A couple of weeks ago, UNC-Wilimington surprisely announced that pitching coach Matt Williams will not return for the 2019 season. After a couple of days, it came out that Williams was in the room when sports psychologist Brian Cain who was hired by UNCW proceeded to hold a vulgar presentation over Skype with the squad.
Cain drew inspiration from the 2000 film Boiler Room. In a speech to stock traders, Ben Affleck uses the phrase ‘Act as if.’ Affleck begins by telling his team to go out and buy new suits so that they look more professional. He hopes the new look leads them to “act as if you’re the [expletive] president of this firm. Act as if you’ve got a nine-inch cock.”
Cain’s speech – and use of a rubber mold of the male anatomy that became known as the Dick of Death – were never intended to be sexual in nature. Cain called it a prop that took up about 30 seconds in a 30-minute session, noting that its use was an “isolated incident.”
“It was my intention to deliver a message, in a light-hearted way, that the men in the room would connect with and understand the point we were trying to make about carrying yourself with bigger body language and confidence while attacking the strike zone with your pitches vs. pitching passively. Both of which would help them to pitch better,” Cain said.
You can read the article at The StarNews Online by clicking here.
