His coach frequently refers to Williams, endearingly, as a pest.

Robinson's coach in Greece referred to him as "one of the greatest underachievers I've ever been involved with."

The word is rarely employed - out loud, at least - when a coach is referring to his own team.

Day after day this summer, a coach or a teammate has referred to Toomer as "a changed man."

However, when coaches refer to one percenters, these actions are often also considered.

The coaches referred to that possible boycott as Black Saturday.

The coach was referring to a point in the fourth quarter, with 3:53 left, when his team had sliced 5 points off a 12-point Piston lead.

Tellingly, the coach referred to Monday's game in contrasting terms.

The coach was referring to Bonin's being a chemistry major who had a 4.0 grade-point average in the winter quarter.

Over the past few years many coaches and competitors have referred to the official title of speeches with different names.