I just finished reading an article in the Sacramento Business Journal written by Jennifer Meyers a devoted Washington Husky football fan. Jennifer was lamenting the loss by the Huskies to the ranked Brigham Young Football team. Down by 7 the Huskies mounted a sensational 72 yard drive and with two seconds left Sophomore quarterback Jake Locker dove 2 feet into the end zone for a touchdown and then rose to his feet and with unbridled joy jumped up and spiked the ball behind his back. The referee immediately called him for unsportsmanlike conduct based on rule 9 section 2 article 1 which says throwing the ball in the air is excessive celebration. The Huskies were penalized 15 yards which put them out of range for the two point conversion. The field goal was blocked and the Huskies lost. Oh well... I'm a Cal Bears fan so I am not to shook up about the loss but when I read the article I thought of only one person Terrell Owens.

No player in the history of the NFL has proven to a bigger cat's caboose than he has. Now I lived through the Hollywood Shuffle and the myriad hand jives, disco dances and multi-player hoochie-coochie dance but Terrell has always taken the award for over the top stupidity and self congratulation. Now I will admit that the Olympic Runner from the Bahama's is giving him a run for his money.

I saw a movie years ago called Vision Quest starring Matthew Modine. The premise is the unlikly farm kid is going to wrestle the State Champ for the finals of The State Championship in his division.Before the match a co-worker of Modine's tells a story of how he watched Pele kick a shot doing a back flip to win The World Soccer Title. The co-worker then talks about the boundless joy of watching Pele rip off his shirt and run around the stadium in ecstacy. He said he cried watching Pele and felt so proud to be a part of the human race.

I love to witness a much deserved celebration and I'm sure I might have choked up a little watching Jake Locker score but to compare a 2 second burst of the thrill of victory with the antics of the self aggrandizing, immature sharpie totting pin head Terrell Owens and then enacting rules to steal a moment of bonding between the skill of the player and the loyalty of the fan is just unsportsmanlike.