End Zone Celebrations

[Boris]

OK. Let's talk sports. The Red Sox are rapidly reshaping themselves in the image of the Yankees so I'd prefer to talk football instead.

Joe Horn was fined $30k for whipping out his cell phone and calling mommy after he scored a TD last week. The Saints in general don't have much reason to celebrate. They have chonically underachieved this year and at least 9 2+2 posters had to take out a second mortgage after losing their life savings when Big Al made the Saints his Shoe-In of the Week something like 3 times.

Another guy in Cincinatti was fined $10,000(?) for holding up a sign that said "please don't fine me!?. Never mind that the Bengals have sucked ever since Joe Montana killed them in the super bowl and that the stupid sign was an insult to the Icky Shuffle.

While I think we can all agree that players on these two teams would be better off studiying game film than celebrating one measly TD, is it really necessary to fine them? I mean, these are professional athletes and thus they are entertainers. TD celebrations are entertaining. They get the fans into the game and provide weekday grist for AM sports radio shows. Does the NFL really want all its players to model their personalities after Pete Sampras? Talk about boring. The NFL should encourage these celebrations. It's good for business.

[TheRake]

I watched that game on television. I find it very ironic that the analysts saw fit to chastise Joe Horn's actions during all 4 of the replays the network aired...

TheRake

[Boris]

[HDPM]

My modest proposal is to have major penalties for stupid stuff and institute an alternate procedure instead of fines.

I would make it so that any excessive celebration is a 15 yard penalty for each player participating. These penalties would be imposed on both the extra point and the kickoff and be consecutive penalties. So 4 guys being buffoons in the end zone doing Mile High Salutes, dances, cell phone calls, sharpie drawings, or just spiking the ball would result in a 60 yard penalty. So that would mean an extra point try of over 60 yards, and two safeties for the other team.

I would also have this penalty for celebrations of minor things. So if you make a routine tackle after a gain of 15 on a 3rd and 12 and celebrate in any way, it would be 15 yards for each player celebrating or helping a celebration.

A lead-changing touchdown in the last 2 minutes of a playoff game could be celebrated with handshakes.

A player who previously would have been fined would lose the protection of the rules of the game for a period of time. He would be like an out-law in the old days. Say he got 1 quarter of outlaw status. You could tackle him on his pass routes, beat him up, injure him on purpose, etc... and it would be no penalty. Any penalties he committed would be tripled and be consecutive. So if he held on a play where his team had another penalty, it would be another 30 yards. If he or his team wanted to save his life, they could just make it a 1 game suspension and start the next game with a safety.


There's my modest proposal. But I don't like names on the jerseys or logos. /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[Dynasty]

They're still trying to be the No Fun League.

[adios]

I'm fairly certain that the reason the NFL came down on Horne so hard was that he was not using the official NFL sanctioned cell phone.

[John Cole]

You really want to hurt Horn, take away his cell phone privileges for a month.

[Ed I]

I don't don't find end zone celebrations entertaining, but then again I don't whoop it up when I catch a big trout. I am a boring guy.

[Ulysses]

[ QUOTE ]
I would also have this penalty for celebrations of minor things.

[/ QUOTE ]

The celebrations after routine tackles and other such stuff are pretty much the silliest thing in the NFL.

[ QUOTE ]
A player who previously would have been fined would lose the protection of the rules of the game for a period of time. He would be like an out-law in the old days. Say he got 1 quarter of outlaw status. You could tackle him on his pass routes, beat him up, injure him on purpose, etc... and it would be no penalty.

[/ QUOTE ]

This kind of insightful thinking could have saved the XFL.

[J_V]

LOL, that's funny ed.

[M2d]

Ed, when I catch one 14" or larger, I do a dance called the "2d shuffle" then spike the trout. If i catch the right angle on a boulder, I can usually bounce it halfway across a mid sized creek.
doesn't come off too well in a belly boat, though.

[Boris]