I was disgusted after the Bulls won Game 6 of the NBA finals Sunday night. Not because I am a Jazz fan, but because after the Bulls won, they were smoking "victory cigars." I am appalled at the sheer ignorance of this act. Not only is it setting a bad example to small children who look up and see their hero, Scottie Pippen, smoking a cigar, so their impressionable young minds will immediately process: cool, successful, hero and cigar in one thought. They will always think from now on that smoking is OK. Beyond that, it is a bad example to athletes everywhere who see professional basketball players smoking after winning the biggest game of the year. Everyone knows that cigars and cigarettes cause cancer, namely lung cancer, and everyone knows that if a person has lung cancer he cannot run around, hence, he cannot play basketball. It seems like complete irony that these role models would endorse such suicide. I am not just a perturbed fan - I would be equally upset if the Jazz had participated in this disturbing public display.
Also, is it not illegal to smoke in a public building in Utah? I had half a mind to call the cops on them. Not only are they promoting athletes smoking, they are promoting irresponsible behavior. I hate to say it, but in that one minute of airtime, NBC, the NBA and the Chicago Bulls have undone years of the Partnership for a Drug Free America's hard work to stop young people from smoking, and that day was indeed a grave day in history.Pepper Hayes
Salt Lake City