The lines are now open, unless of course you're calling in

"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."-- Blue Bomber head coach Mike Kelly reflecting on what may or may not make for good entertainment on your radio dial.

With the pressure building in Winnipeg to get things on track, the first casualty it would seem would be unfettered access to the coach via the home teams radio call in show.

Blue Bomber head coach Mike Kelly informed the media on Sunday that as of Monday he would not be taking any phone calls on his CJOB radio show, the Mike Kelly Show. The weekly radio yak machine has featured some rather caustic give and take between the coach and his callers, some apparently not overly thrilled with his stewardship of the Blue this season.

So, following the apparent advice (that of mothers everywhere) of "if you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all" the coach won't be reaching for the phone lines when Monday's show comes around.

Now for former radio programmers and talk show hosts everywhere, this is not quite the disaster that it may sound like (after all a talk show without anyone to talk to quickly becomes rather pointless), there will still be questions asked and answers provided.

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While the phone lines will go silent, those that take the time to attend the show's broadcast location at Winnipeg's Upperdeck Sports Bar will stil be allowed to grab a microphone and ask away and e mail inquiries will still be accepted (though the coach will apperently pick and choose the questions he feels are pertinent and offer a less venomous outlook).

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For Kelly the edgy give and take of the phone calls has been a counterproductive exercise, callers apparently emboldened by their anonymity through the telephone, taking shots that aren't warranted or helpful to the cause, and a part of his radio program that he feels would be best left behind.

Instead, he's hoping that with the face to face nature of the studio audience the questions will be interesting and the tone civil.

Though you have to wonder if trading in a phone line for the best of the bar room crowd will provide the positive vibes that he seems to be seeking!

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Winnipeg Free Press-- Bomber coach nixes calls to radio show
Winnipeg Sun-- Kelly phoning it in