Anonymous
Years ago

A bit of verbal, where is the line ?

with player sledging and crowd behaviour being a poignant topic at the moment in that other sport, i was thinking about my own actions. i will make no secret of the fact that i am a passionate fan of my local nbl team and take great pride in being extremely vocal at the games. mostly this involves chanting, clapping and cheering, but myself and my mates do enjoy a good sledge at the visiting team. where ever possible we try to make it as witty as possible whilst still aiming to distract the opposition players.our little crew have a bit of a code which involves the obvious - no racism etc.

the thing is that even though we know we sometimes push these boundaries i have always felt that we contributed to our team and the arena atmosphere without over stepping. i got a shock recently when a nbl player complained about something i said to him and i was warned by the powers that be that i had overstepped.

i knew that i was getting to the player in question- that was the point. but do i have any right to do so ? is our code wrong ? was the player just being a big bloody wuss ?

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Depends, what did you say?

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Anonymous  
Years ago

haha hard to judge whether you overstepped without telling us what was said. Though, in general im a definate fan of witty chants to put-off the opposition.

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E=MC2  
Years ago

Seriuosly, a player complained? Harden the f up! Please name names, they need to cop it.

I've heard stories that tool at the Perth games is luck not to have had his head taken off though.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Ok.... it went down like this...

there was a certain player a season or two or ago that upset me with his boorish behaviour, for the sake of the story lets call him "JH" :)

we played his team mid week, in an away game, and he carried on in a way i had never seen before. granted he played well and his team won ( which truth be told only made me more mad ! ) but he strutted, gyrated blew kisses and talk junk to the opposition players ( my beloved team ! )

i had a few days to stew before the return bout in our arena and by the time pre-game warm ups started i was all over him. i had previously got in his head with some obscure and (IMO) funny references to things from his past.

but when the perfect moment arrived i rose and shouted at him clear as day " hey ! "JH" your jumpshot is like yo mamma , ugly and broke ! "

he complained to the refs, pointed me out and then security took me away for a stern talking too. as i told them it was not the worst thing i have said to a player over the years, he was just the first to complain.

i suppose my point is that we all have a different moral line, i was heated - extra hot actually, and wanted to upset him but never expected the reaction my comments received.

the events of this week have made me remember the incident and honestly start to wonder if i was out of line?

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Jack Toft  
Years ago

You can abuse players like that. Their mums can't help it if they are ugly.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

im just assuming JH is jacob holmes ... i can't imagine he ever blew kisses. He's physical, but he's not known for being a show-pony.

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Sturty6ers  
Years ago

I think JH refers to the man who drinks the poison, who always gives 125%, who is first into the gym and last one out, etc etc etc.....

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Some people would say you took it too far by making it personal, however the player should be able to block this out. I was at a seminar with Brendan Joyce who went into alot of the mental game, and how good players block this stuff out. He also discussed the fact that Adelaide and Perth are the hardest places to play because of the hostile crowd. I.e the single clap for opposition players in Adelaide.

For me the 'line' is when the comments become personal. Say anything you like about their game, but start involving family members or making offensive slurs.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Some people would say you took it too far by making it personal, however the player should be able to block this out. I was at a seminar with Brendan Joyce who went into alot of the mental game, and how good players block this stuff out. He also discussed the fact that Adelaide and Perth are the hardest places to play because of the hostile crowd. I.e the single clap for opposition players in Adelaide.

For me the 'line' is when the comments become personal. Say anything you like about their game, but start involving family members or making offensive slurs.

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Big Marty  
Years ago

Well, I'm sure ragging on his jumpshot is perfectly fine; but might have taken the "Mother insult" literally.

Fairly sure he wouldn't have complained if you just told him his jump shot was broke-ass.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

it was not jacob holmes....

it was a former import

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The Brad  
Years ago

I think players and leagues are becoming way too precious. Imagine a player like Reggie Miller or Charles Barkley or even the elite like Jordan and Bird who trashed as much as anyone else. These guys wouldn't get away with that sort of stuff these days and to be honest these guys were that good because they were mentally tough. I still believe LeBron is one of the most gifted athletes in the history of the game but he is so mentally weak it's not funny!
Come on it's a Mumma joke, has he not seen white man can't jump???

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alexkrad  
Years ago

maybe his mum really was broke and ugly? and thats why he took offence?

If you cant handle a momma joke from the crowd you probably shouldnt be playing professional sport

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Mystro  
Years ago

Nothing wrong with mocking someones Mother.

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Ricey  
Years ago

I got kicked out for having a Hodge Is A Wanker shirt... Surely that wasn't over the line lol

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Ceres 11  
Years ago

What if his mother was rerminally ill? Or recently deceased?

In todays culture, this seems unnecessary.

Having a go at someones game is IMHO open slather, family members should be OOB.

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FWC  
Years ago

I played a game in Murray Bridge, went and stood next to my opponent and he said "Look at this fat white c*nt", not very PC.

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Todd  
Years ago

Ceres 11, That is also my opinion. What if the Mother was terribly ill or deceased. IMO it's inappropriate and disrespectful and you shouldn't resort to personal slurs. Those the kind of low blows will probably get you a good smack in the face at the car park anyways! But on the other hand, professional sport-persons should have a fair tolerance and way of dismissing these kind of mind games. It's all heat of the moment stuff, But I wonder, would the above poster have said that to a 6"11 African American on the court? I sure as shit wouldn't! There are boundaries of sensibility. I reckon it's about being appropriate, yeah rev your opponent up about their game, but leave it about them, not their personal family.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Meh, in my oppinion, people in the crowd can say what they want.

I know we are a different sport to AFL, but can you imagine a player talking to an umpire about a person in the crowd about something they said? Players need to rise above it.

That said, I think people hurling abuse at people personally is a dog act, and denotes them as not all that smart. The best sledges are the ones that are intelligent as well as funny - cricket has been really good at this!

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tickle  
Years ago

As mentioned in the film Stand By Me - "Finding new and preferably disgusting ways to degrade a friend's mother was always held in high regard."

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tickle  
Years ago

As mentioned in the film Stand By Me - "Finding new and preferably disgusting ways to degrade a friend's mother was always held in high regard."

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Anonymous  
Years ago

so it seems that all the above posts kind of go reinforce my initial thoughts about the moral line being fluid depending on your personal limits.

whilst i see the point regarding potentially doing more damage than intended when the sledging does become so personal ( ie-if his mum was dead or something ) i cant help but think that so many other players ignored my sledging over the years.

i would love to say that i will now take the high ground and stick solely to the witty comments,but i cant help but think that if that same exact situation with that same player presented itself i would do the same thing. that may be wrong but so be it. when i am totally honest i have to admit that in the heat of the moment i would tell julius hodge what i think of him and his mamma again.

i think the most interesting post comes just a couple above from anon. you say that the you do not condone the personal attacks and then make some quite personal comments and assumptions. again i think this just kind of prove the point.

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