No Fun Leagues

Deion Sanders, Billy White Shoes Johnson, Ickey Woods and many more men like them had fun when they played football. They knew how to celebrate and make the game fun. It was apart of the game. Now a days, the NFL and NCAA are taking the fun right out of the game.

This past weekend two incidents happened that made me wonder what the football world is coming too? In the BYU vs. Washington game this past Saturday, the Huskies led an emotional charge on the arm and legs of their star QB Jake Locker. Inside BYU's 10 yard line, Husker made a dramatic dash to the endzone to pull the game to within one point, with the "easy" extra point remaining to tie the game. Then I nearly got whiplash from the motions my neck made once I saw a flag get thrown in the air for unsportsman like conduct. When Locker scored, he jumped in the air in jubilation and flung the ball over his shoulder in the air. Mind you, he was jumping in the air with his teammate the whole time. Also, Locker is not a small man, a mere flip over the shoulder will seem like an average man put all his might into it. The official, Larry Farnia, who threw the flag was quoted as saying,

"After scoring the touchdown, the player threw the ball into the air, and we are required, by rule, to assess a 15-yard unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty. It is a celebration rule that we are required to call. It was not a judgment call."

The Huskies were penalized 15 yards, and the game tieing extra point was blocked. Are you kidding me? In the emotion of a game the official makes that call. Wow. Can you say "fixed" or Tim Donaghy has a NCAA football cousin? Please forgive me, lets commend this official for his ability to keep his composure during all the emotion and stick to the rules and let nothing slide. The rules clearly states if a player throws a ball in the air he must be penalized, and Ferina "followed those rules" but as Rece Davis of ESPN stated on Saturday, every call an official makes is a judgement call. Although the letter of the law state one thing, the official should have had enough sense to realize Locker wasnt tauting only celebrating.

The next incident was Terrell Owens, who scored a touchdown yesterday. I was happy because he's on my fantasy football team. I was waiting to see what T.O. was going to do so I could celebrate with him at home. He put himself in a sprinter stance in honor of the Olympics and ran out of his "air" blocks. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty came within seconds. A new NFL rule is that if a player touches the ground in celebration he will penalized. I hope this doesn't include the "kneel down prayer".

The irony of all this celebration chaos is this, Chad Johnson legally changed his name to Ocho Cinco. Yes, that man is wild, but nevertheless, the NFL announced that Ocho Cinco would be placed on the back of his jersey. Before the game, he was ordered by the NFL to wear the Jersey that said Johson. Why you ask. Because the NFL has an exclusive contract to Reebok and many fans have bought "Johnson 85" jerseys and they have much more in stock.

So what happens when someone is traded mid-season? You have out of date jersey's out of stock as well. Chad Johnson has one of the top selling NFL jerseys, and if he were your run of the mill Marvin Harrison type, he would not have a top selling jersey. He is Chad Johson, super flamboyant, celebration artist extrodinare. What is the NFL going to do when players stop celebrating? How are jerseys going to be sold then?

Peace,

Ricky Writer