The big one is that if a player taunts the opposition on the way to scoring a TD that the TD will be negated and the penalty accessed from the spot of the foul. That should be a fun one to enforce! Also there will be a new rule to prohibit the placement of sayings area codes, bible verse references, etc in the eye black that some players wear. This is really ludicrous. Others. New Rules
Just another opportunity for the stripers to exercise their ego to influence a game that is obviously supposed to be about them.
I had the same thought Sid. And Kp, I also have that same thought. I have said many times when at a game in the Swamp that I thought SEC refs thought we came to a game to watch them. I think there's been some improvement over the years with SEC refs but these rules aren't going to help much. I think an excessive celebration penalty should be obvious and when they call one like they did against AJ Green of Georgia it's pitiful and probably cost them the game.
I am curious what will happen when the first TD negated for taunting is called. Maybe a riot from the crowd? :lol:
And there probably should be a riot. This "infraction" does not give a team a competitive advantage like holding or offsides and the bar should be very high on if it is serious enough to even be called. The Georgia game was a great example of stupid officiating.
Good one Kp... I think there should be a new rule instituted that penalizes a ref by lost pay and fines if he is deemed to have influenced a game's outcome by boneheaded or perhaps prejudiced calls. Of course we could have all of this B/S almost entirely eliminated if they would just slay the sacred cow of no penalties being reviewable.
I think it is unfair to extrapolate this nonsense onto the backs of the referees (or their "egos"). If the refs organization were pushing for the rule changes, fine...go ahead. Yes, this will give the fans another reason to dump all over the refs when they try to do the job that they are instructed and paid to do. I say leave the refs out of it unless; 1. They are making the rules, or: 2. They are not enforcing the rules as written
Problem is Stu they do this all the time with just an apology sometimes....and on rare occasion a suspension for the next game. But the damage has already been done at that point and a game's outcome influenced directly by their bad call. I think a replay official should be able to review called penalties either on his own in the last 5 minutes of a game or by coach's challenge.
I agree Stu. I sometimes have trouble with referee's calls. However I have always believed they do their best. Like I said above I long had a feeling that SEC refs called to much and should let the players just play more. For the most part I think they have done a better job of that and I really don't understand the NCAA implementing some of this stuff. Dennis Dodd doesn't care much for the new rules either. Dodd On New College Football Rules
I agree with what Dodds said here: The rest of the article was just a cheap shot at Miami, I don't know why he felt like he had to make the whole thing about them. It's not.
Stu, The problem is that this infraction does not give the offender an advantage, it is at the discretion of the referee on what constitutes the infraction, and it has been painfully inconsistantly called in its present state. Why raise the level of the penalty on something like this? Is there a compelling reason to beef up the consequences of celebration? To me it seems as if "taunting" is not as prevalent now as it was in the 90's. I guess I look for fewer reasons to call penalties instead of more.
I know I'm a minority of one here, but I like the rule re: taunting on the way to a TD. Call me old school, but as I see it the only sure way to prevent it is to carry a very big hammer. IMO using the argument about potential "misinterpretation" is weak. I'm betting any calls made will be cut and dried. We'll see over next season whether I'm right or wrong.
Not so Sid... I was in attendance at a UF game last year where the UF defender received a taunting call on a pretty weak action and then several plays later an opponent's defender was much more demonstrative after a tackle and received nothing.....therefore eliciting a very loud chorus of boos in the process. The game wasn't close but good thing it wasn't because the opponent was able to continue a stopped drive with the callon Florida instead of facing 4th and very long. The thing that irked the crowd so much was not the call on UF as much as it was the non-call on the opponent afterward.......the inconsistency in the application of the rules and there was no backstop.....no one to step in and say the ref was being inconsistent and maybe having an influence on the game's outcome. I really hate that part of college football and if you watched the Super Bowl you certainly didn't see the ticky tack......inconsistent crap we have to put up with in the college game like the above scenario I described..
What is excessive? We can't agree on it here. The same happens on the field. What one ref thinks is excessive is not necessarily what another one thinks. So the call goes one way, one Saturday then it is not called on another. At least with holding or offsides there is a standard. This rule is asking for an opinion and now they want to up the penalty attached to that opinion. They're just making it worse. No one gets a competitive advantage by "taunting". We already have unsportsmanlike conduct why not use that if it applies.
It's just a bad rule, I hate the current one as it is and it is so unevenly enforced. I've seen kids make a big play for a first down come up and give the first down sign and get penalized and not get penalized. It's just dumb. I do blame the coaches for some of the problems, they can't have emphasized enough what is going to cost the team, and I blame the refs for uneven enforcement and I blame the stupid kids who just have to do something they know is against the rules or push the envelope. But this is just terrible. As KP said there is no competitive advantage gained, so to take away the TD is just an awful call.
What made you guys think I am in favor of the rule? Dave, I'll try it again...if the rule is stupid, don't pass it...this thread (and my statement) isn't about good or bad calls by the refs...it's about the rule. kp...I understand the problem with the rule...this thread was quickly going into the "stupid refs" mode and they aren't writing the rule...probably aren't even in favor of it, though I don't know that. I think the rule is dumb and very difficult to fairly and consistently enforce...and will lead to a lot of problems. But only because we have hot dogs with no self-control playing and coaches who are unwilling to enforce reasonable levels of sportmanship. I'm kinda tired of the way some of these guys act on the field...after the most routine of plays.