# Celebrating negates touchdowns: is the "Miami Rule" fair? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 18, 2011, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrating-negates-touchdowns-is-the-miami-rule-fair/568051 "2011-01-18T06:29:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrating-negates-touchdowns-is-the-miami-rule-fair/568051/21 "2011-01-18T18:47:54Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > This is the NCAA, not the NFL. > [@](#): > > Hey now, don’t blame the NFL for what the NCAA is doing. :smack: Sorry. My opinion remains the same, however. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrating-negates-touchdowns-is-the-miami-rule-fair/568051/22 "2011-01-18T19:14:16Z")
I guess the NCAA wants the game to be played like they’re all emotionless robots. These are kids; well, young men at least, and for the vast majority of them it’s probably going to be the highlight of their lives. Within reasonable limits, let them have their fun. What’s next, the “mercy rule”? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrating-negates-touchdowns-is-the-miami-rule-fair/568051/23 "2011-01-18T19:32:40Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I guess the NCAA wants the game to be played like they’re all emotionless robots. [del]Well, they’re paid well enough to act emotionless.[/del] As scholar athletes, their conduct should be above reproach. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrating-negates-touchdowns-is-the-miami-rule-fair/568051/24 "2011-01-18T22:21:49Z")
The appropriate “penalty” for high-stepping before you cross the goal line is that a defensive player is able to catch up to you now that you’ve slowed down, is able to tackle you, and maybe even causes you to fumble. After you cross the goal line, celebration should be expected. It’s only a problem when it’s excessive, and the appropriate penalty for excessive celebration is that the fans think you’re a douche and choose not to buy your endorsed brand of shoes. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrating-negates-touchdowns-is-the-miami-rule-fair/568051/25 "2011-01-18T22:29:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The appropriate “penalty” for high-stepping before you cross the goal line is that a defensive player is able to catch up to you now that you’ve slowed down, is able to tackle you, and maybe even causes you to fumble. > > After you cross the goal line, celebration should be expected. It’s only a problem when it’s excessive, and the appropriate penalty for excessive celebration is that the fans think you’re a douche and choose not to buy your endorsed brand of shoes. Plus embarrassing baby pictures of the offending player get shown on the jumbo tron. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrating-negates-touchdowns-is-the-miami-rule-fair/568051/26 "2011-01-18T22:47:04Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > This is the NCAA, not the NFL. And it seems like a dumb rule, especially since the NCAA is having trouble finding refs who can exercise any common sense rules in applying the no-celebration rules it already has. The celebrations can be obnoxious, but they’re just not that big a deal. The ones after TDs tend to be worse than the ones during the score, and nobody ever does anything about the posturing and dancing after mundane tackles - and those are more annoying than the ones that come after a big play. Agreed. If the league is going to start penalizing acting like a douche, though, they should start with the stupid-ass pointing that happens every time a ball comes loose, with everyone who’s not in the scrum standing around with his arm in the air like a moron. When I’m King of Football, the first guy the ref sees doing that earns automatic possession for the other team. Same deal for the arm-waving on iffy catches, for that matter. First sign of that shit is an automatic ruling of a completion. The refs are perfectly capable of making the call without any help from the peanut gallery, and unlike the celebration penalties, these rules have the advantage of being almost entirely objective. Who’s with me? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrating-negates-touchdowns-is-the-miami-rule-fair/568051.md?page=1)