Posted on 12/02/2010 8:27:43 AM PST by wmfights
As soon Ronnie Hastie scored a touchdown for Tumwater High School in Washington state, he dropped to one knee and pointed to the heavens. But as soon as he stood up, the referee threw a flag for “unsportsmanlike conduct” for drawing attention to himself.
Hastie explained that pointing up was a gesture to God, he said to KOMO news. “I do that to give glory to my Heavenly Father, Jesus, something I actually feel is like He gives me the strength, He’s the one that gives me these abilities in the first place.”
The high school running back said he was very confused for the penalty call on Monday because he wasn’t drawing attention to himself but rather to God. The gesture is a tradition he has done after every touchdown. No one has ever called him out for it so he was surprised by the referee’s call during the semi-final playoff game against East Valley.
The player’s father, a football coach, said faith and football stir up strong emotions, according to KOMO news. "[Y]ou are going to get a lot of opinions about that type of gesture," he said of his son's pointing up.
Tumwater's head coach, Sid Otton, believes the referee probably got the call right because according to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association's rules, players cannot draw attention to themselves.
Celebrations are only allowed at the professional level but prohibited at the high school and college level.
Hastie said he will still point up but from the sideline.
God is everywhere.
Fr Guido Sarducci, 5 Minute University)
If we are trying to teach our children that rules are rules, then we have to support the Ref’s decision.
And no, there should not be an exception for thanking God.
I see too much razzle-dazzle BS on the sidelines from Pop warner to College sports (I make my living photographing sports). If you want it to stop, then stop it.
Its easy to take a knee on the sidelines, or do it while running back to the sidelines.
....next time he should point at the ref.........and smile.
That's what Pharisees did.
Scoring should be disallowed altogether since it draws attention to the player making the touchdown.
I saw the news report and it is an extremely brief kneel down kinda’ the same as if he got his bell rung or catching his breath. The skyward point was also extremely brief almost like he was doing real quick “point out” to a friend because he noticed something on the ceiling (this was a domed stadium).
As with any law or rule, it’s all in the interpretation and I’ll bet if you got 100 officials together, 95 would just ignore this brief interlude....again interpretation. There was not any “hot dogging” about this incident. Most of the folks at the stadium probably didn’t even notice it was so brief.
Apparently this kid has been doing this all season with no penalty (must have been the other 95 officials doing the other games....lol).
With all that said, I really think this official was waiting for the opportunity to throw that flag and if that was his interpretation of the rule, I have no problem with him feeling the need to enforce such a blatant display of “taunting/hotdogging” /sarc off
The player’s father, a football coach, said faith and football stir up strong emotions, according to KOMO news. "[Y]ou are going to get a lot of opinions about that type of gesture," he said of his son's pointing up.I have no trouble with this kid pointing up. My daughter, a swimmer, had someone on her team that would always cross himself on the blocks. I thought it wonderful. And I agree with the above quote. My husband writes about the connection between faith and sports, and some of the ugliest e-mails we have received have to do with this combination. He wrote a book on the subject called Champions of Faith a while back; we were excited to find out years ago that it currently sits on the shelves of the Vatican's library. His latest article on the subject: The"alma" (still) matters ...
I’ll bet he wouldn’t have been flagged if he held up a Koran.
Agreed
It also shines a light on the inept defense.
After all, we need to keep their fragile self-esteem intact. Everyone gets a trophy!!!
Matthew 6:
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
If you disagree with my post I suggest you take it up with Jesus Christ.
I just quoted him. Arguably, the quote doesn’t apply to this case, but I thought what He had to say on the basic topic of exhibitionistic prayer was relevant.
Next time, all the players on the team which scored need to go down on one knee - all at the same time.
If this had been a jihadi and he had whipped out a prayer rug and bowed his down 5 times toward the East, they would have praised him and given him an award.
As a long time HS ref, I would flag him every time.
So you think it is the same thing? Really? I mean it wasn’t like he held up a Bible. Sometimes I wonder about you folks.
Mark Bavarro, NY Giants and Piladelphia Eagles great tight end used to express his thanks in prayer gestures as well. Forgotten great in many ways.
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