David Leggat: Excused - Foul mouths and fouler habits

Those who reckon sport, in judicial terms, is going to hell in a turbocharged handcart have had plenty to chew on this week.

Take the cases of Tall Blacks basketballer Mark Dickel and Australian league hero Andrew Johns.

First Dickel. Having been stood down by Basketball NZ for two internationals against Qatar after admitting smoking cannabis in the US a few weeks ago, he appeared before the Sports Disputes Tribunal.

Let's not get all pointy-headed about this, but in most countries what Dickel did is a crime. There are places you aren't allowed into if you've got that on your CV.

But Dickel is given a free pass - oh, all right, a reprimand - by a panel of Queen's Counsel Nick Davidson and two sports administrators, Adrienne Greenwood and Ron Cheatley.

Cannabis is a prohibited substance and banned by the world doping agency Wada. It is also on the Basketball NZ blacklist. Dickel's contract contains a clause whereby he agrees not to take banned substances.

The sample was taken on July 12. Dickel had returned to New Zealand a few days earlier after about a month at his Las Vegas home.

He was "surprised to learn of the positive result because he had not used cannabis for at least five weeks". That's all right, then. And the tribunal played along and gave him the wet bus ticket treatment.

Question: What message does this send? The tribunal cited previous cases where it had taken a similar line in handing out a warning. Does that mean its response will be the same in the future as well?

So hands up all those closet tokers who also happen to be leading New Zealand sports men and women. Puff away to your heart's content, safe in the knowledge that if you do, by some unlucky chance, get caught you'll be okay.

As for Johns, he's lucky he plays league, where he is governed by one of the weakest administrative bodies in this corner of the globe, people who operate by a code of selectivity when it comes to judicial affairs.

Johns' story is well enough known. He gave touch judge Matt Cecchin a foul-mouthed spray after his failure to spot a pass had been knocked down by a Sea Eagles opponent. It came at a tight moment in a game Johns' Newcastle Knights eventually lost.

The outcome? A two-game ban. The inescapable conclusion? The National Rugby League was unwilling to whack its potty-mouthed superstar on the eve of its finals showpiece.

The mitigating factors bandied about by Johns' cronies can be knocked over as easily as a row of skittles:

* That "Joey" plays with his heart on his sleeve, that he's passionate - So what? Sport is littered with passionate performers who don't feel the need to sling a gob of vile abuse at a match official.

* That he's the biggest name in the game and the NRL finals series needs him - What better person on whom to demonstrate that such behaviour can't be tolerated.

* That Johns regretted his actions - Well, actually he didn't regret it, as he showed in his subsequent newspaper column in which, among other things, he reckoned Cecchin should apologise to him for his mistake.

Johns eventually wrote an apology - or most likely his agent did and Johns scribbled his mark on the bottom. Cecchin accepted it, which suggests he's the bigger man.

The next time Johns turns up at a school, maybe aiming to send a fair play message to the kids, he can't do so with any credibility. Maybe the kids won't care. Joey's Joey.

He should have been red carded for the season. End of story.

Players have been muttering Johns-type thoughts about officials for ever. But his behaviour was bang out of order. The NRL had the chance to send a clear message and dropped the ball.

The days of "You need a pair of glasses, ref" are a distant, almost cheerful, memory.