Posted on 12/07/2011 7:46:17 PM PST by GreaterSwiss
OSTON -- A Massachusetts high school lost a state championship game because a player raised his arm in triumph as he ran for what would have been a go-ahead touchdown, and Boston mayor Thomas Menino doesn't like it.
The penalty for the gesture by Cathedral High School quarterback Matthew Owens in Saturday's Division 4A Super Bowl led to the losing team wondering if the referee's decision could be challenged. The state association said Wednesday that it could not.
"I think sometimes these rules are written by frustrated athletes," Menino said from Cathedral, according to Wednesday's Boston Herald. "They never participated in a sport, and they don't know what it is to be excited. You play in a football game, you run for a touchdown, and you do something special."
Blue Hills Regional Technical School athletic director Ed Catabia told The Boston Globe on Sunday that the referee made "a great call, the right call."
"We try and play by the rules, and the rule is 'no celebrating,' " he said.
The referee was enforcing a sportsmanship rule that prohibits players from celebratory or taunting behavior while scoring a touchdown.
MIAA Statement
The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association has issued a statement, sent to multiple media outlets Wednesday afternoon, regarding Saturday's Boston Cathedral versus Blue Hills Regional Vocational Eastern Mass Division 4A Super Bowl.
The 18-year-old senior was racing for a score as time wound down in the game against Blue Hills. Video shows Owens briefly raising his left arm and then lowering it as he approaches the end zone. The penalty nullified the touchdown, and Cathedral lost the game 16-14.
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.go.com ...
Probably is one of the reasons the coaches wanted this particular act included in the rules.
Maybe, just maybe, they are trying to reestablish the sportsmanship that is fading in the game.
If sportsmanship is failing, it surely is because social ethics and morality themselves are failing. Just because a sport is a sport doesn’t mean that it can’t get very ungodly, and coaches can at best have limited influence. It’s a social problem.
I quit watching sports when "the rules" took over the actual game.
What kind of whiny little girly-man b*tches would take a "win" from a ref in this situation?
I would have gone over and spit in the ref's eye if I'd have been on the team that got the dirty win. I guess it shows you where the yutes of Merika are at these days...
Twisted! Thanks.
And thats what they are trying to do.
The kid is kind of like the Scott Norwood of his HS football team.
Okay, that was mean.
There are three issues in play here. The first is whether it’s a rule. The second is whether it’s a stupid rule. The third is whether rules should be adhered to.
I fear the efforts will be mostly in vain and will be more parallel to an over-legislated, over-lawyered society. How about penalizing the donnybrooks, not the on field celebrations? If Player A winning a touchdown waves (non menacingly) at opposing Player B, make them kiss, hug, or shake hands in the middle of the field or something, but don’t screw up the scoring system.
And a fourth issue would be if it should be abolished.
As I wrote before, score the touchdown first. He was heading untouched into the end zone. Once you score the touchdown, than do all the dancing and parading around you want. You will most likely be penalized, but the score counts. You will probably get a 15 yard penalty assessed from the kickoff line. The TD stands. He just had to score first. Its so simple. That would have left the opposing team with perhaps good yardage, but the outcome could have been better.
"Gentlemen, if you should score a touchdown at some point during the game, act as if you have been in the end zone many times before."
It is attributed to Coach Heisman of Georgia Tech, for whom the Heisman Trophy is named, but I do not know whether this attribution is historically accurate. Coach Heisman most certainly did not allow his players to embarrass themselves or the other team when playing, by his very direct order on several occasions.
If someone has a definitive source here, I should very much like to see it. Many thanks in advance!
LOL! What a tool! Betcha your players feel all "manly" about "winning" this game, Catabia.
I still think this is the game equivalent of overlegislating. Even the older rule about not dancing in the end zone.
“Zero tolerance is a Liberal idea...”
I agree. This kind of blind application of a rule, with no common sense or judgement allowed is typical Lib behavior. Zero tolerance rules are simply a means to let those in authority be excused from having to exercise good judgment. The idea is that they can’t be criticized if they were simply enforcing a zero tolerance rule. This is just a cheap cop-out. In my opinion, the ref should have let the “celebration” go, given it’s surrounding circumstances. Exercise sound judgment. Refs should not be the ones creating the outcome of important games. Let ‘em play.
IF HITLER TOLD YOU TO KILL YOUR GRANDMOTHER WOULD YOU DO IT? ... oh, probably.
- 1960's Esquire magazine title
You win the dumbest ping award. Ones a request, the other is a rule. Follow along next time.
I’m surprised they let the kids play football.
This is a case of a scumbag referee showing everybody who’s boss, who’s got the power.
Doing something taunting or bombastic is one thing; getting excited and raising your arm is another.
That referee is a genuine piece of sh!+.
In Massachusetts, I would expect to find these wannabe commissars everywhere.
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