NCAA Hates McNeese

Posted on 8/21/25 at 1:55 pm

Posted by ragincajun03

Member since Nov 2007

28285 posts

Posted on 8/21/25 at 1:55 pm

quote:
Geaux Pokes is a no for the Pokes. Make that a no-no. The traditional hand sign made by McNeese State fans, players, coaches, and even up the ladder to President Wade Rousse, will be flagged this season by officials if done as a touchdown celebration on the field.

The NCAA, when it delivered its preseason commandments, said there will be no gestures that resemble any weapon. Officially, rule 9-2-1-a-1-c reads: “No mimed weapons — bow-and-arrow, finger guns, bazookas — in celebrations are allowed. A 15-yard penalty will be assessed to keep future celebrations clean.” It does lead to what will and will not be allowed in the future. The NCAA may want to expand its rules off the playing field as well, telling fans what they can and can’t do from their seats.

You have to wonder if McNeese will even be allowed to fire off its cannon when a touchdown is scored. A cannon would be a much more dangerous weapon than two fingers posed as a gun. Maybe this is why Rowdy doesn’t carry a gun. He is one of the few Cowboys in history to have been weaponless through the years. Next thing you know, the NCAA will be forcing all of its schools to rewrite their history books and call the Wild, Wild West the very mild West.

Nobody has been injured over the years by any McNeese player giving the gun sign with his fingers after scoring. Then again, touchdowns have been hard to come by over the past few seasons, so this may be a good thing.

This, of course, is the same NCAA that recently welcomed the world of gambling into its game with open arms. But hey, what’s a little money changing hands when you can see real damage done by fingers shooting to the sky.

With the transfer portal out of control, the NIL money skyrocketing, and sign-stealing getting little punishment, it’s good to see the NCAA knows what battles should be fought. We have to wonder what will and will not be allowed. The Cowboy at Oklahoma State has been known to toy with a weapon to two. Can he not shoot a fake celebration round from the field after his team scores? The Oklahoma Sooners have seen their schooner roll over the field out of control, and that can be considered a weapon.

And isn’t Bevo, the Texas Longhorn, himself a weapon?

In our own Southland Conference, the Lumberjack at Stephen F. Austin carries around an ax. This coming from a state that gave us a chainsaw massacre or two. Then there is Florida State. One of the best traditions in all of college sports is when Chief Osceola rides in on his horse Renegade and throws a flaming spear down at the 50-yard line. Clearly that’s a weapon. And what about the Tomahawk Chop?

It was just a few years back when McNeese had a defensive lineman named Isaiah Chambers who was pretty good. He had a signature move after every sack when he would play an air guitar in celebration. For two years he did it, and in one game toward the end of his senior season, he had a penalty called on him after a sack and a few strings.

A strange thing about that is the Southland had him in its highlight package doing that exact same move as part of a promotional video. I get the NCAA is trying to clean up the game’s image, but it doesn’t have to go over the top every time it does something. It doesn’t have to take the fun out of everything. Here’s an idea: get better officials who can control the games. Kids want to fight, suspend them. Better yet, fine them. They want to be paid like professionals, then treated like professionals.

Some things are apparent: you don’t want kids acting like they are killing people, but you don’t want to take all the fun out of the game either. I expect, at least in the stands, it will still be guns up, Cowboys fans.