Next thing you know, they'll outlaw the high five........

I realize I'm a little late to the party on this subject, but I meant to write about this sooner.

High school football season begins much earlier for some states, including Ohio, mostly because the "Friday Night Lights" will attract ESPN and/or Fox Sports Net. Too bad they never think of coming to upstate New York, but that's another story for another time. Anyway, on August 26, Walsh Jesuit defeated Louisville High on a last second field goal. That isn't at issue here, though. What is at issue is what happened before that game winning kick.

Louisville had just scored what they thought would've been a game winning touchdown pass, caught by Alex Schooley. Schooley and teammate Gavin Lovejoy met in the end zone and pointed up toward Heaven, a gesture that a lot of athletes make to thank God for granting them the ability to play the game. In this case, Schooley & Lovejoy were honoring a friend who'd passed away days before the game.

Out came the yellow flag. Louisville was cited for excessive celebration, a rule that has gotten out of control in college, and has led to the NFL being derided as the "No Fun League". Walsh Jesuit returned the ensuing kickoff all the way to the Louisville 29, and, less than 2 minutes of game time later, had won the game, 27-26.

When I first read this article two weeks ago, my first thought was to assign weasel ears to the referees, but they're just doing their jobs. The guidelines for excessive celebration cite players calling attention to themselves. Had the Louisville team come together to pay tribute as a team, not just two members of the team, the same thing would've happened. The tragedy was so recent, you'd think the game officials would've understood the meaning. You never read or hear about penalties for excessive celebrating in Section II.

Understandably, the fans were irate, feeling that their team got screwed seven ways to Sunday, just because the officials wouldn't relax the rules for this one case. Had the Louisville players met with the officials before the game to talk about it, maybe then things are different, but we don't know that for sure.

I've seen those penalties called in college games, and often at inopportune times. It's a judgment call that often lends itself to the officials being second-guessed and ripped by fans and media alike, but what can you do? You want them to call the game fairly and within the boundaries of the rulebook, but in cases like this, when you have players who want to honor a fallen friend, do you force them to the sideline for a private prayer?

Unfortunately, if you follow the letter of the law, according to the rulebook, you do. Sports are supposed to be fun as well as competitive. Just as unfortunate is how in cases like this, human emotion is slowly being outlawed on the field, and it shouldn't be.