Flag Planting
Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2024 8:14 pm
In recent years, thanks to some jackeen who planted his school's flag on the ohio st field after a football win, we have this trend of players wanting to plant a flag upon the expensive stadium turf of their rivals. This past week we saw it tried a few times, with ensuing shoving and fisticuffs and even, in the case of Ohio St and Michigan, pepper spray deployed (probably against the innocent, thanks to the wind and poor aim).
If this is not the stupidest thing... well, no sooner does one type the words than one thinks about goalposts being torn down and dragged through town, and cars being smashed and burned, and so on... the normal things kids do after some big games and have been doing for years. But this is a pretty stupid thing because it doesn't just involve stupid fans swarming the field to be dealt with by security while the teams head to the locker room - it involves two whole sets of football players, exhausted and angry, still in pads and with helmet, let loose to fight with a bunch of others thrown in the mix.
You would think the NCAA would do something about it but after the most recent high profile incident they fined Ohio St and Michigan 100k each, which is almost meaningless. Perhaps they will suspend a lot of players after investigating, which would be meaningful, but in the past they've allowed this to take place without affecting the post-season. In effect, they're encouraging the behavior by not doing anything about it, much like the one coach did just standing around, gawking, and then excusing his players later. It's hard not to feel like it's just one more nail in the coffin of civility - far from shaking hands after the games like we all learn to do in little league and the Y from day 1, now we're encouraging a fight and taunting. A regular person does this and the police are called, but of course in this place where we have nothing but police, it's find to simply send them off the field.
If this is not the stupidest thing... well, no sooner does one type the words than one thinks about goalposts being torn down and dragged through town, and cars being smashed and burned, and so on... the normal things kids do after some big games and have been doing for years. But this is a pretty stupid thing because it doesn't just involve stupid fans swarming the field to be dealt with by security while the teams head to the locker room - it involves two whole sets of football players, exhausted and angry, still in pads and with helmet, let loose to fight with a bunch of others thrown in the mix.
You would think the NCAA would do something about it but after the most recent high profile incident they fined Ohio St and Michigan 100k each, which is almost meaningless. Perhaps they will suspend a lot of players after investigating, which would be meaningful, but in the past they've allowed this to take place without affecting the post-season. In effect, they're encouraging the behavior by not doing anything about it, much like the one coach did just standing around, gawking, and then excusing his players later. It's hard not to feel like it's just one more nail in the coffin of civility - far from shaking hands after the games like we all learn to do in little league and the Y from day 1, now we're encouraging a fight and taunting. A regular person does this and the police are called, but of course in this place where we have nothing but police, it's find to simply send them off the field.