# You're losing the game...why the celebratory dance ? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 6, 2014, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053 "2014-01-06T19:34:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davida03801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@davida03801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davida03801)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/1 "2014-01-06T19:34:13Z")
So yesterday watching the Chargers –Bengals game. Late in the 4th period with just a few minutes left. The Chargers are winning by more than 2 scores. Really just waiting for the time to run out. The Chargers run a play, and the Bengals player that makes the stop goes into a short celebratory “Oh Yeah. I’m the Man” dance and prances around. Sooooo. Your team is losing by more than 2 touchdowns, you’re on the defense that let in the points, you’re not playing next weekend. Yet there was the celebratory dance at the end of the play. Can someone explain this to me? I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/2 "2014-01-06T19:47:35Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > Can someone explain this to me? I don’t get it. Football is an emotion filled game. It’s hard to just turn it off if your team is losing, and these guys may be playing for a contract next year. He did his job and made a play - let him have his moment. There’s no point going to excess, and that happens too often. If you’re down by 2 scores late without much hope don’t make it look like you just won the Super Bowl. But a short display isn’t that bad. It would be better if they didn’t do so when losing but it’s not offensive to me if done without over-celebrating. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/3 "2014-01-06T19:48:58Z")
Because many of them are very large children. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/4 "2014-01-06T19:50:02Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Because many of them are very large children. you sound upset were the jocks mean to you in school ☹ ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/5 "2014-01-06T19:51:52Z")
Two reasons I can think of: 1) still feels good to stuff a play, even if you can’t win, and 2) the defensive player just increased his own personal stats with a good tackle or sack. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/6 "2014-01-06T19:52:59Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > you sound upset > > were the jocks mean to you in school ☹ I don’t recall anyone being being particularly mean to me in high school. You sound like an jock, were you an asshole in high school? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/7 "2014-01-06T19:55:42Z")
Moved to The Game Room from MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/8 "2014-01-06T19:59:51Z")
Football players are often told to play hard regardless of the score, and sometimes to forget about the score. Perhaps he took this literally? 😃 Heck, even at the end of an NBA game when the score does determine the correct strategy, players sometimes forget… [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/rocket-science-misses-costly-shot-loss-houston-article-1.1566035](http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/rocket-science-misses-costly-shot-loss-houston-article-1.1566035) ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/9 "2014-01-06T21:04:43Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > you sound upset > > were the jocks mean to you in school ☹ **This is a warning.** You’ve been told about making posts like this before (which can be seen as “trolling”). Just to let you know, you’re walking on very thin ice here with how many warnings you have now. > [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > I don’t recall anyone being being particularly mean to me in high school. > > You sound like an jock, were you an asshole in high school? **This is not a warning, just a note** , don’t call other people names in this forum, use the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/10 "2014-01-06T21:15:01Z")
You have to play with full intensity, even if you’re losing or winning big, otherwise you put yourself and your teammates at risk. You half ass it for a while and you’re going to get blind sided or run over by someone who’s hard charging. Or, if you’re on offense, you miss a block and your QB gets hammered, or you give up a turn over and it’s chaos. Once you are fully committed to your play, it’s hard to turn off the (stupid) post-play celebration that has become part of your routine. As a fan, if my team is losing I want to see them moping around like they just lost their favorite puppy, but it’s not realistic. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/11 "2014-01-06T22:01:19Z")
In the long run, we all end up dead. Might as well dance a bit along the way. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/12 "2014-01-06T22:45:17Z")
I’ll see your “you’re losing the game” and raise with “it was only first or second down.” Try celebrating when you make a stop that gets the ball back to your offense, okay? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/13 "2014-01-06T23:27:35Z")
Emotions, high they run. Grandstanding, player may be. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/14 "2014-01-07T00:08:53Z")
Celebrating every play is becoming common in nearly every sport. Watch a beach volleyball match. High fives for every. single. fucking. point. Pretty soon baseball players will be jumping around and dancing every time the pitcher misses the strike zone. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/15 "2014-01-07T03:43:38Z")
The best game I played in college we got blown out by three touchdowns but I dominated their all conference defensive end for four quarters and graded out at a 98. Of course I was an offensive lineman and didn’t celebrate but it sucked in film on Sunday not being able to take pleasure just because everyone else sucked. I’m not big on celebrating in general and always preferred players to act like they’ve been there before and will be again but if you did something great I see no problem getting a chance to acknowledge it. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/16 "2014-01-07T05:00:40Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > Two reasons I can think of: 1) still feels good to stuff a play, even if you can’t win, and 2) the defensive player just increased his own personal stats with a good tackle or sack. Too many players are more concerned with their own personal stats than the good of the team. Even if that weren’t the case on this particular play (I didn’t see it and don’t which player was involved), and even though it may still feel good to make a great play during a losing effort, pro athletes ought to have enough situational awareness to avoid looking foolish with inappropriate celebrating. But then, I think celebratory dances are stupid to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/17 "2014-01-07T05:15:38Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Too many players are more concerned with their own personal stats than the good of the team. In the NFL, at least, teams can cut players at any time. Those personal stats will determine the signing bonus on a player’s next contract, which is the only guaranteed money in the game. If you look at football as a business, their stats _are_ more important than the good of the team. Celebrating in a losing game isn’t pretty, and I don’t want to excuse that. But it bugs me when fans expect players to show loyalty that a team won’t return. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/18 "2014-01-07T13:58:35Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Too many players are more concerned with their own personal stats than the good of the team. > [@Enginerd](#): > > Those personal stats will determine the signing bonus on a player’s next contract, which is the only guaranteed money in the game. If you look at football as a business, their stats _are_ more important than the good of the team. Indeed, my thought half the time is “well, he probably doesn’t care if the team wins this game or not, that sack just made him $50,000 in cash when he negotiates next year’s pay.” I’d certainly celebrate about that. Think of it like a regular office jockey. If you close the sales contract and make a $10k bonus, you might not care so much that the quarterly numbers are down - hey, you made your money. Even if the company fails, you now have that on your resume to go to a company that isn’t circling the toilet bowl. Or leverage that the current company needs you and should pay you more. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/19 "2014-01-07T14:15:17Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Emotions, high they run. Grandstanding, player may be. Tundra? Frozen? My home field this is. ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053/20 "2014-01-07T19:22:27Z")
How about the National Championship game last night? The Seminoles score a touchdown in the beginning of the 4th quarter to bring the score within 2 points. Before they go for 2 to tie the game, one of the offensive players makes taunting signs towards the Auburn sideline, gets a flag for taunting, and a 15 yard penalty. Now the Seminoles have to kick the extra point, because you’re not going for 2 from the 18 yard line. The worst part was that the player wasn’t even involved in the play. He didn’t touch the ball. I understand that you are happy. Celebrate with your teammates, and get off the field, or get lined up for 2. It is a good thing that he didn’t cost them the game, but I hope he learned something from it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-losing-the-game-why-the-celebratory-dance/678053.md?page=2)