Traina Thoughts: Let NFL players celebrate; Gabrielle Union mocks Dwyane Wade; more
The best of the Internet, plus musings by SI.com writer, Jimmy Traina.
1. Who would ever think an NFL referee would get something right? While figuring out what’s a catch my be too difficult a task, and while making a decision using replay make take a half hour, when it comes to touchdown celebrations, even NFL refs get it. Scott Green, head of the NFL Referees Association,said the following on Sirius XM NFL Radio over the weekend:
“Nothing is worse than someone going 80 yards for a touchdown and they we’re trying to figure out does that warrant a flag for what he’s doing in the end zone. We don’t really enjoy that. If we could get to a point where it would simply be fines by the league, that would be great. The issue we’ll still have is that guys can get pretty creative out there. The question of whether it’s a foul or not a foul, hopefully we’ll get closer to more of a black-and-white situation.”
So, refs hate the celebration penalty, fans hate the celebration penalty and the players hate the celebration penalty. Yet, Roger Goodell insists on making the celebration penalty a priority every season. There were 30 excessive celebration penalties called during the 2016 season. There were 29 called the previous two seasons combined. Nice job being the celebration police, Roger.
Now, personally, I might be a little extreme because I want players to be able to use props, choreograph routines and do anything else they want. Give me Joe Horn whipping out a cell phone, give me a team recreating The People’s Elbow, give me Randy Moss mooning the crowd.
And before anyone emails me to say “think about the kids” and “think about sportsmanship,” don’t bother. Having fun does not equal bad sportsmanship. Being entertaining does not mean you’re a bad sport. Head hunting, late hits, dirty hits, chop blocks — those are legit problems. A few guys treating the end zone like a dance floor after scoring a touchdow or Ezekiel Elliott jumping into a giant Salvation Army bucket is completely harmless and does not translate to disrespect. It’s just good, clean fun. Hopefully Goodell listens to Green, but we’re not holding our breath.
2. We have a feeling Dwyane Wade is going to be extra careful when he pees from now on. After missing a dunk in an embarrassing fashion during Sunday’s win against the Celtics, the Bulls guard got roasted by his wife, of all people, on Twitter.
3. GQ has a new, lengthy feature out on Steph Curry. The highlight is the Warriors superstar talking about what he likes to do most in his spare time.
“But one of my favorite pastimes is organizing the garage. That's when I get in my zone. Just doing the shelves, putting shoeboxes here, moving athletic equipment over there, everything in its place. That's my zone. That's my arena.”
4. Craig Sager II had the best Easter-themed tweet yesterday.
5. Bryce Harper’s game-winning three-run home run against the Phillies on Sunday led to a spectacular photo.
6. It was a rough weekend for Major League Baseball pitchers.
7. Rob Gronkowski took a break from wrestling, partying, dancing and singing to drop some Deep Thoughts on us late Saturday night.
8. New York Daily News media writer Bob Raissmansays we should not believe that WFAN radio host Mike Francesa will walk away from the station on Dec. 15 as expected.
9. This exchange between MiLB.com and Minnesota Twins minor league pitcher Stephen Gonsalves is an example of when Twitter is wonderful.
10. THE DAILY ROCK: The man really does do it all. The Rock spent Easter chasing his daughter around the house while dressed as Pickachu.
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