Nov. 1, 2004
I cannot believe the TD end-zone celebration of Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens on Sunday in the Eagles' 15-10 victory over the Baltimore Ravens. Owens intentionally mocked a dance that Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis uses at his home games.

	Terrell Owens has used tamer TD celebrations at times in the past.

It was bush league and outrageous. There's no need to show up the opposition. When you're a pro athlete, and you're humiliating an opponent and acting like a fool, shame on you!

Believe me, somewhere down the road, Owens will get his. You can't do that in pro sports and not expect to get yours down the line. Owens took it too far. He's such a talented athlete, and I feel that his performance on the field should be what we discuss week in and week out instead of his wacky behavior.

When a team is undefeated like the Eagles (7-0), you can get away with a lot of things, as Owens is. But sometime down the line the Eagles will lose.

I can't believe a disciplinarian like coach Andy Reid can be happy with what's going on. There's no way in my mind he's happy about that.

The problem is that lots of athletes think they're bigger than the game. They feel that nobody can say anything against them because they think they're invincible.

Then there's the case of Chicago Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa recently coming out and being critical of being placed sixth in the batting order during the late stages of this season. He said he was humiliated batting sixth.

Are you kidding me? You get paid for your performance, and his production went down. In that case, manager Dusty Baker had the right to make a change and drop him down.

In this day and age, a great team player goes into the batter's box and proves the manager wrong. That didn't happen with Sosa. You don't sit and sulk or cry and moan. These guys talk about how tough things are, but how many people get four months vacation and $16 million a year to play baseball like Sosa does?

Most people get two weeks of vacation, take their time away and appreciate it. I'm sick and tired of pro athletes whining and moaning.

I can't believe a disciplinarian like coach Andy Reid can be happy with what's going on.

It was great to listen to Kerri Strug at a recent event I attended in Kansas City. Strug said that everyone made a fuss about her performing despite an ankle injury in winning the Olympic gold medal in gymnastics. She said that was why she was selected to the team, to perform.

There are so many athletes who don't get it. I love Derek Jeter because he didn't complain when he was hitting about .160 early this past baseball season. He said he would get it done, didn't make excuses and his average soared as the season wore on (he finished the season at .292).

I can't tolerate athletes who make alibis when things don't go well. These days, some guys make headlines for the wrong reasons, like Owens and Sosa.

Dick Vitale coached the Pistons and the University of Detroit before broadcasting ESPN's first college basketball game in December 1979. Send him a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.