[laker20]

Man, I thought better of you... LOL - would have bet the farm that one of the most articulate and honorable posters I have seen on this board would have been first in line to pound a fist on the table demanding this ridiculous rule be modified to a more sensible stance.

I do however appreciate and agree with your thoughts on special circumstances with out of state officials. Here is a question that I would pose for you. Imagine your son or any player you value gets in one of these situations where they respond where maybe they shouldn't have. The ref catches the second part and tosses the player. Who do you want to have the authority to deal with that situation? A rule that auto suspends that kids for 2 games just like the kid who cursed a ref or punched a player in the chin? Or coaches, principals, and AD's who deal with that kid every day? If you think about it you will know the right answer is not the rule.

First, I appreciate your compliment.

I've thought about this a great deal, and the problem is you can't rely on all Coaches, Principals, or ADs to deal with this evenly from team to team. The fact that the players knows what the rule is, should be good enough to deter them from the action given the severity of the potential punishment. In fact, the punishment is so severe that it's easy to see that the intention is not to punish the player for the action, but to deter the player from the action.

I think the real looser in all of this is the officials who have to make these decisions in the heat of the moment as well. My biggest concern with the rule is that the severity of penalty is so great, that officials may begin to allow more to slide in fear of costing a player 20+% of their season.

To me, in the game of football, winning and loosing is secondary to sportsmanship, teamwork and discipline. A great deal of what's wrong in the US can be attributed to leniency in the punishments handed out for wrong doings. I'm glad that the KHSAA is setting a better example.

I expect our players to represent the school, their parents, and their teammates in a respectable manner. Every time Nick Britt scores a TD, he walks the ball of to the ref and jogs off the field. No dancing, no diving across the goal line backwards, no excessive celebration. I often find myself more impressed by the humbleness and sportsmanship he displays than the score itself.