happens more than you'd think. I've definitely seen K get jostled by both his own players and opposing players. If he's barefoot, he just has to worry about his feet as well as protecting his body. Another danger is the walk to and from the locker room. I've personally SEEN Wojo get his foot stepped on by a player on the way in at halftime.

I'm not saying something horrible IS going to happen. I'm just saying you're tempting fate by having several hundred coaches do it. So many freak things can happen, and it would look bad for the event IF a coach WERE injured. That's all.

Look, this is mostly tongue-in-cheek. I still wouldn't let Gary anywhere near the court barefoot though. ;)

It seems that your concerns are mostly contrived. Now coaches have to worry about dropping clipboards and kicking things. As if that doesn't happen with shoes on. I just don't see how your concerns are suddenly amplified just because coaches are wearing shoes or not. Shoes don't offer that much protection except to the bottom of the foot. If coaches were wearing sandals do you truly think you would have these concerns? If the foot injuries are so likely to happen then the coaches should be wearing safety shoes.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

No one should ever be barefoot anywhere.
Barefoot at the pool or at the beach is OK, buy my feet don't like hot sand or concrete, much less sharp objects like rocks or broken glass. My pampered feet (NO! They don't wear Pampers, they ARE pampered :D) like wearing shoes or sneakers and socks.

[bjornolf]

hey, all I know is that in the last game, K threw what looked like a clipboard to the ground and then demonstrated some kind of move to his players, could have been a pump fake. If he'd been barefoot, he could have hurt himself stepping on the clipboard "mechanism".

Look, sorry, I've just had too many freak foot injuries to not cringe at the thought of a coach surrounded by players with shoes on and what could happen. I lost most of a toenail just last week when my three year old son (1/8 the weight of one of these players and MUCH smaller feet) ran up to me. He stopped just short of me, but his shoe bumped into my bare big toe. The front of his shoe slipped right up under my toenail, folded it in half, and peeled a big chunk off of it. It hurt like the dickens. That NEVER happens when I wear shoes. It's happened about five times when barefoot or wearing sandals.

I have small children that aren't that good at picking up their toes, so I also stub my toes, A LOT, and it hurts like heck (especially the pinky one). I've messed up my toenails doing that, too. Never stubbed a toe while wearing shoes. All I can say is I've only hurt my toes once wearing shoes, and I hurt them almost daily when I'm not wearing them.

Two of my worst foot injuries ever came while I was wearing sandals. The covering over the front of the toes that shoes provide also offer a lot of protection from scrapes, cuts, bruises, and stubs, all of which I've gotten while barefoot or wearing sandals. I guess I'm just really unlucky when it comes to going around barefoot.

Obviously, you're not going to agree with me. I don't like being told my concerns are contrived, though. I've injured my feet in every single one of the ways I mentioned above. So, I guess my life is just contrived. Fine. I give up. You win. It's perfectly safe to walk around wherever barefoot. Go for it. I'm paranoid.

[-jk]

I think this thread has gone on about long enough.

Closed.

-jk