$11025 to take a poop?

For any who were mystified why during the Superbowl the Seahawks were penalized 15 yards after they pulled ahead 24 - 14 .... you answer is in how Doug Baldwin celebrated his 3 yard TD reception ... he pretended to pull down his pants and poop out a football.

For his trouble he was fined a odd amount of $11025. To me the amount is almost as weird as the celebration itself.

Not the first time I have seen something like this actually. For me it was back in 1994 at a World Cup match between Nigeria and Greece. It was a match I was actually in attendance for.

Just watch what happened.



What was interesting is the referee did nothing about it.

On the surface you may see something like this or Baldwin's "celebration" and say come on, what's the harm? Well on the surface you would be right ... but it is the 1000's of kids who see this and mimic it in their own town games.

Yes, it happened to me with a U-16 player lifting his leg to a corner flag after a goal he scored. His prize ... a caution.

Shame on the professional players who do such nonsense and the professional referees who do not stop it.

You want to celebrate in a different way ... take a look here at some really good ones.

For gridiron football, just look at this one ... note the location in Wembley Stadium.

See Rule #95: Never Lift Your Bike Over Your Head

My reference today is to the fantastic site Velominati - Keepers of the Cog. This site, among other things, has a set of "rules" that each cyclist must follow.

In a recent recertification for Massachusetts soccer referees, I made the analogy between this rule for cyclists and for referees.

In my analogy referees should never "lift their bike over their head" as a form of public celebration ... the results can be disastrous.

It is my opinion referees should not openly celebrate their decisions as (a) it is a form of hubris no one wants to see as fans are there for the players, not the referee, and (b) these celebrations can be misinterpreted, badly.

Right on cue we have an incident last Sunday between the Bills and Broncos, where line judge John Hussey and umpire Carl Paganelli "fist bumped" each other after a Denver touchdown (video here).

Well as you can imagine this came closer to breaking the internet than other recent events as fans went wild with conspiracy theories about how the officials were openly celebrating the Denver score. (My personal favorite comment was "ILLUMINATI CONFIRMED")

Mike Pereira has a good analysis explaining what had happened.



Even the NFL’s vice president of communications, Michael Signora, had to make a statement telling the Associated Press that the fist bump was “an acknowledgment of good mechanics between the two officials involved in making the call.”

So where does this leave us?

If you make a good decision, don't do a happy dance right there. After the match celebrate with your other referees and family taking pride that you made a good, tough call. To do otherwise invites speculation that no one needs.

It was a damn fine bit of officiating, no doubt about it. It was also (sadly) wasted on the vast majority who saw the reaction, not the action.

THIS is the type of strike we need!!!!!