Cause for Excessive Celebration

On Dec. 30, 2010 a young man on a football field celebrated his touchdown reception by saluting the fans who had come from Kansas to Yankee Stadium to watch their team play. A referee thought he was “calling attention to himself” and threw the flag. A 15 yard penalty was assessed and his team lost the bowl game.

On Nov. 26, another young football player, usually quite accurate, missed two field goals during an important game. His team lost and as a result, the NY Times reported, he cost his school and conference several million dollars.

We make these young people pawns in the multi-million dollar business called college football. Then we penalize them for being a little too excited when they are successful. What would have happened to this kid if he’d dropped that pass? He’d have been criticized as the reason the game was lost. But we found a way to make him a loser in spite of his successful catch. Something is not quite right here. Can we put a few things into perspective here?

Between 1970 and 2009, US high school graduation rates dropped from 84% to 69%. That means over 30% of the children in our country are entering adulthood without having fulfilled the most basic educational prerequisites for success in the work world. Most experts agree that a college education is essential for both economic and social success in the 21st century, adding between $18,000 – 26,000 to the annual median income for men and women over 24 years of age.

Do you suppose we could get a little less focused on excessive celebration on the football field and a little more focused on getting more kids through high school and college? How about if we took half the money and effort expended on equipping college football programs for a national championship and redeployed it to reshape our educational system to prepare young people with the intellectual and social skills they need to be become productive citizens?

Now that would be a great reason for doing a victory dance in the end zone.