When Thanking God Goes Wrong

[MisterCreosote]

A quarterback in the Massachusetts high school state championship game gets a touchdown taken away, which in essence costs his team the game, because he raised his hand to the sky as he was approaching the end zone untouched. The kid's dad said he was just acknowledging God:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog/prep_rally/post/Touchdown-celebration-penalty-costs-Mass-team-a?urn=highschool-wp9491

Rules are rules!

 

[93Devil]

I will quote John 12:3...

And Jesus said to him, bull****.

 

[murphyc]

I'm pretty sure there was something similar in a high school game last year. I want to say it was in Washington state.

EDIT: Yep, at my wife's alma mater.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/12/01/high-school-player-flagged-touchdown-nod-god/

 

[93Devil]

I'm pretty sure there was something similar in a high school game last year. I want to say it was in Washington state.

EDIT: Yep. My wife's alma mater, of all places.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/12/01/high-school-player-flagged-touchdown-nod-god/

But I am not buying for one second this kid was praising God. Praise God by being humble. I'm sure that is somewhere in the Book.

 

[HanSenSE]

Yep, a friend of mine with deep religious convictions posted the same link murphyc did about a year ago and was going on and on about how Christians were being barred from expressing their faith, then his like-mined friends started chiming in. I usually ignore such threads, but on that one I had to declare BS about it being a religion thing.

 

[NickMordo]

I predict an ESPN Outside the Lines piece on how Tebow met the kid at the local mall and bought him a jersey and signed it.

 

[zimbabwe]

My Facebook page is an unfortunate blend of my personal friends and my media persona/identity. (Bad planning by me).

I am "friends" with tons of athletes I once covered. I'm noticing a growing trend of folks (usually males) posting prayers on facebook, often in a thinly-veiled attempt to impress like-minded women (who pepper said status updates with "likes").

It strikes me as banal, corny and gauche at best, and hypocritical and sacrilegious at worst.

You don't have to make a peep out loud (or online) to communicate with God.

But you DO if you are actually talking about yourself.

Preening is the diametrical opposite of prostrating.

 

[LongTimeListener]

My Facebook page is an unfortunate blend of my personal friends and my media persona/identity. (Bad planning by me).

I am "friends" with tons of athletes I once covered. I'm noticing a growing trend of folks (usually males) posting prayers on facebook, often in a thinly-veiled attempt to impress like-minded women (who pepper said status updates with "likes").

It strikes me as banal, corny and gauche at best, and hypocritical and sacrilegious at worst.

You don't have to make a peep out loud (or online) to communicate with God.

But you DO if you are actually talking about yourself.

Preening is the diametrical opposite of prostrating.

If they are getting tail out of it, I see no problem.

 

[Double J]

Whether he was thanking God or simply celebrating, who gives a **** what he was actually doing? Why the **** would anyone ever want to play sports if you can't celebrate a play, especially a damned scoring play?

To hell with these pinheaded administrators and anybody else who supports these horse**** zero-tolerance "rules." And I'll raise my fist in celebration and thanks to God as I watch them slide into the mother****ing abyss.

 

[gravehunter]

Whether he was thanking God or simply celebrating, who gives a **** what he was actually doing? Why the **** would anyone ever want to play sports if you can't celebrate a play, especially a damned scoring play?

To hell with these pinheaded administrators and anybody else who supports these horse**** zero-tolerance "rules." And I'll raise my fist in celebration and thanks to God as I watch them slide into the mother****ing abyss.

As long as the celebration rule remains as vague as it is, you're going to get stupid calls like this. Remember Washington-BYU a few years back? The UW qb scored a late touchdown and flipped the ball into the air. He was flagged for it and Washington ended up losing the game. (I don't recall exactly, but the PAT might have been moved back as a result and then missed or blocked).
It's not just the religion thing. If a player picks his nose after scoring a touchdown and a ref feels that it's excessive celebration or "drawing attention to himself" a flag will be thrown.

 

[Gator]

Read a few things on this today, and in nowhere but the comments section is it pointed out that the player in question received a taunting penalty in the previous game and one in the first quarter of the Super Bowl. Pretty significant details, if you ask me.

And this quote from the coach makes me laugh:

"In the game being played, we won the game. Give Blue Hills a lot of credit. They are a great football team, but we deserve better. The game got taken away from us," Cathedral coach Duane Sigsbury told the Globe. "If you're going to take a game away from a kid being excited because he just made the play of his life, shame on you."

Um, no, you didn't win the game being played.

 

[poindexter]

Whether he was thanking God or simply celebrating, who gives a **** what he was actually doing? Why the **** would anyone ever want to play sports if you can't celebrate a play, especially a damned scoring play?

To hell with these pinheaded administrators and anybody else who supports these horse**** zero-tolerance "rules." And I'll raise my fist in celebration and thanks to God as I watch them slide into the mother****ing abyss.

As long as the celebration rule remains as vague as it is, you're going to get stupid calls like this. Remember Washington-BYU a few years back? The UW qb scored a late touchdown and flipped the ball into the air. He was flagged for it and Washington ended up losing the game. (I don't recall exactly, but the PAT might have been moved back as a result and then missed or blocked).
It's not just the religion thing. If a player picks his nose after scoring a touchdown and a ref feels that it's excessive celebration or "drawing attention to himself" a flag will be thrown.

