While relaxing this past Saturday in the comfort of my own home, I witnessed an injustice of human nature. A man was penalized for celebrating.

What I’m talking about is Ohio State receiver Demetrius Stanley being penalized for strutting and jumping into the arms of his teammate after a phenomenal touchdown catch that sealed a blowout victory for the Buckeyes.

The rule enforced upon Stanley was college football’s new unsportsmanlike conduct rule that is being heavily enforced by the men in the black and white stripes. If a player attracts attention to himself, taunts, teases, or so on, the team can be assessed a 15-yard penalty on the following kick-off.

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Now there is nothing wrong with shaking hands, patting butts, or congratulating your teammate after a touchdown, according to college football. As long as it’s a team celebration.

I remember the days when a player made a great play, put his arms in the air, and the crowd automatically went nuts. After all, isn’t the crowd half of what a college football game is about?

The crowd gets excited, the teams get excited, and the game suddenly turns into one of the greatest you’ve ever seen. There is nothing more exciting than hearing 90,000 fans screaming at the top of their lungs. That’s called team pride.

In a videotape released by the NCAA earlier this year, 45 plays were shown as examples of unsportsmanlike conduct. This is supposed to give the officials something to point at and justify their calls. The problem I have is this what exactly is unsportmanlike conduct? There is no definitive line to be crossed. It’s all at the discretion of the official. A matter of opinion, not fact.

In my opinion, if a receiver burns a cornerback, makes the catch that puts his team in position to win, and celebrates by dancing into the endzone, more power to him. He earned the right to dance, strut, jump or perform whatever nifty little celebration ritual he has conjured up.