Bomber coach nixes calls to radio show

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This article was published 30/08/2009 (6231 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG – Blue Bombers head coach Mike Kelly told a group of media on Sunday morning that he would no longer take phone calls on The Mike Kelly Show which airs every Monday during the regular season on CJOB from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

"I’m not going to do it. It’s counterproductive. I just don’t feel like that that is a positive aspect for anybody involved. It’s a vocal minority that calls in, and when we lose or don’t play particularly well, there’s just too many personal attacks, whether they’re at me or at a player or whatever it might be," stated Kelly.

"And when we win, obviously compliments are appreciated, but then it goes overboard that way, too. If you want to come to the Upperdeck Sports Bar, which is a great venue, and you can ask questions there face to face rather than having phone muscles, or you can go ahead and e-mail them in and we’ll take the questions that we want there. I just didn’t see where it was serving anyone’s purpose on either side to have the call-ins and get into some of the things that we got into."

Kelly has had fans call in and berate him and he’s had some caustic replies, "I’m glad your mother put a phone line in the basement,’ and "Next time I’m at McDonalds I’ll let you shake the salt on my fries,’ roughly paraphrase a pair of the coach’s quotes that have left tongues wagging in the city.

"If I was in Philadelphia they’d love it. There wouldn’t even be an issue. I just don’t understand why somebody thinks that they can come and attack me and I’m not going to attack them back. That’s just how I was raised," reasoned Kelly.

"In Philadelphia and Chicago, that’s how you live. That’s how you grow up. It’s a give and take. Here if I give it back, everybody flips out. ‘Oh, he can’t say that.’ Well, yeah, I can say that. If you’re going to come at me, then I’m going to come at you."

Having people come to the show location to ask their questions will eliminate a lot of the inflamatory remarks, believes Kelly.

"You can ask questions there face to face rather than having phone muscles, or you can go ahead and e-mail them in and we’ll take the questions that we want there. I just didn’t see where it was serving anyone’s purpose on either side to have the call-ins and get into some of the things that we got into," said the first year Bombers coach.

"If you think you can stand up and ask a question, then stand up and ask a question, but don’t hide behind a computer or a phone and act like you’re a big guy."