I have no idea how much I'll need to express my football thoughts via blog this season, (AND I would like to clarify that I don't just blog about football... in theory), but to some degree yet to be seen... I AM BACK BABY!
This season I promise more entries, more full blown baffoony (albeit true) ramblings, more dot dot dots, more parenthesis, more inconsistent and un-checked grammar, and a lot more exclamation marks.
(That's right... marks... not points... although allegedly both work, but I prefer the classic. And you thought I was joking about the dot dot dots. And yes I'm aware of the irony that I am complaining about 'mark' vs 'point' while failing to use the word 'ellipsis')
So today I have something quick to throw out, and it is this that has reunited us on this fine evening.
It's about the Calvin Johnson touchdown that wasn't this weekend. You probably already know what happened, but if you don't... you should probably stop reading I guess. It won't make sense to you. For everyone else, here we go.
(jk... watch it here)
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For starters, I probably would've called it a touchdown if I were reviewing it... and I would've been wrong.
The rule is in place for a reason and too often we see guys catch touchdowns and drop it asap. Usually it's way too close for comfort including 3-4 times in the past 3 years that we've seen guys drop the ball in celebration of breakaway touchdowns BEFORE crossing the goal line (I don't remember the college player who did it this weekend, but after DeSean Jackson... SERIOUSLY!), or dropping the ball, (like Calvin) as soon as they catch leaving me wondering (even upon review) "did he really catch (and CONTROL, by definition) it? or just play it off well?"
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| Remember this? Seriously, one more yard DeSean! |
I'm sick of it and so is the league. Like Jay Cutler (who has an uncanny knack for looking like a hungover frat kid at all times... and often playing like one) said in the post game, the league comes in every pre-season and goes over the rules. They clarified that that play would be called that way and they've been cracking down on it for years.
Yet we still saw guys doing that all over the league on opening weekend.
The fact is Calvin wanted to dangle the ball out in one hand because someone decided it was cool, and it caused him to fail to hang on to the ball through the catch. He was showboating. That's the real issue that I came away with in this whole debacle. No showboating on that catch, a fundamental tucking away of the ball, and the entire football world isn't talking about the touchdown that wasn't.
(Now I want to clarify that I don't just condone showboating, I LOVE showboating! I'll get to that in a minute. Let's finish talking about THIS play first.)
Yes, the official had room to say that his "process of making the catch" had ended. The reality is that Calvin was still trying to hold the ball and come through on his "process of coming to the ground", but dangled the ball in one hand while rolling to the ground, instead of tucking it away. He was finishing getting spun to the ground, tried to get up, used the arm he was dangling the ball with to control himself on the ground so he could spin up in celebration, and because of the need to for that hand to strike the ground because of his getting spun to the ground, he UNINTENTIONALLY lost the ball.
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| Two hands... Good idea. |
That is, by definition, not a catch.
It's a tough and debatable call. I wouldn't have batted my eyes at calling it a catch. But the referee made the right call, and a fair call, for the good of the league and what they're trying to stop. They're trying to get guys to stop unnecessarily putting the officials in this position so that it will be more clear when a guy actually drops a ball, and when a guy was just trying to showboat because he HAD control.
So that's how I saw the play (after the thousands of reviews we've seen on every sports network the past couple days). Calvin should've taken the ball into his body like they taught us in Pop Warner. Instead he did the one handed, not tucking the ball away, dangling it like a loaf of bread, showboat.
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Which brings me back to me feelings on showboating.
I... love... showboating. I love when a guy dances his way to the end zone. I loved Billy "White Shoes" Johnson (2:30), the Ickey Shuffle, the Dirty Bird, everything Deion Sanders did. I love OchoCinco. I love trash talk. I love taunting. I loved the Ray Rice/Ed Reed/Sean Ellis/Bart Scott thing on Monday Night Football this week (which happens a couple times every season). I loved when Brett Favre and Warren Sapp used to go at each other throughout entire games (Yes kids, Favre used to not only be tolerable, he was actually a BLAST to watch and almost impossible to dislike. No seriously, I swear!) I love that going out of your way to dunk on a guy, rather than taking a simple lay-in, can irreversibly shift the balance of power in your conference by letting the former big dogs know that their one advantage (physicality) is now yours (Rondo against the Pistons). I love that some guys (Jordan (1:00 mark), Bird, Gary Payton, OchoCinco, Joe Namath, Ray Lewis, Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley, Favre in his day, etc... bonus Jordan - Barkley clip) absolutely thrive when the mental aspect of taunting and trash talking is brought into the game. I also love that some guys (think: LeBron?) absolutely cannot handle it when someone is threatening to not only beat them, but embarrass them.
Now don't get me wrong, I also feel there needs to be respect. And I feel the two can completely coexist.
A great example of this took place in the Gold Medal game for the US against Turkey in the FIBA World Championships on Sunday. We had the game in hand, under 2 mins to go. Turkey was experiencing a moment. They were receiving an on court standing ovation from the home crowd for a valiant effort throughout the tournament and in that final game. Turkey and their fans were admitting defeat to the US despite the remaining time on the clock, and basically bowing out gracefully.
The US began their next possession by dribbling out the clock and allowing the Turkey players to acknowledge their fans and countrymen, but then as the shot clock wound down, instead of chucking up a simple jump shot, the PG (sorry, not sure who, I want to say Russell Westbrook) tossed an alley-oop to Andre Iguodala, who jammed a hard two handed dunk and then bounced away.
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| There were some happy moments |
I saw the play developing and hoped they wouldn't go for the oop. I mean, I'm pretty sure the rest of the world already hates us enough as it is. We're the Yankees/Patriots/Heat/FillInTheBlank of world sports.
After it happened, I just hoped that was the last of it. To the credit of the US players, it was. They flirted with disrespect, yes, but instead stayed very respectful and classy in their blowout of Turkey. This was a perfect example of a situation that I often would say, "if you don't like it, stop it", but understanding the situation and having respect for your opponent would dictate that this was not the time. I'm glad the US players grasped that and kept it to a minimum.
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So yes, showboating has it's time and place in my mind, but sports are two things fundamentally.
1. They are fun.
2. They are entertaining.
Yeah, I like when guys exhibit both of those elements! I like to see that a guy is having fun! I also like for guys to try to entertain me since that's exactly what I'm tuning in for!
That being said, I think there are some unwritten rules.
Aaaaand maybe someday I'll sort them all out and post them. For now, there's just one...
Whatever you do, you BETTER be able to back it up.
Wanna slow down and show us the football? You better not get caught from behind. (Leon Lett)
Wanna dunk or shoot a pull up 3 when you could probably get a good look at a lay-up? You better score.
Wanna talk trash to the media? You better bring it on gameday.
Wanna point to the ground in front of you and demand that a corner stand there and try to guard you? You better be un-guardable. (OchoCinco)
And do you wanna dangle the ball in one hand instead of tucking it away when catching a game winning touchdown? Well then you better not let go of that dang ball until you're handing it to a kid in the stands...
Ideally while autographing that ball with the sharpie you had tucked in your sock.
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| Legend |
