Thank goodness for Steph Curry's mom.
In case you missed it, the normally G-rated Curry dropped a very loud F-bomb during the third quarter of Golden State's 41-point rout of Houston in Game 3 of their NBA Western Conference finals Sunday night.
Screaming, "This is my (blankety-blank) house!" after hitting a floating drive against the reeling Rockets, Curry's emotional outburst was somewhat understandable. Following a Game 2 loss in Houston a few nights earlier that knotted the best-of-seven series at 1-1, he seemingly had been blamed for everything from poor defense (somewhat understandable), to lousy shooting (a more-than-fair point given his 2-for-13 total from the 3-point line in the first two games) to Meghan Markle's wedding dress (hey, what's wrong with simple and classic?).
Beyond that, he was having the kind of third quarter Sunday that only a very small group of players can deliver in a playoff game: 7-of-7 from the floor and 18 points.
Still, Curry considers himself a devout Christian and a nonstop role model for kids, so his tepid excuse of "I blacked out" to explain away his outburst didn't buy much sympathy from his mom Sonya.
"She's already sent me two home videos, showing me the clip and playing it back," Curry told ESPN on Monday. "She was telling me how I need to wash my mouth out, saying to wash it out with soap. It's a message I've heard before."
Good. It's a message more moms and dads need to deliver to athletes and others, but especially to those whose X-rated explosions wind up being seen and heard by others the world over. In fact, if I might be so bold, it wouldn't be the worst idea on earth to name Sonya Curry the language czar of sports and entertainment, if only for the kids in the room.
This isn't to say emotions don't boil over occasionally in everyone who's ever played in so much as a youth league sport or thrown a game of darts at a local watering hole. I almost feel hypocritical just writing this based on my tennis tirades on various courts throughout this city a few years back as I unwisely felt the need to channel my inner Johnny Mac each time I double-faulted, sent a backhand into the net or felt the opponent needed glasses.
So I sort of get Curry's desire to lash out, especially at his critics, who seem to forget the fact that he's not only a two-time league MVP but is coming off a lengthy leg injury.
But we also are living in a time when everything we say or do - especially for those as famous as Curry - is tossed into a 24/7 news cycle seconds later, then quite probably preserved on YouTube for all eternity. And there is no question that dropping the F-bomb on so grand a stage as a nationally televised NBA playoff game makes curtailing such behavior more difficult.
Look around. Nothing trickles up. It trickles down, usually from the rich and famous bordering on infamous. Fashion. Behavior. Language. The more it declines into incivility, crudeness and rudeness at the top, the more it becomes status quo among the masses.
Yes, everything changes, including social mores. Holding a door for a woman is not always viewed as positively in some parts of the country as in the South. The same with "Yes, ma'am" and "No, ma'am." That's life. But how often have we seen life change for the better lately, to a more civil, caring, compassionate society rather than a brusque, boorish, loudmouthed, in-your-face one?
Instead, we ignore the repeated F-bombs of Tiger Woods, for far too long trumpeted the repugnant behavior of Johnny Manziel as some kind of "bums just want to have fun," and continue to blow off the potential harm of sexually disturbing rap lyrics as creative expression.
Everyone errs. That's not the point. And Curry deserves much credit for volunteering his mom's displeasure at his behavior. He could have ended his explanation with "I blacked out," laughed it off and no one would have been the wiser.
By letting the world know that his mother, and probably others, were less than thrilled with the antics of the 30-year-old married father of two, he took a more redemptive path.
"She's right," Curry said of his mom. "I've got to do better. I can't talk like that."
None of us should talk like that in front of others, and when it's as easy to see and hear as Curry's outburst was on Sunday, an apology always should follow.
But for anyone whose mother ever has reached for the closest bar of Ivory - it is here that I must repeat these words from Ralphie in the "A Christmas Story" movie: "Over the years I got to be quite a connoisseur of soap. My personal preference was for Lux, but I found Palmolive had a nice, piquant after-dinner flavor - heady, but with just a touch of mellow smoothness. Lifebuoy, on the other hand" - Sonya Curry's method of discipline is a proven winner.
There might even be some money in it for soap manufacturers if athletic administrators and pro leagues would consider this a public punishment instead of a fine. You can almost hear the advertising jingle now: "Dial Soap - Cleaning up the NBA, NFL and MLB one mouth at a time."
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.