Via The Nosebleeds:
Boston's Cathedral High School was robbed of a victory in the Division 4A Super Bowl this past weekend when their quarterback, Matthew Owens, was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, nullifying a potential game-winning touchdown in the final minutes of the game.
Owens, a senior at Cathedral, lifted his left arm for two strides as he raced across the 20-yard line during the final minutes of the Super Bowl at Bentley University, in the final minutes of what had been an undefeated season.
Cathedral would end up failing to score following the penalty, and rival Blue Hills Regional Technical School ended up taking home the trophy with a 16-14 win.
The raised hand cost Cathedral a perfect season and what would have been its first Super Bowl championship ever. According to the Boston Herald, the referee acted on a new Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association sportsmanship rule that bans any celebratory or taunting behavior by someone scoring a touchdown. This season, the association implemented the new taunting rule.
But the problem, in my opinion, is that anybody who watches, plays, or has played sports at any point in their life has to realize that emotions are a huge part of the game. Sports are, in essence, nothing without the emotions that come with them for players and fans alike.
I'm not saying that there aren't times when a celebratory act goes too far and deserves a taunting penalty, such as DeSean Jackson's ball flip or TO posing on the Dallas star, but this certainly wasn't one of those times.
In fact, considering the circumstances- rushing for a potential game-winning touchdown in the Super Bowl on his birthday (that's right, it was his BIRTHDAY)- Owens' celebration was, frankly, pretty subdued. As Owens' father told the Herald, the kid wasn’t showboating and just had a “normal human reaction that all football players do” as he sprinted towards the end zone.
Telling any sort of athlete that he/she can't remotely celebrate a big accomplishment, play, or victory is like telling someone who just won the lottery that they can't celebrate suddenly being rich. It's like dehumanizing people, it's not natural and it's ridiculous.
It's such a shame that what is likely this kid's, this team's and this school's biggest athletic accomplishment has been stolen from them by a referee with no common sense whatsoever.
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