It was Jake Locker, and I think the missed PAT was from 35 yards.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

The way I understand the rules is that if the kid waited until he reached the end zone before raising his arm, the touchdown would have counted and the penalty would have been assessed on the conversion (or is it the kickoff), right?

 

[Starman]

Old white rules written by old white men.

INNN MYYYY DAYYYYY we never had any fun playing any sports, and neither should these ******* whippersnappers. Harrrumph.

 

[Starman]

These ****ing rules are such ****ing bull****. Refs have ALWAYS had the authority to penalize and/or eject players for blatant unsportsmanlike actions (such as waving the ball at an opponent as you score) but because a bunch of ****ing 68-year old Mr. Buzzcuts on the rules committee want to take the game back to the way it was when they played in 1953, we get **** like this.

BTW, if you ever get a chance to look at some game films from the 1950s, that great golden age when 90% of all major college players were nice clean-cut crew-cut sparkly-toothed white boys, it was VERY common to do stuff like hurl the ball into the end zone after scoring, hurl it over the goal posts, even booting it into the stands, etc etc.

It was only when black kids started doing it in the 60s/70s that all of a sudden the old fossil-crotches who write football rules books started getting upset about it.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

FWIW, the statement from the MIAA:

"STATEMENT REGARDING DIVISION IV-A FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP



Franklin, MA Dec. 7, 2011 - - In response to inquiries regarding an unsportsmanlike penalty called in the Division IV-A football game the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) issued the following statement:

The official involved reported he had determined a violation of NCAA Football Rules and Interpretations of Rule 9, Section 2 covering Unsportsmanlike Conduct Section A. He called the violation and assessed the penalty.

There is no provision in MIAA rules (or rules for any other sport at any other level) to overturn an official’s call after a game has been concluded. Once the final whistle is sounded the game is over. (Reference – MIAA Handbook Rule #17, Page 24) The Cathedral coach chose not to protest the call when it was made.

At the start of the season the MIAA and football officials took comprehensive measures to ensure that everyone understood this rule. In fact, the officials at this game reminded the captains and coaches that there would be zero tolerance for any unsportsmanlike actions. Likewise, this message was communicated in the pre-playoff game administrative meeting, as well as the MIAA’s Super Bowl Breakfast with coaches and captains.

Anyone may parse the language of rules and apply them as they see fit. Contest officials must familiarize themselves with the rules, both the letter and the sprit, and bring their judgment to bear in calling the game. Per the Points of Emphasis in the NCAA Rulebook: “When an official imposes a penalty or makes a decision he is simply doing his duty as he sees it. He is on the field to uphold the integrity of the game of football, and his decisions are final and conclusive and should be accepted by players and coaches.”

The MIAA Philosophy reflects that high school students who participate in educational athletics learn many things from that experience including lessons that will be helpful as they go forward in life. While we hope and wish they would all be from positive experiences, sometimes that is not the case.

Losing a game or having an official’s call go against you or your team are all part of sports. Just like athletes and coaches, officials try hard to do the best job possible. Athletes must learn to put these things behind them and move forward. During their lifetime they will experience similar situations where they feel “wronged” by a superior or authority figure and they must learn to deal with that situation.

Finally, we would hope that in peoples’ reaction to this situation they would consider the students and coaches at Blue Hills Regional Vocational Technical School who feel their properly won championship is being tarnished and discredited. "

 

[Shaggy]

Whether or not he was thanking God, that's a horse**** flag.

 

[Killick]

Absolutely. So, if that's taunting, who was being taunted? What's next?

Refs: "Hey son, don't you dare let me see you crack a smile after you score. That's taunting the other team."

 

[NightHawk112005]

Absolutely. So, if that's taunting, who was being taunted? What's next?

Refs: "Hey son, don't you dare let me see you crack a smile after you score. That's taunting the other team."

And won't result in the touchdown being removed, because of those three words: after you score. This rule doesn't have a thing to do with celebrating after you score. Once you cross the goal line, you could nail a cheerleader in the end zone and the touchdown still counts. The worst you would get is a 15-yard penalty on the kickoff. Hurling the ball in the stands, over the goalposts, kicking it into the stands, those are all okay as long as you do it after you score.

I'm totally on board with these rules, and I'm in my early 20s. Seriously, I've been waiting for someone to give me a reasoned argument on this and never get one. Exactly what is wrong with having to wait until you actually score to start celebrating?

 

[young-gun11]

Okay, so does that mean if I'm a kicker and I know my 42-yard boot is good before it goes through the uprights and I raise my hands in celebration, the FG doesn't count? Nearly every FG would be no good.

Or I throw a 60-yard TD pass and when the open guy catches it, I run down the field arms in air, it does not count?

Or this rule only applies to the person with the ball?

The back judge felt he HAD to make that call to keep his status as a finals official, I'll bet. In Alabama, the officials are selected by a committee. My guess is these guys felt it was necessary with all the "big wigs" watching.

That said, the call was still bull****. It isn't like he taunted anyone. He celebrated a TD that likely won his team the state title.