# Rational man fires a .45 into football coach's chest. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 8, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400 "2005-04-08T15:46:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/1 "2005-04-08T15:46:12Z")
So, this lunatic [Robertson](http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-04-07-coach-shot_x.htm) shot his kid’s high school football coach. Oh, I’m sorry. . .did I say lunatic? I really just meant disgruntled parent upset with the school’s athletic program. Apparently, the coach deserved it. > [@](#): > > Rhonda Miller, a cousin of Robertson’s wife, was among the relatives gathered outside the jail Thursday night to help support Robertson’s wife and son. > > Miller said she didn’t want Robertson portrayed as “a lunatic” because he wasn’t the only one frustrated with the school’s athletic program. > > “A lot of parents are upset. This is not a single incident, and if they don’t take care of it, it could escalate,” she said, declining to elaborate. Help me, Rhonda. Even if he wasn’t the only one upset, he’s the only one who fired a fuckin’ .45 into the chest of the football coach. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/2 "2005-04-08T15:49:50Z")
Does anyone remember when these games were supposed to be all about being fun for the kids? ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/3 "2005-04-08T15:50:34Z")
I knew before I even clicked on the link that this would be in Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/4 "2005-04-08T15:56:45Z")
> [@Ghanima](#): > > I knew before I even clicked on the link that this would be in Texas. Yup. You read _Friday Night Lights_ and you realize it’s an obsession. You even learn to understand the obsession a little. I can even understand that some dude might be so fuckin’ crazy that he plugs the football. But, that quote from that woman. . .someone who has had time to process what happened, and suggest that this was just a foreseeable consequence of decisions made in the atletic program. Astounding. That’s when you step back and go, “are we all maybe taking this a bit too seriously”, not “well, there are serious problems with the athletic department and this is just the natural consequence.” ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/5 "2005-04-08T16:00:43Z")
> [@](#): > > Help me, Rhonda. Sorry, I can’t help you or anybody else in this lunatic world. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/6 "2005-04-08T16:06:09Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > Does anyone remember when these games were supposed to be all about being fun for the kids? Not really. hasn’t it always been like this? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/7 "2005-04-08T16:06:25Z")
I knew before I even clicked on the thread that some moron would blame all the residents of the state for the actions of an individual. A pitiful few of you never fail to disappoint. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/8 "2005-04-08T16:10:49Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > I knew before I even clicked on the thread that some moron would blame all the residents of the state for the actions of an individual. A pitiful few of you never fail to disappoint. Read much into a comment there? A little touchy? I don’t see that there was a blanket statement about **all** residents. Just the fact that it happened in that po’ dunk state. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/9 "2005-04-08T16:15:03Z")
Okay, blaming the state is somehow different or better? Am I touchy? Goddamn straight. I get so fucking sick of the Texas bashing I could spit. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/10 "2005-04-08T16:17:57Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Okay, blaming the state is somehow different or better? > > Am I touchy? Goddamn straight. I get so fucking sick of the Texas bashing I could spit. Umm, where’s the blame? I’m not seeing that either. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/11 "2005-04-08T16:23:55Z")
Maybe if certain people from Texas stopped acting the cunt with guns on a regular basis then people wouldn’t jump to correct conclusions while opening threads. In Ireland if I saw a headline “Man stabbed in face while jogging” I’d guess it happened in Limerick. If the headline read “Man shot in face” I’d guess Belfast forst then Dublin. I’d be wrong sometimes but right most of the time. It seems **Ghanima** is just using the same deductive reasoning. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/12 "2005-04-08T16:28:02Z")
“I knew before I even clicked on the link that this would be in Texas.” Are we not reading the same sentence? As someone who doesn’t blame Illinois for Gacy or Minnesota for Vang (must I name all other 48?) I find comments like this offensive as hell. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/13 "2005-04-08T16:28:21Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > I knew before I even clicked on the thread that some moron would blame all the residents of the state for the actions of an individual. A pitiful few of you never fail to disappoint. Actually, I knew it was in texas before I clicked on the link because they have a reputation of taking their football _very_ seriously. Read as much into that as you will. ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/14 "2005-04-08T16:33:23Z")
Quote from the article: “A lot of parents are upset. This is not a single incident, and if they don’t take care of it, it could escalate,” she _(Rhonda)_ said, declining to elaborate. Escalate to a degree more severe than shooting the coach? Like what - multiple shootings? Bomb threat? Anthrax letters? Christina Aguilera over the loudspeakers? Locusts? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/15 "2005-04-08T16:34:37Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > Maybe if certain people from Texas stopped acting the cunt… It’s been several years since I lived in the UK, so I had forgotten how much I missed this idiom. Thanks. 🙂 As to the OP, it saddens me that this somehow doesn’t astound me. And yes, if you have “high school football” and “gunshot wound” in the same story, I think most people are going to think Texas first. It’s not applying blame so much as the law of averages… ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/16 "2005-04-08T16:36:59Z")
Maybe you’re right, yojimbo. I appreciate you taking time away from your bomb building to share your enlightened, non-bigoted view of how we should perceive others. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/17 "2005-04-08T16:38:33Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > “I knew before I even clicked on the link that this would be in Texas.” > > Are we not reading the same sentence? > > As someone who doesn’t blame Illinois for Gacy or Minnesota for Vang (must I name all other 48?) I find comments like this offensive as hell. Luckily the Vang incident happened in nasty, nasty Wisconson. 😉 I don’t think the blame was placed on Texas, just that there are incidents that happen in predominant sections of the country. Go to [Fark.com](http://Fark.com) sometime and see their “Fl:orida” tag for instance. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/18 "2005-04-08T16:40:14Z")
Wiscons_i_n. How could I take the sin out of that state? ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/19 "2005-04-08T16:41:04Z")
Yup. What you quoted there **Rez** , is the thing about that most makes my blood run cold. > [@](#): > > As someone who doesn’t blame Illinois for Gacy or Minnesota for Vang (must I name all other 48?) I find comments like this offensive as hell. Couldn’t agree with you more, **lieu**. People claming to have “known” exactly where this occured prior to reading anything about it are: a) showing a prejudice, and b) showing ignorance. After all, Oklahoma, Florida and Iowa all take their football seriously, too. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400/20 "2005-04-08T16:42:05Z")
This looks like a job for… Rational Man!! (theme song starts to play as a guy wearing a mask, cape, and superhero tights bounds into view, carrying a .45) 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rational-man-fires-a-45-into-football-coachs-chest/298400.md?page=2)