Jim Gazzolo column: NCAA shoots down enjoyable

Jim Gazzolo column: NCAA shoots down enjoyable

Published 1:14 pm Thursday, August 21, 2025

Geaux Pokes is a no for the Pokes.

Make {that a} no-no.

The conventional hand signal made by McNeese State followers, gamers, coaches, and even up the ladder to President Wade Rousse, can be flagged this season by officers if achieved as a landing celebration on the sphere.

The NCAA, when it delivered its preseason commandments, stated there can 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 result in what is going to and won’t be allowed sooner or later. The NCAA could wish to develop its guidelines off the taking part in discipline as properly, telling followers what they will and may’t do from their seats.

You should marvel if McNeese will even be allowed to fireplace off its cannon when a landing is scored. A cannon can be a way more harmful weapon than two fingers posed as a gun.

Maybe this is the reason Rowdy doesn’t carry a gun. He is likely one of the few Cowboys in historical past to have been weaponless by way of the years.

Next factor you realize, the NCAA can be forcing all of its colleges to rewrite their historical past books and name the Wild, Wild West the very gentle West.

Nobody has been injured through the years by any McNeese participant giving the gun signal along with his fingers after scoring. Then once more, touchdowns have been exhausting to come back by over the previous few seasons, so this can be an excellent factor.

This, in fact, is similar NCAA that lately welcomed the world of playing into its sport with open arms. But hey, what’s slightly cash altering arms when you’ll be able to see actual harm achieved by fingers capturing to the sky.

With the switch portal uncontrolled, the NIL cash skyrocketing, and sign-stealing getting little punishment, it’s good to see the NCAA is aware of what battles must be fought.

We should marvel what is going to and won’t be allowed. The Cowboy at Oklahoma State has been identified to toy with a weapon to 2. Can he not shoot a pretend celebration spherical from the sphere after his group scores?

The Oklahoma Sooners have seen their schooner roll over the sphere uncontrolled, and that may be thought-about a weapon. And isn’t Bevo, the Texas Longhorn, himself a weapon?

In our personal Southland Conference, the Lumberjack at Stephen F. Austin carries round an ax. This coming from a state that gave us a chainsaw bloodbath or two.

Then there may be Florida State. One of one of the best traditions in all of faculty sports activities is when Chief Osceola rides in on his horse Renegade and throws a flaming spear down on the 50-yard line. Clearly that’s a weapon.

And what in regards to the Tomahawk Chop?

It was just some years again when McNeese had a defensive lineman named Isaiah Chambers who was fairly good. He had a signature transfer after each sack when he would play an air guitar in celebration.

For two years he did it, and in a single sport towards the top of his senior season, he had a penalty known as on him after a sack and some strings. An odd factor about that’s the Southland had him in its spotlight package deal doing that very same transfer as a part of a promotional video.

I get the NCAA is attempting to scrub up the sport’s picture, but it surely doesn’t should go excessive each time it does one thing. It doesn’t should take the enjoyable out of all the things.

Here’s an concept: get higher officers who can management the video games. Kids wish to battle, droop them. Better but, effective them. They wish to be paid like professionals, then handled like professionals.

Some issues are obvious: you don’t need children appearing like they’re killing folks, however you don’t wish to take all of the enjoyable out of the sport both.

I count on, at the least within the stands, it’ll nonetheless be weapons up, Cowboys followers.

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Jim Gazzolo is a contract author who covers McNeese State athletics for the American Press. Email him at jimgazzolo@yahoo.com