Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Excessive Celebration

My mind works in odd ways. I’ll be drying my hair in the morning and weird, random thoughts pop into my head. I guess that’s good for blog writing though. It usually gives me a topic.

Yesterday, my thoughts were on football. It’s not football season - who knows why this stuff comes to me? It’s a gift.

My first thought was that the penalty for excessive celebration is stupid. In discussing it with the Evil Twin, he went even further and stated that there should be no penalty on taunting at all.

Taunting may be seen as poor sportsmanship, but excessive celebration? It’s like saying you can’t be thrilled that your kid brought home straight As. I mean, bragging about it to everyone within ear shot probably won’t make you a very popular parent, but it’s okay to be really proud of your child and maybe even take them to dinner or give them a few extra bucks at allowance time.

So, you got these guys who run the ball in for a touchdown, shouldn’t they be allowed to do a little dance in the end zone? I think so. It’s not an easy game.

The other thing that pisses me off in football is the two point conversion.

If the team I’m watching has someone who decides to go for the conversion, you can believe that I am going to be screaming at the TV: “You idiots!!! That almost never works!”

Put your kicker in, take the easier one point and then work your ass off for a field goal next time around if you really need the points.

The Evil Twin disagrees with my opinion, as he says that he’s seen games won by the two point conversion. Every time I’ve seen it, it usually ends badly. Very badly.

I guess I’m more of the “sure bet” type of person rather than one who likes to take chances.

The Evil Twin hinted around a couple of years ago that he'd love a Hines Ward jersey for Christmas. Guess what he found under the tree that year? An offical NFL jersey (home team version, in black - not the "away" jersey in white).

So, are there penalties or other things in football that you would change if you ruled the world?

11 comments:

  1. I'm with you on the celebration foul. I've seen it used twice against Ohio State and both times it seemed very arbitrary. One of those was the player running and diving past a defensive player into the end zone. A ref actually called the dive a "celebration" while I was yelling at the TV that he had to dive to make it in the end zone. After that I witnessed several other things that I thought were more celebratory and no calls were made. That rule seems to open to intrepretation.

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  2. I can't really contribute anything since I don't much like football. I would say those touchdown dances are the best part of the game. :-)
    I try as hard as possible to avoid it, especially the Super Bowl. I used to like the commercials, but I can watch them online. Now I try to go to the movies.

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  3. I never understood the penalty for excessive celebration. In kids' sports, that means, like, any celebration at all! You can't even high-five your teammates. That's just wrong.

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  4. Ron - yes! It is arbitrary.

    kwr - I've become well versed in football. I even LIKE the Super Bowl.

    Rebecca - you've got to be kidding! Crazy!

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  5. I miss slamming the ball and dancing around in the end zone....even in football.

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  6. I'd give penalties to coaches for making bad decisions. And spitting. And Ref's throwing out flags all the time and disrupting the play.

    Ask me again around football season, it's hard for me to remember and I still have lots to learn on the sport lol

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  7. I think they should do away with the "protect the quarterback at all costs" penalties. I've seen some pretty lame stuff called, and it all seems related to protecting the $$ that's paid to QB's. They're on a football field, not in a dance studio, and they're going to get the occasional smackin'-around. Get up and get over it, like the rest of the players do.
    I feel better now. Thanks.

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  8. I always thought that when it came to the NFL or college sports it was the almighty TV people behind ending excessive celebration because it took up extra TV time (since the clock stops when the ball crosses the goal). If the whole team wants to break into their favorite song and dance routine from Cats every time someone makes a point, it's fine by me.

    Didn't Randy Moss get an celebration penalty this year because someone patted someone else's butt?

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  9. I'm not sure what I'd change...

    except maybe for every touchdown by the home team there was free beer for that teams fans- courtesy of the opposing team :)

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  10. It's really awesome to know that I am not the only one who has weird, random thoughts. And that I am not the only chic who loves football and shouts crazy things at the television!!!!

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  11. If I ruled the world... wait... I'm Master of this here Universe....

    I think you're right on here.
    I'll instate all of your demands at the next board meeting.

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