Monday, September 05, 2011



Players penalized for religious tribute to recently departed friend

We read:
"Touchdown celebrations are as much a part of high school football as wing-T formations and unexpected upsets. Yet, just as they do in the NFL and NCAA, some celebrations do occasionally cross the line into insult, rightfully earning excessive celebration penalties as a result.

That certainly didn't seem to be the case on Friday, when
two Louisville (Ohio) High football players celebrated what appeared to be a game-winning touchdown against Cleveland (Ohio) Walsh Jesuit High with just 1:15 remaining in the game with a testament to a late friend who had passed away just days before the season-opening game.

Unfortunately, referees felt differently and penalized Louisville for excessive celebration, setting the stage for a game-winning field goal for Walsh Jesuit as time ran out.

As reported by the Associated Press and a variety of Ohio sources, the "excessive celebration" came as Louisville wide receiver Alex Schooley and teammate Gavin Lovejoy met each other in the end zone after Schooley's late touchdown reception, which gave Louisville a 26-24 lead. Instinctively, the two Louisville players pointed at the sky, a motion intended to pay tribute to a close friend (whose name has not been released) who had died in an accident just days before.

Less than a minute-and-a-half of official time later, Walsh Jesuit was celebrating a come-from-behind, season-opening 27-26 win while Louisville was bemoaning a misinterpreted honor for a friend.

"[It was just] a simple gesture to heaven," Ann Miller, the grandmother of a Louisville player, told the AP.

Source



6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't understand - the piece is pretty short on detail and I couldn't watch the video.
What exactly was 'excessive' about the celebration and how does one 'instinctually' point heavenward?

Anonymous said...

With many devout Christains,anything they do well , they give thanks and the glory to G-D, so by instinct, they point upward, meaning all glory is to G-d.

Anonymous said...

So G-d gets all the credit but never any criticism for the down-side of existing on this perilous planet - so the double-act with Satan is invoked by a lot of credulous christophiles.

Anonymous said...

I just don't get it. Rules are established that specifically detail how a game should be played, and how the players should conduct themselves. The players decide to not follow the rules, and they are penalized for not following the rules. Seems pretty cut and dried to me.

President Not Sure said...

Anon 3:26: The rule is against excessive celebration, which means regular celebration is accepted. How does just pointing to the sky cross over from just celebration to "excessive" celebration?

Uno Hu said...

Anonymous commented on the rules being known and the violation being "pretty cut and dried". And he may be right. Correct or not, what the frustration expressed is about is the apparent double standard which penalizes Christians and overlooks the foibles of others. Really, does anybody think that a Muslim gesture under similar circumstances would have been penalized? Or that such a penalty, if levied, would not have been roundly criticized as prima facie evidence of "racism" or religous bigotry?

The honorable thing for the Cleveland Walsh Jesuit coach to have done was to have called time out, and instructed his team to ground the ball on the kick play. [Yes, I realize that would have cost them the game - but maintining ones honor is not always free. A Jesuit high school took advantage of this - shame on the coach.]