So it's almost here.  This is the year when the new "Excessive Celebration" rule goes into effect whereby a player who begins to celebrate prior to crossing the goal line, and subsequently does score, will 1. have the points removed from the board and 2. incur a 15-yard penalty from the point of the foul.

As I listen to people complain about this rule, I realize that everyone is focused on the player incurring the penalty.  However, we need to realize that this penalty is not about that player...it's about the players on the other team and their feelings.  The excessive celebration rule is merely further wussification of the sport.  It is the natural extension of my daughter's soccer league where everyone gets a trophy and no score is kept because in little kid soccer, there are no losers...only winners.  (Of course, we all know the kids keep score and they know who won and lost and the trophy at the end of the year ends up in the toy box because the kids know that it is merely an icon of mediocrity.)  (I of course apologize to anyone reading this who has a 5-year old or so who cherishes their soccer trophy as a symbol of excellence.)

Extending to the rediculous, those who think this rule is a smashing good idea would likely also think it grand to outlaw any pre-season rankings since those not selected as #1 would feel bad.  They would want 60 bowl games so everyone gets to go to a bowl.  The final BCS rankings would declare EVERYONE a WINNER!  These people are Syndrome from The Incredibles.  "When EVERYONE is special, then NO ONE is special."

But I digress.  My question is, in which conference will the first flag be thrown for this new rule?  I'm bettin' the kid's college fund that it'll be the SEC.  Might be the PAC12, but I'm thinking SEC.  Now, as long as it's not our team, how much fun will it be when a top-10 team loses a game due to this rule and we get to watch their fanbase lament for the rest of the year that if it hadn't been for that lousy call, they'd be playing for the national championship.