Circum Spective

SELF-PROMOTING HOT DOGS
 ATHENS, Ga. (AP) -- The rule was put in place in the mid-1990s when then-Georgia athletic director Vince Dooley was head of the NCAA rules committee. Fourteen years later, the now-retired Dooley still believes it's a much-needed roadblock to some of the antics that go on in the NFL - even though he was at Saturday night's game cheering on the Bulldogs.

"A player such as T.O. has no place in college football," he said, referring to flamboyant receiver Terrell Owens, who took end zone celebrations to new levels. "It's a good rule for college football. I think it has really helped us from going down the path we were going. There's no telling what we would have today if we didn't have that rule."

The rule, which falls under the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, basically covers any actions that are directed at the fans, draw attention to an individual player or taunt an opponent.

"These guys are watching the pros. That's what they're imitating. And they're thinking, 'If the pros can do it and get away with it, they think it's cute and it draws attention to themselves, why shouldn't we be able to do it?'" the former coach said. "But I don't think that's what college football ought to be."

Well, guess what? ... I don't think that's what pro football ought to be either.
I rarely watch a professional football game any more for that very reason: because I can't stand to see all those guys drawing attention to themselves every time they do nothing more than make a tackle or catch a pass. Big deal. Isn't that your job? Isn't that why they pay you so much money? So you made a tackle. Get over yourself and realize that its a team game. There were ten other teammates involved in that play, you immature, self-centered punk.

It didn't bother me as much when I was playing, because I could just make a mental note of who was doing all the "hot-dogging" and then do my best to "punish" him for it later in the game by putting my helmet right in his ear hole at bone-jarring velocity. And I usually succeeded. But to just sit there and watch those muscle-headed idiots jump around the field and jerk off in front of 50,000 people (people who are dumb enough to get excited and cheer for them when they act that way) ... no thanks.