The NCAA Will Now Take Away Touchdowns for Taunting

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[h1]The NCAA Will Now Take Away Touchdowns for Taunting [/h1][h2]NCAA conjures up new rules for taunting on touchdowns[/h2][h5]By JOSH ALPER [/h5][h6]Updated 12:30 PM PDT, Thu, Apr 15, 2010[/h6]
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Say this for the folks in charge of NCAA football: They don't much care about being popular. If they did, they'd probably take an extra second or two to stop and think about how the people who keep them in business feel about the decisions they make.

If they did that, they probably would have left Thursday's change to the rules about taunting on the drawing board and focused on ways to actually make the game more enjoyable. The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved a change to the way taunting penalties are assessed and they will now take away touchdowns if a player is deemed to be taunting before crossing the end zone.

That sound you don't hear is football fans turning to one another and saying "Thank the Lord, because I was worried that referees weren't going to have enough leeway to influence games with their own interpretations of the intentions of other human beings."

The problem with this rule, which goes into effect for the 2011 season, is that there is absolutely no guideline for how it gets enforced. Do you throw a flag if a running back raises his fist in triumph with no defenders in sight? Or is there going to be a zone of taunting that must be penetrated before a penalty occurs? What if a player dives into the end zone between a pair of defenders who may or may not be close enough to make a play? 

The answer will be different in every game because this rule turns every NCAA referee into Potter Stewart, the Supreme Court judge who famously said that pornography was hard to define but he knew it when he saw it. Sports rules aren't supposed to work that way outside of figure skating. 

The subjectivity inherent in applying this new standard is going to wind up affecting games, seasons and careers for reasons apparent only to the small group of old guys in suits who actually think the elation of 19-year-olds is a problem. 

Like we said, they don't care about being popular. It would be swell if they cared about football, though.

Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.
[h5]Copyright NBC Local Media [/h5][h6]First Published: Apr 15, 2010 11:53 AM PDT on NBC New York[/h6]
[/h1]   They actually passed it, terrible.
 
It's only if you start taunting before you score. So it'll apply to like 5% of touchdowns, mostly kickoff/punt returns. Sort of like Bush pointing to Urlacher in the playoffs.

Call me square but I don't really have a problem with this as long as it's enforced fairly.
 
That's stupid as hell.

1. If you score, you deserve a touchdown regardless of your sportsmanship.

2. These refs don't need any more power.
 
different refs will have different definitions of taunting, which will lead to problems

i understand some taunting can be od but it seems like they want the players to be robots
 
While I can understand the college not allowin celebrations it always annoys me that they have to drop the ball when they score. This new ruling is ridiculous though. Something tells me a ref is gonna make a judgement call at a terrible time next season.
 
Originally Posted by Cedric Ceballos 1995 Lakers

different refs will have different definitions of taunting, which will lead to problems

i understand some taunting can be od but it seems like they want the players to be robots
Refs have all sorts of leeway for every call, so I don't see why this is any different. Different refs have different definitions of everything.
Unsportsmanlike conduct: ref has leeway.

Holding: ref has leeway.

Pass interference: ref has leeway. 

Intentional grounding: ref has leeway. 
 
the hurricanes are rolling in their graves

this is just more of the "everybody gets a medal lets coddle children" mentality

seriously the NCAA is on crack. instead of giving us a playoff system in football they expanded the basketball tournament and guve refs this garbage rule. what are they thinking?
 
Originally Posted by Kiddin Like Jason

What will the penalty be for headbutting a referee after he takes that touchdown away?
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i dunno about that but i could see a kid going sprewell on a ref
 
Penalizing a team for taunting is %#!!*%@@ in the first place. These are grown men. Making it seem like they're in third grade hurting the opposing team's players feelings or some #%@%
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Originally Posted by CP1708

Miami would have NO touchdowns in the 80's. 


This is a God damn travesty. 
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 those would be some exciting games.
if you make a exciting play, you should be able to celebrate, a celebration not near any opposing players should be allowed, wether it is a touchdown, Interception, tackle or sack. 
 
What a stupid @#$ rule what the @#$# were they thinking passing this? Let the kids have some fun, it's a sport for Christ sake.
 
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