I know we have some readers who don't keep up on K-State sports, and all we can say is "Why not?" But, if you happen to be one of them, or if you've just had your nose in a book instead of on ESPN, let us update you - our Wildcats got hosed in the final seconds of the Pinstripe Bowl. You can get the full story here, but in a nutshell - K-State scored a touchdown with 1:13 remaining on the clock. A two-point conversion would tie the game. Following the TD, the KSU player "offered a quick salute to the crowd and headed immediately toward the bench", and was penalized for "excessive celebration", moving the extra point attempt back fifteen yards, making it a much more difficult play which was, ultimately, unsuccessful.
Now, there's lots of controvery about whether or not the salute was a "delayed, excessive, prolonged or choreographed act by which a player attempts to focus attention on himself" as the NCAA rule reads. There's also a dispute surrounding a Syracuse player who flashed a gang sign following several of his touchdowns but was not similarly penalized. (For those of you whose knowledge of gang signs is equal with mine - which is zilch - the Urban Dictionary describes the Roc or Dynasty sign as "the gang sign popularized by jay-z and kanye to symbolize anything pertaining to the Roc. It is made by forming the general shape of a diamond, adjoining one's index finger and thumb to those of the other hand.") The aftermath of all this disputing includes a Facebook Salute group, multitudes of articles and YouTube videos, and discussion on the effectiveness of rules based entirely on the official's discretion.
It's obvious which side of the argument we favor and I'm not going to use the blog to initiate or continue debate. We'll let you read the article, watch the videos and make your own call. We'll even allow you to ignore the entire thing, which is likely to be the majority response, but I just had to share this fun TV moment. The Salute is such a hot topic, it even made it onto Live with Regis and Kelly.
Thanks for the support, Regis.
I think the NCAA needs to stop taking itself so seriously. The entire racket annoys me. College sports are just pro athletes not getting paid when it comes to the big 4 sports. So therefore why is the NCAA so shocked when the kids want to emulate the paid players they see on Sports Center? It sucks that a ref's interpretation of a rule influenced the outcome of the game. But the team still needs to play above the refs - and in college football that apparently means not taking time out to salute the fans.
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