There has been lots of discussion and a little bit of controversy about the new taunting rule for college football in 2011. Mostly the new wide-sweeping changes have been greeted with enthusiasm, but there is still enough confusion to merit a full study by the NCAA before the new rule is implemented.
At first glance, it appeared that the new rule would take points off the board if a player were deemed to have broken the taunting rule. Technically it could still happen, but only if the taunting takes place before reaching the end zone. But that is true of all penalties as it is.
Mike McGinnis, former SEC ref and now an instant replay official, finally explained it to me.
“Think of it as a ‘spot of the foul,’” explained McGinnis. “If Buddy Martin is going toward the end zone and starts celebrating or taunting at the 3-yard line, then the ball comes back to the 3 and there’s no score.”
If, however, the player scores and celebrates exuberantly, the touchdown counts and the penalty is assessed on the ensuing kickoff.
The key to this, of course, is the judgment of the official, which is going to have a huge impact on the game. That was the case last year when Georgia receiver A.J. Green was penalized after a touchdown reception against LSU. Following the15-yard penalty on the kickoff, LSU used the excellent field position to score on a game-winning drive. Later, the SEC admitted Green was wrongly penalized.
Officials will always impact the game with their judgment, of course, but this just puts more power in their hands and more pressure on them. I’m dubious, but willing to be proven wrong.
Quick Jump Starts
1. That the Tim Tebow’s jersey led the NFL in sales for April isn’t all that surprising, but that the No. 2 best seller was Donovan McNabb’s Washington Redskins No. 5 jersey certainly was. Not at all shocking that Ben Roethlisberger’s No. 7 fell to No. 11 and I predict that it will continue to plummet.
2. I didn’t really know Ernie Harwell but did have the pleasure of meeting the legendary voice of the Tigers many years ago. Unless it is the master of baseball radio broadcasters, Vin Scully, I’ve never heard of anybody more admired and liked than Harwell, who died this week at 92. And I doubt even Scully’s body will lie in state at Dodger Stadium as did Ernie’s this week at Comerica Park. R.I.P. Ernie.
3. My friend Sanford, aka SanfordGator, makes a good point when he asked why the Orlando Sentinel’s Andrea Adelson and Jeremy Fowler keep referring to Steve Addazio as “interim head coach.” Addazio, by the way, is headed toward a full-time head coaching job next year – somewhere.
4. The “Other Brantley” is back in football. Scot Brantley Is coaching linebackers with his brother John at Trinity Catholic of Ocala this spring, but is undecided about whether he will be doing it this fall.
5. The Yankees may look great in May, but there is long-term concern about the pitching staff, especially about the health of Mariana Rivera, according to a guy who has covered the pinstripers since Abner Doubleday invented baseball – my pal Bill Madden. Bill’s new book on George Steinbrenner will be released next week.
Will Stars Fall in Alabama?
It’s no cakewalk for Alabama to the SEC title game or the BCS championship. There are two big obstacles before Florida arrives in Tuscaloosa on Oct. 2. Big-time dates this fall for the Crimson Tide – games that will determine their fate: Sept. 11, Penn State; Sept. 25, at Arkansas; Oct. 2, Florida; Oct. 9, at South Carolina; Nov. 6, at Louisiana State; Nov. 26, Auburn.
All winnable, but no gimmes.
Plus Nick Saban has to carry the burden of The Crown on his head. It’s a different kind of pressure – just ask Urban Meyer.
Remembering Robin
He was in the final days of his career then, but as a kid reporter at Florida Today, my first column ever at the brand new newspaper in Brevard County was on Robin Roberts of the Houston Astros. The former Phillies Whiz Kid was kind and gracious to the rookie. Roberts, a former USF baseball coach, died Thursday at age 83 after watching the Phillies and the Rays games.
Athletes gone bad Part I
We won’t pre-judge, but we do apologize in advance for the seediness of the subject. Thanks to Tiger Woods, Ben Roethlisberger, etc., this stuff has taken on a life of itself.
Now we learn that former New York Giants legend Lawrence Taylor was out on bail of $75,000 after being arrested and charged with third-degree rape and patronizing a prostitute in upstate New York. Taylor’s wife claims “setup.”
And then this:
The wife of Dwyane Wade filed a lawsuit in Chicago, not against her husband, but her husband’s alleged mistress, actress Gabrielle Union. According to the website sportsbybrooks.com. “In the court filing, Siohvaughn Wade alleged Union ‘engaged in sexual foreplay’ with Dwyane Wade in the presence of Wade’s 8-year-old and 2-year-old sons while she visited the NBA player’s home in Miami.”
Hoo boy, where do we go now to read about the normalcy of the real games and real players? Certainly not the modern sports page or web site. Sometimes I yearn to have lived in the old days of Grantland Rice – and wonder what it must have been like to read and write about the beauty, grace and dignity of sports.
Short Stuff
Good news about Kenny Kadji getting a medical redshirt for the 2009-10 season. He only played 45 total minutes in nine games (scored eight points). Kadji had back surgery similar to what Adrian Moss had before his senior season. Kadji, a 6-10, 250-pounder who will be a redshirt sophomore next season, is from Cameroon. …
Gator Country has learned that Scottie Wilbekin, a 6-2 guard who has been attending Billy Donovan’s camps since he was 6, has gotten the okay to reclassify to the recruiting class of 2010 by the NCAA. … Wilbekin took his SAT last Saturday and should sign with the Gators as soon as he gets a score back in a couple of weeks. … He’s an honors student at The Rock School in Gainesville, so passing the SAT is almost a foregone conclusion. …
I don’t see Tiger Woods winning at The Players, or anywhere anytime soon, because that hungry look in The Eye of the Tiger has been replaced by an almost blank stare. … TV ratings for recent Kentucky Derby were the highest since 1992. … Ice Box is skipping the Preakness, even more reason I like him to win in the longer Belmont.
And good morning …
… Steve Addazio. So you want a new name for Gators’ version of “The Wildcat”? How about “The Te-bone”, after the player who made it famous at Florida?