Depends, what did you say?

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

it was not jacob holmes....

it was a former import

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!

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.