Temper Temper

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Yankee pitcher AJ Burnett cut his hand up when he smashed a clubhouse door after pitching poorly (again) in one of his last starts. After the game he apologized to his teammates and vowed never to do it again.

I bet Mel Gibson would like to say the same thing about now.

Through the years I've been accused of having something of a temper. When I was a kid I'd go off all the time about everything from the Sabres losing to the death penalty.

Now who gives a crap?

I rarely lose my temper these days and actually shout at the kids even less than my wife, and she doesn't shout much either. Yet you listen to the tapes of Mad Mel and its a little scary that a human being can reach such levels of rage.

And if you listen to the tapes it certainly doesn't seem that Gibson is all that upset with his girlfriend - its the rest of the world around him that has him acting so irrationally. Poor guy is down to his last billion dollars.

I once worked with a boss who would go completely around the bend. His voice would distort into exorcist-like bellowing that caused you to hold the phone away from your ear. Anything you tried to say to calm him would further infuriate him. Two hours later he'd call back like nothing happened. Most of his employees couldn't get away fast enough.

I'm not sure but I think that Italian-Americans are sometimes painted as people who are quick to anger. I do know that a lot of arguments around my house, as a kid, were predicated on someone going off the rails in lightning quick fashion.

But that's just it...it is sort of excusable in children, right? The baby bellows until mommy comes running and before long it's a learned behavior.

"What a baby Burnett is," my son Jake said to me the morning after AJ's tirade.

"That hurts coming from you," I said.

Jake is legendary for his tantrums.

"I'm really trying to control those moments," Jake said. "I haven't had a fit in ten days."

So, there you go. Mel Gibson could learn something here. It's within his control.

Serenity Now! Serenity Now!

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