What's up, Holmes?

Super Bowl XLIII. Less than one minute remaining in the game. Ben Roethlisberger throws a 6 yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes to seal their 27-23 victory. Now, I don't know about you but if I just caught a super bowl winning touchdown I might be just a little bit excited.  After the play had ended he threw the ball up in the air, LeBron James style....and was then fined 10,000 dollars.  To my understanding the point of the celebration rule, and rules in general, are to keep the players safe. The league says that the rule is there because they don't want to cause a disagreement between players or get the other team riled up, which might cause a fight  or get players injured, but what's the point of penalizing someone when they do it after the play is over. On top of that, they need to bring it outside the confines of the game and penalize the players wallet? That doesn't make a lick o' sense. The rule isn't consistent and has too many flaws for it to be beneficial to the game. If they're going to continue with it, the league needs to take a good look at the pros and cons and finer details of the rule.

We don't need no penalization...

HEY. refs, leave them players alone.
I just really want to emphasize that there's no need for this flippin' rule. Let me ask you a question, what is the point of rules? to keep people safe and keep everything fair, right? well what does this rule keep from happening? fun.....excitement....spirit....it just doesn't contribute to making the game better so what's the point. It's not hurting anyone, and it's just in good fun. So I think the league needs to stop trippin' and sucking the fun out of everything. That's right commissioner....fun sucker.

Fairness of severness of celebration penalization

Yes, the title does rhyme. And I just wanted to bring this to attention, if a safety goes helmet to helmet on a defenseless wide receiver, knocking him out and sidelining him with a concussion, how many yards is his team penalized? 15 yards. If a player slam dunks a football on the uprights how many yards is he penalized? 15 yards. Notice a problem? With all penalization, the punishment should match the crime. If bruising a players brain results in 15 yards, should a break dance after a TD result in the same thing? If they are going to have such a rule in the game then they need to get rid of the flaws that are present. It needs to have a more clear cut definition and a much more just punishment.

No Fun League (NFL) going too far with celebration restrictions

Now I know this is a bit of a stretch but according to the rule it is legit, the rule says that if a player goes to the ground while celebrating it is a penalty. The problem with this is that it is not consistently enforced and honestly don't make much sense. When a players makes a play and goes down on one knee to thank God is that a penalty? Technically yes, but it's not called. But if a team organizes a high five in the endzone? bang, 15 yards. What's the matter with a player dropping to the ground, when it's perfectly fine for them to jump into the stands or dougie in the endzone. I'm not a fan of restricting celebrations in the first place, but if it is going to be done at least make it reasonable.

Facts about the 'social network' effect of emotion

  So I did some more research on the chain reaction of happiness. I found that when an individual becomes happy it increases a friend’s chances of happiness, a friend of that friend experiences a nearly 10 percent chance of increased happiness, and a friend of that friend has a 5.6 percent increased chance. Apparently the effect can last up to a year, so it would definitely last through a football game. I'm just saying that maybe by penalizing celebrations, you are penalizing happiness and that could have a negative effect on their performance.

Flip, Flop, Flippy to the Floppy

I know, I know I'm not sticking to my side and converting over to pro-celebration, but after reading a couple blogs about the psychological benefits of releasing emotions through celebrating I have changed my mind. The main reason for my switcharoo is because of a Harvard study that was done for over 20 years. It looked at the happiness of 5,000 people and they found that when one person is happy it can trigger a chain reaction among their friends and family, causing them to be happy. Now, if you apply this same idea to the excitement and pumped-ness of scoring a touchdown or making a big play, you can see how it would have a positive effect on a team. If a player trots into the end zone and does a little jig then it is possible that this could enhance the emotion of their team mates and help them perform better.

Switchin' it up

Now I know in the last couple posts I was all against the crazy celly's (and I still don't like them) but now I'm going to try and argue why they are good for the game and stuff.  Ok so here we go......

HEY THERE! so what's up with all the crack downs on celebrations, it seems like whenever an athlete gets work done they can't have any fun without having their celebration called inappropriate or fined. The NFL already penalizes a player for being to enthusiastic in their dances or even leaving their feet. But what's the big deal? Can't athletes just have some fun and be proud of their accomplishments? One of the best things about sports is the thrill of competition. When you win, it makes you feel great and sometimes you do goofy things. Why try to stop that natural emotion that makes sport so fun to play and so entertaining to watch? You don't need to answer all of these questions, I don't want you to think too hard, but it's a valid point. Sports competitions aren't all about winning and losing. They're also about having fun and celebrating your achievements. 

Ok, so I'm glad that's over, now I can go back to being my no fun, celebration-hating self.  But I want you to think about what I just said. Go ahead...ponder. 

Okay so I'll admit this one's funny...but listen to what the reporter says before the dance to understand how much he does this sort of thing

Chad Johnso-oops I mean Ochocinco

Chad Ochocinco is as bad as it gets. Yes, he is good, one might even say very good but unfortunately he knows this and isn't afraid to let other people know it. His ego is somewhere between the size of a large medicine ball and one of Saturn's moons, with the attitude comparable to that of a whiny Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. He has done more exuberant celebrations than anyone I can think of and it has a negative effect on his team. With his 'the world revolves around me' attitude and demand for attention he not only disregards the notion of sportsmanship and camaraderie, he stomps it into a self-centered mound of oatmeal. When he gets the ball you can see him prancing around gloating and rubbing it in opposing players faces, and when Chad doesn't get the ball he is not a happy camper and turns on his own team. Although his dances and celebrations may be entertaining, the encouragement of those types of personalities will only fuel other players to forget the true meaning of being on a team.

Mad Celebrations

Ello Guvna' celebrations are a part of the game and always have been, throughout the years more measures have been taken in order to cleanse the game of such acts.  For example, you can not leave your feet or use any sort of prop while gettin' jiggy wit it, or it is a  15 yard penalty. As you can probably infer, the players don't like this rule, but is it really such a bad idea? The excessive celebrations don't really add anything to the game and might even distract the players and fans from the actual playing of the game of football. Wouldn't we rather have the players focusing on catching a touchdown pass or trucking a safety into a permanent state of vegetation, than hiding a pen in the endzone or corrupting the minds of young children with promiscuous dance moves. The game has started to put too much focus on the celebrations  and these rules help to bring it back to the way it was before the big egos of the NFL.