Lately I've felt like ranting not because it's finals period and I have three essays to write in three days, not because I have consumed seven Monster Energy drinks in 48 hours and not because I'm stuck in Novack every night forced to watch countless people stagger through and rave about how much fun they are having. Maybe I've transformed into a hate-fueled adrenaline junkie (seriously, how are these energy drinks even legal? I honestly think my heart is beating faster than it does during mile 12 in a half-marathon), but with the Fall right around the corner, I can't help but start getting annoyed by the NCAA's excessive celebration rule.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the rule, the NCAA rule book states that collegiate referees are allowed to penalize a player or a whole team for "any delayed, excessive, prolonged or choreographed act by which a player (or players) attempts to focus attention upon himself (or themselves)."
Supposedly, this rule encourages good sportsmanship but I disagree because I don't think celebrating is unsportsmanlike. When I score a touchdown, spiking the ball sends the other team a message. The message is that right now, "I'm better than you." I can dance in the endzone because I earned it. If you don't like it, stop me next time. There is nothing unsportsmanlike about honesty it fuels both teams to play well.
Penalizing an 18 to 22-year-old for celebrating greatness feels more shameful than that time my sister-in-law sent me inside a moonbounce to supervise a dozen sugar crazed toddlers at my niece's third birthday.
When you're my age, little kids don't respect you like an adult and they know that you're not their peer. When they know you "aren't the boss of them," they can be vicious. They smell fear and use their numbers to overwhelm the outsiders. When I was sent into that moonbounce, those 12 toddlers saw my discomfort and capitalized on it. They immediately banded together to terrorize the only person over four feet tall by kicking me repeatedly in the shins. Needless to say, my ego was also more than a little bruised.
As the kids continued to attack, I weighed my potential options over in my head. I could easy throw the vicious little gremlins out of the moonbouce until the remaining little monsters were too afraid to keep kicking me. Although this would have been the quick and easy way to solve my problem, it's not really a practical solution since it is not exactly socially acceptable to violently retaliate against little kids. Given the intense football workouts I participate in, I could have easily tossed each one of those kids like a shotput, but explaining my actions to their parents would be awkward and difficult.
In order to avoid drama (and several lawsuits from angry mothers), I was forced to swallow my pride and allow myself to be taunted and assaulted by the gang of three-year-old brats. I willingly suppressed my emotions to avoid grave consequences.
Not celebrating after a touchdown produces the same feeling in the gut of a young athlete. After I score a touchdown, it is hard to suppress my desire to spike the football and do my best Deion "Primetime" Sanders dance in the endzone, but I know that my actions have consequences. I could chose the selfish route and celebrate my personal accomplishment, but then I hurt my teammates because we will be assessed a 15-yard penalty that will put the opposition in prime position to equalize the score almost as bad an outcome as those angry moms.
So just like in the moonbounce, I swallow my pride and I contain my urge to publicly display my feelings. I hand the ball to the referee and I jog to the sidelines to high-five my teammates. I feel completely defeated. Let's face it, this anti-climatic ending does not provide a fitting end to a great play, but it is the unfortunate outcome of a very flawed rule.
I don't advocate aggressively taunting an opponent or several children for that matter because this only leads to fights and retaliation. I see nothing wrong, however, with letting the players celebrate the product of all the hard work they've done in practice and during the offseason. Spiking the ball or dancing in the endzone is a fun way to build up your confidence and celebrate victory with your teammates. Besides, a little swag never hurt anyone.
As a disclaimer, no children were hurt in the writing of this column.
