Tuesday, September 04, 2007

GOOD THING SPORTS ISN'T ENTERTAINMENT!

That will cure Kansas Jayhawks football player Raimond Pendletonof any urge to ever return a punt for a touchdown again.



Mark Mangino lost it on a player for getting the team penalized in a game it won 52-7. So let's get this straight, Coach: It's OK for your school to schedule a cream-puff team from a smaller conference so you can pad your record with an easy win and increase the chance of getting into one of those Dec. 27 bowl games that are just kind of pathetic... but God forbid one of the players should do something that's a natural outgrowth of emotion after scoring a touchdown and some killjoy ref throws a penalty flag.

There's so many talking points that can be spun off "hotdogging." The one here is that yes, it's a bit of a dick move, but you can't take away a guy's right to pull a dick move.

(Via Rock Chalk Talk and Deadspin, where it has already been pointed out that it must be terrifying to be called a "hot dog" by someone of Mangino's rather rotund build. Can't people make fun of the dude without fat jokes?)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm not fond of excessive hot-dogging either, but in the grand scheme of things the "end zone leap" is pretty mild. I think what you saw here was a coach who was a little embarrassed by the opponent and the score, and who wanted to put on a show to demonstrate just what a stand-up, sportsmanlike guy he is. (Notwithstanding the fact that the head coach himself would have a significant say in putting together that cream puff schedule.)

That's college football, though -- with no exhibition games available, most ranked teams now schedule the football equivalent of the Washington Generals in order to create a couple of de facto pre-season contests. The lack of meaningful competition, and the lack of close games during the first half of the season, is one of the reasons why NCAA football isn't nearly as entertaining as it could be. (Long live Appalachian State!)