NCAA takes the joy out of football

The SEC official who inadvertently helped an LSU comeback by flagging a Georgia player for excessive celebration is so sorry about the call that, according to his supervisor, “he’s beating himself up,” which is entirely unnecessary. Any number of Georgia fans would gladly oblige him.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not advocating violence. It’s an oath you’re required to take when writing about the Big 12, a kinder, gentler conference.

Example: If one of his Longhorns looks like he’s about to go T.O. in an end zone, Mack Brown has told his players to run down and hug the offender.

Under similar circumstances, Nick Saban would order his Alabama players to clothesline the guy. Woody Hayes would have done it himself.

Anyway, you can only hope all the attention on the penalty and the uncertainty it has incited — “Honestly,” Texas’ Sam Acho said, “I don’t know what the line is” — will lead to the recall of an anal retentive rule.

Then again, maybe not. Nothing happened when Washington’s quarterback was flagged last year for flipping the ball straight up after a touchdown against BYU. Backed up 15 yards on the extra point attempt, Washington’s kick was blocked and the Huskies lost, 28-27.

Of course, the BCS consequences were more crucial last week in Athens, where Georgia nearly ruined this week’s matchup between LSU and top-ranked Florida.

Even if you don’t believe in SEC conspiracy theories, Georgia quarterback Joe Cox put the situation in perspective when he said, “It must have been really bad if they throw it when you score a touchdown against the No. 4 team in the country with one minute left.”

Translation: The NCAA is trying to stamp out joy with its big clown feet.

This isn’t a question of Billy “White Shoes” Johnson rubber-legging it or T.O. pulling a Sharpie. Whether you liked those harmless acts or not, they would have been, in the parlance of the NCAA’s Rule 9-2, section D, guilty of a “delayed, excessive, prolonged or choreographed act by which a player (or players) attempts to focus attention upon himself (or themselves).”

Unless you count the fact that he crossed the goal line all by his lonesome, Georgia’s A.J. Green didn’t draw attention to himself. Neither did the LSU player who scored the winning touchdown, also flagged, and a pitiful attempt at a make-up call at that.

While trying to root out excessive ego, the NCAA is fighting a cultural war it can’t win. In the process, it’s whittling away at what makes its athletic endeavors great.

A college sports culture primer: The best thing about them is the emotion, whether it’s a century of tradition electrifying a Cotton Bowl split down the middle or the mood swings that turn a game on a dime. Pro athletes know it’s best to remain on an even keel. College athletes haven’t figured that out yet. They wear their emotions on their sleeves, and it’s often a pleasure to witness.

If I can see that from up in a press box, it seems an eagle-eyed official should be able to tell the difference between joy and a taunt or choreographed act on the field. If not, the NCAA should eliminate rules that put their officials in such tenuous positions.