The Big 12 Football media days were held recently and the biggest news coming out of the sessions was the “Horns Down” gesture will likely be penalized.
It must be quite a luxury for a major football conference to have nothing more serious to worry about than whether its players use a non-profane gesture to rally their fans, especially coming out of a pandemic. I’m not sure if this is a compliment to the Big 12, or a total embarrassment.
“Lemme put it this way, if you do a Horns Down to a Texas player as an opponent, that’s probably going to be a foul,” said Greg Burks, Big 12 coordinator of officials.
And, if a player turns to the crowd to throw the sign, it “probably” would not be a penalty, Burks said.
“Please all of you note, I said ‘probably,’” Burks added. “We have to consider intent and consider the situation. We’ll leave it to officials.”
This is all a part of the conference’s desire to crack down on taunting, but they have long ago solved the issue of excessive celebrations, and have left that up to the judgement of the referees.
Now, however, the conference has decided to specifically add “Horns Down” to the list of forbidden taunting activities.
“I promise you, we discuss this every year, because you discuss this every year,” Burks told media members.
“I hope in the future that somebody else’s symbols will come into play and not just the Horns.”
What?
You mean that right now you are singling out this particular gesture, but you really hope that someday other teams with make similar gestures toward their opponent that you’ll have to police at that time?
That makes Burks comments even more ridiculous. The Oklahoma-Texas rivalry is one of the biggest, best, and longest running in college football.
It drums up very intense emotions on both sides, and even from the casual fans. The inane gesture just adds to rallying cry of Sooner fans.
I’ve often thought it was a bit ironic that OU fans, here in Oklahoma, drive around with an upside-down longhorn logo on the back of their pickup trucks.
Whether it’s right side up or upside down, they’re still supporting and promoting the University of Texas Longhorns by purchasing their logo sticker and displaying it on their vehicle.
Big 12 officials want to do everything they can to prevent fights, which I understand, but the new ruling goes too far.
The gesture is harmless, when you consider everything else that is said and done on a football field, in the course of a game.
What’s next?
Penalizing a team because their fans are making the gesture, or kicking those fans out of the stadium. God forbid any Texas players get their feelings hurt.
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This sounds like a fun opportunity to visit historic Fenway Park, and cheer on the Rangers or Red Sox. For more information, visit the Rangers web site; www.mlb.com/rangers.