No Fun League

Boooooooooooooooo!

It started with Chad Johnson's $5,000 fine for the Ocho Cinco related alteration of his jersey. (BTW, that stunt took a disturbing amount of effort. I mean, there was the matching of fabrics and fonts involved, velcro, Carson Palmer's appearance fee...) While I savored Chad Johnson's downfall for my own selfish purposes, I still thought it sucked that he was fined for the jersey alteration even though it was done before the game. And he did that cute little dance...

But this Sunday, they penalized the Dallas Cowboys, as a team, for Terrell Owen's touchdown celebration. C'mon! That was the best celebration of the season. It was clever. It was hilarious! It was Terrell showing some self awareness and a sense of humor, a sophisticated attack on the media and an entertaining endzone spectacle all in one. But the Cowboys were penalized for excessive celebration and taunting, resulting in a 15 yard celebration because Owens supposedly used the football as a prop. That was a garbage call. I wasn't even that clear on the new "prop" rule. I didn't know it included footballs. However, if they are going to be nitpicky about it, what about all the guys that spin the football when they score? Or spike the ball? Or otherwise celebrate with the ball in hand? And, by the way, can I vent about all those irritating and suddenly popular midfield celebrations on downs? You could stage a ballet with Rockettes and fireworks for all I care, but at least save it for the endzone.

Even if Terrell did violate the rules, they could have warned him or even fined him, as they did Chad Johnson. It was unfair to penalize the team for that.

To his credit, Terrell took responsibility for that and other gaffes during the game. He said, "I owe this one to the team. I let the team down." Don't let the Man hold you down, T. Sunday wouldn't be the same without the T.O. show.