Quote:
Originally Posted by BktBallRef
I'm sorry but that's just unacceptable. If this rule is going to work then the powers that be need to develop very specific guidelines as to what is allowed, what isn't, and stick to it.
Yes, coaches need to coach their players not to put themselves in a position where it can be called. But if I salute in one game and it's not called, it shouldn't be called if I salute in the next game. :
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Your expectations are just not realistic. Trying to develop a never ending list of specifically what will, and what will not, be tolerated is insane because of the endless creativity involved, and it's doubtful anyone would be able to remember the entire list. This "celebration nonsense", and the higher level of theatrics produced by it is a fairly new phenomenom that it's simply easier and more manageable to try and eliminate, rather than monitor and control.
As for "consistency", the goal is consistency with
YOUR reaction within YOUR game. Looking for consistency, to the gnat's eyelash level, on a wider scale is a total illusion, and won't be achievable until we attain widespread and consistent perfection (which is a long way off).
If a player has done something stupid in one game and gotten away with it, that does not give him license to continue being stupid. Simply put, what the player, his coach, his parents and his fans consider acceptable, doesn't matter a lick. What counts is what the individual official viewing the behavior considers acceptable, and unless you are absolutely sure what each field official is thinking, the safest, surest bet is to give the ball to the nearest official after a score, and retreat to the team box before celebrating.
That was a practice, that worked pretty well for the first 100+ years of football.