Student briefly raises arm running for touchdown, costs team state championship

[joeybee12]

Apparently this is as fucked up as the other zero tolerance polices schools have in place for other matters...Jebus H Christ.

BOSTON -- A Massachusetts high school lost a state championship game because a player raised his arm in triumph as he ran for what would have been a go-ahead touchdown, and Boston mayor Thomas Menino doesn't like it.

The penalty for the gesture by Cathedral High School quarterback Matthew Owens in Saturday's Division 4A Super Bowl led to the losing team wondering if the referee's decision could be challenged. The state association said Wednesday that it could not.

"I think sometimes these rules are written by frustrated athletes," Menino said from Cathedral, according to Wednesday's Boston Herald. "They never participated in a sport, and they don't know what it is to be excited. You play in a football game, you run for a touchdown, and you do something special."

Blue Hills Regional Technical School athletic director Ed Catabia told The Boston Globe on Sunday that the referee made "a great call, the right call."

http://espn.go.com/boston/story/_/id/7327275/celebration-penalty-td-costs-cathedral-high-school-team-title

[wilt the stilt]

1. as usual skip bayless

is a dick. Obviously he has never played a sport in his life.

[jakefrep]

2. That was taunting?

Christ, what a stupid call.

[Scurrilous]

3. He should claim he was gesturing toward deity. n/t

[Auggie]

4. I'd only have issue with that as a coach

Concentrate on ball possession until you score. I remember Jerry Rice fumbling a playoff touchdown doing a similar thing against The Vikings.

I agree -- the call is ridiculous.

[Upton]

5. You sure that wasn't against the Giants?

It was a playoff game in NY in '86 I believe, and early in the game Montana hit Rice, and with no one in front of him he dropped the ball while on his way to the end zone..Giants ended up winning by some 40 points, but I've always wondered how things may have been different had Rice scored..

[Auggie]

6. You're right. From wiki:

On the 49ers' first drive of the game, wide receiver Jerry Rice caught a very long pass from quarterback Joe Montana and appeared to be on his way for a 50-yard touchdown; however, the future hall of famer inexplicably fumbled the football into the Giants end zone without being touched. (John Madden said during the telecast that the artificial turf at Giants Stadium may have been a factor.)

The Giants recovered the football for a touchback. New York then drove 80 yards to score on Simms' 24-yard touchdown to tight end Mark Bavaro. Simms would throw three more touchdowns: a 15-yarder to wide receiver Bobby Johnson, a 28-yarder to wide receiver Phil McConkey, and a 29-yarder to tight end Zeke Mowatt. Running back Joe Morris rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns: a 45-yarder and a 2-yarder. Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor also scored a touchdown on a 34-yard interception return.

During that same play, Montana was knocked out of the game with a concussion after a very hard hit by Giant nose tackle Jim Burt.

After the game when 49er head coach Bill Walsh was asked if Jerry Rice's fumble made a difference in the outcome of the game, Walsh replied sarcastically, "Yeah, did. If it weren't for the fumble, the final score would have been 49 to 10."

:)

Thanks Upton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986–87_NFL_playoffs

[Upton]

8. I'd forgotten that quote by Walsh..

and he was probably right. The Giants had a great defense that year. The momentum swing was real though and it had to place a little doubt in some players. It was like what happened in the '92 NFC Championship against Dallas. Remember, real early in the game, Young hit Rice with a long TD pass that was called back because of a holding call. Right then, you just got the feeling that it wasn't going to be the 49ers day..

[HuckleB]

7. Come on, ref. He had a kink in his shoulder.

Sheesh.

[mojowork_n]

9. And I thought Calvin Johnson's lost touchdown was the worst.

To do that to high school kids goes way, way over the line.

[ProfessorGAC]

10. Talk About A Lack Of Perspective

I mean the ref. If he had turned to wave goodbye to a chasing player, ok. If he would have pointed at the other team's bench, ok.

Raising his arm in victory? A 17 year old kid who is scoring the champsionship winning touchdown gets a UC penalty for that?

The ref is a jerk. They are there to uphold the intent of the rule, not the letter of the law.
GAC