Summary
"I'm not going to do it. It's counterproductive. I just don't feel there's 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 [Mike 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, you can ask questions there face to face rather than having phone muscles, or you can go ahead and email them 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."
"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.""I've never seen your name or your name or your name on my paycheque. I think we get a little bit overboard with that thing," said Kelly. "The people in town, the community ownership, they're not the ones that are ultimately going to make the determination on what my employment is or anybody else in this building. To me, a boss is someone who has that type of authority and power. These are passionate fans that I believe in. I'm in their group. I'm probably overly passionate about the Blue Bombers. It's why I wanted to come back, it's why I wanted to be here. But why let a vocal minority dictate the message? We're going to control the message, and that's the way it's supposed to be in pro sport."See the full content of this document
Extract
Coach Hangs Up On Blue Fans
What? Kelly will no longer accept telephone calls on his radio show
Wanna talk to Blue Bombers head coach Mike Kelly? The good news is you're going to save minutes on your cell bill, but the bad news is it's going to cost you a little more in gas money.Kelly says the fractious relationship between himself and some call...See the full content of this document
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