Lately, the oppressive powers that be have cracked down on celebrations, making it difficult for anyone to enjoy themselves. Groups of people can no longer get together and have a good time.I'm not talking about Ball State University or the city of Muncie and what some view as their respective draconian views on college partying, even though it might seem like it. I'm referring to the NFL and the NCAA, both of which have made just about any form of celebration a fifteen-yard penalty in football.Players have been penalized for making a fraternity gesture at someone they know in the stands after a score, as University of Notre Dame wide receiver Bobby Brown was in 1999, setting up the University of Michigan with great field position for their winning touchdown drive. Even defensive players joining their teammates in the end zone after a key interception return for a touchdown has been met with flags.It's not enough, though, just to penalize teams yardage for doing it. The media must rake players over the coals if it finds celebrations to be too outlandish or in some way crude. Witness Fox television announcer Joe Buck gunning for the Oscar in the 2004 NFL playoffs when then-Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss pretended to moon Green Bay Packer fans after a score.That is disgusting, and I am sorry we had to show you that!The most recent example of media self-righteousness was displayed last weekend when University of Georgia football coach Mark Richt planned a stunt for his team's first touchdown against the University of Florida.Upset at his team's listless play the previous game against Vanderbilt, Richt decided to pump his team up by having his entire roster go onto the field to celebrate Georgia's first touchdown in a 42-30 win over the Gators, drawing the fifteen-yard penalty and setting Florida's team off."No class," Gators linebacker Brandon Spikes said after the game, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "To see the whole team on the field, I thought it was disrespectful."Richt joked to a sideline reporter when leaving the field for halftime that his team would have faced extra running had they not drawn the penalty, which came with a full 55 minutes to play in a 7-0 game. The move could have backfired, but Georgia held the lead the vast majority of the game and ended up beating the favored Gators.However, it is a grave mistake to assume Richt is a classless character because of the move. After all, just a week before, he had angrily dismissed his players from Vanderbilt University's field after a game because of what was, in his view, inappropriate celebrating. His team had jumped on the Commodores' midfield logo, which Richt thought was classless, not to mention dumb since his team had barely eked out the win over a team with far inferior talent. And Richt was correct on both counts.By no means should teams or players be allowed to run wild celebrating after an irrelevant play in a game. This not only detracts from the game, but would also delay it needlessly.Of course, sending the entire team onto the field to celebrate the game's first touchdown probably enters a sports moral gray area, but darned if it wasn't hilarious to watch. And isn't sports really all about entertainment anyway?
Write to Andy at ndistops@hotmail.com
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