Belli 'byte

granted its not the end of the world, but at the very least, it showed lack of class and poor character, regardless of whether or not it actually bothered printers.

Chronicguy…

Both you and Oilerrocker have spent a lot of time trying to explain why in your opinions Belli’s actions should not and would not warrant an objectionable conduct penalty when my first response had nothing to do with that.

I brought up the rule issue, not to argue a case that he should have been penalized but to point out that if the refs deemed it necessary they could have penalized him.

Yes, I said Belli “got away? with one. He did. I’m stating fact. It does not mean I was saying he should have received one just that he could have. And I’m sure he got away with it like many other players do for similar trash talk. But who knows? Perhaps he was warned to keep his mouth shut by the ref, by his team mates or by his coach. I don’t know and you don’t. But more importantly, as Oilerrocker pointed out Belli at times is an a**. Belli’s remarks to Printers and his timing showed just what kind of an unprofessional a** he can be. That was the whole point of my original posting.

My comment about the poor role modeling was to point out that when kids see this sort of thing on TV or at the game and think it is cute they are apt to mimic it on the playground or during their own organized sporting event with or without proper parenting intervention. If their "heroes" are doing it then it must be okay for them to do it.

You said football players "should not be regarded as role models". Good grief man, since when? That comes with the career as in any other sport. You would not have to look very far to come up with examples of players who ended up being cut from the team because of indiscretions off the playing field. Certainly parents ought to be role models as you say but more often than not you will find young adults saying that the person[s] who had the most impact on their lives were not their parents but someone else entirely. I think you seriously underestimate the role pro athletes have in the lives of our youth and the impact these personalities have on our youth and on the community.

That is why B.C. Lions players and players across the CFL are so involved in their communities, in the schools and in junior sporting activities. Because our youth look up to them and often want to emulate them- not just because of their playing ability but because of their lifestyles and the values they hold. They don’t always want to emulate mom or dad. As important a role parents have, youth are very impressionable and often sportsmanship is often more effectively conveyed by what the pros do both on and off the field rather than what mom and dad try to teach.

I totally get what you mean but when kids see pro-athlets showing poor sportsmanship it’s up to the parent to talk to their child and explain why. I have done that with my kid and now that he is older (12) he can understand the difference between poor-sportsmanship and regular trash talk , in this case( Belli & printers)it was just Trash talk nothing more nothing less.
As far as community involment some players enjoy it and some don’t , better to promote the league and increase interest and reap the rewards then do nothing