Last week, the Big 12 Conference contributed to the “wussification” of America. Conference officials announced that University of Oklahoma players and coaches would be penalized for displaying an upside-down longhorn symbol during the Big 12 Championship game with Texas. Can we get any more patronizing as a society?

The game was won by OU, 39-27, and I’ll be honest, I didn’t get to watch it because I was out all day but listened to a good portion of the game on the radio.

Several years ago, college and pro football decided to penalize players for “taunting” or “excessive celebrations.” To some degree, that was warranted, however, depending on the officiating crew, the tolerance level and enforcement of the rule has been inconsistent.

Mean-spirited, profane or vulgar taunting shouldn’t be tolerated, but indicating “down with the Longhorns” with one’s fingers is a gesture that has been around for decades, and The University of Texas gets as much mileage out of that gesture as they do their own “Horns Up.” It certainly doesn’t fall under the category of vulgar or offensive.

When I was a kid playing Little League baseball, teams would chant, “Pitcher’s got a rubber arm.” That could be interpreted as a bit mean, but if you say it about every opposing pitcher, and if both teams are doing it, it’s hardly a personal attack toward one individual player. However, they’ve put a stop to that, and I’m okay with that. Those are young kids, and they need to be taught good sportsmanship. It’s very important for youngsters to learn the difference between being competitive while being a good sport, and just being down-right abusive or rude.

However, in regard to the Big 12 decision, we’re talking about grown boys, men, college athletes. I’m sure these guys have said, done, gestured, far worse on the football field and off, then just turning their fingers upside down to taunt their opponent, so why clamp down on this?

The conference decided to consider doing something about this after West Virginia players were flagged for throwing up the “Horns Down” gesture to the crowd, during their 42-41 victory over Texas earlier in the season.

Some say it’s further proof the Big 12 favors Texas. I’m not sure if that’s true, but if it is, and if that extends to the officiating crew being biased in their calls, then we have a far deeper problem, and one that can’t be fully explored here.

The bottom line is, there’s taunting and then there’s just simple gestures that rivals do to poke fun at their opponents. In this day of political correctness, I can’t think of any reason why the “Horns Down” would be deemed offensive. Is it mocking? Yes, but not motivated by race, religion, ethnicity, violence, or anything other than a love of one’s sports team.

There used to be a saying, “If you’re going to dish it out, you better learn to take it.”

Let’s stop trying to sterilize the experiences of our young people. Let them learn what it’s like to be mocked, that just may help them develop a tougher skin to face the real battles in life. If they learn at a young age to “take it,” then maybe as they get older, they won’t turn out to be whining adults.

If the Texas football players can dish it out, by flashing their “Horn Up,” then they should be able to take it when the opposition gestures “Horns Down.” Let’s stop turning out a bunch of wusses.

As the great NFL Films narrator once said, “football is a mirror of early America, reflecting toughness, courage and self-denial…the game is in perpetual motion, a swirl of flying bodies in constant collision. A two-and-a-half-hour carnival of color, sound and action. There’s glory in the legends of this hard-muscle life, and there’s poetry in each season made of sweat and strife.”

Some of the color of the game has apparently been lost on the Big 12 rulers, and that my friends, is a shame.