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PHOENIX -- It began innocuously enough, with New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin answering a question about Odell Beckham Jr. by saying his team had done a study on the behavior of "Millennials" in an effort to better understand and communicate with their young players. Coughlin said one of the things they learned was about the ability of people in that generation to multi-task and divide their attention between multiple devices and activities. Then the 68-year-old Coughlin began telling a story about his own experiences with modern technology, in particular the GPS guidance offered by the Siri feature on his iPhone. I'll just let it roll from here:
"Two weeks ago I'm trying to get to my grandson's roller hockey game. So [Giants VP of player evaluation] Marc Ross had showed me how to talk to this phone. I don't trust the lady in GPS. I don't trust her, because they don't send you the right way. I hit the button and I say, 'Park Ridge, N.J.' And she comes back on, she's giving me directions. So now I figure out where I am. I hit the thing and I say 'Thank you very much, I know exactly where I am now.' And she comes back and says, 'You don't have to thank me.' I swear to god that's what she said. And then I couldn't get her to shut up. Every turn, 'Take a right here.' I know where I am. I know where I am. I'm a block away from my house and she's telling me where to go. I said 'I know where I'm going.'"
Ah, those disembodied whippersnappers. Just can't get em to shut up. Anyway, cute story and all, but I don't know how much I buy it. I mean, Coughlin is the oldest head coach in the league, but this is still a man who coaches an NFL team. He designs game plans, runs meetings, organizes weeks' and months' worth of schedules for players and coaches and staff. He's as meticulous and detail-oriented as anyone I've ever met. I'm inclined to believe he can work his iPhone, and that he's well past the Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer phase of marveling at every little bit of modern technology. Fun to play up the old-guy Coughlin angle, but my guess is he's laughing at the rest of us laughing at him.
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