Monmouth’s Hawk’s Nest Showing That A Little Celebration Is A Good Thing

What is the difference between the antics of Monmouth’s Hawk’s Nest and that of a football player celebrating a touchdown?

In the grand scheme, not much.

The theatrical Monmouth bench, known for its choreographed response to favorable plays made by their teammates, is far from being unsportsmanlike or derogatory to the opposition. The reserves are not on the playing field and performing their routines as a taunt.

The players deserve credit not only for their creativity but also their gumption of trying such acts with the possibility of criticism and the NCAA deeming the behavior illegal.

ESPN’s Jay Bilas mentioned on Twitter that a source told him the NCAA is “currently discussing rewriting bench decorum rules to curtail celebrations of Monmouth bench.” NCAA Director of Media Coordination/Statistics David Worlock responded on Twitter the organization is not rewriting the rules but was reacting to a “request for a rules interpretation and determined Monmouth players aren’t interfering w/game. Just having fun, not harming anyone. Spontaneous reactions, not coming on court so all is OK.” Thank goodness the NCAA did not succumb to whoever requested a rules interpretation.

Arizona’s animated bench in the late 1980’s called the “Gumbies” became a phenomenon in Tucson and elsewhere because the reserves showed some character. They laughed, waved towels, jumped in the air, pumped their fists wildly, all within the rules of bench decorum. The Pac-10, however, reportedly encouraged refs to warn or penalized standing bench players for excessive celebrations after the “Gumbies” became vogue.

The NCAA has made bench decorum more of focus in the last 10 years, but that is more of concern over the behavior of head coaches. The governing body in 2007-08 deemed actions that can draw a technical included disrespectfully addressing an official or attempting to influence an official’s decision, using abusive or profane language, taunting an opponent, inciting undesirable crowd reactions and coming onto the court without permission of an official to attend to an injured player.

Monmouth’s zany Hawk’s Nest does not breach any of those decorum guidelines.

The NCAA has in place an anti-celebration rule in football that should be rescinded. As long as the action is not taunting or directly unsportsmanlike to another player or coach, officials should not penalize a player for expressing himself after making a substantial play. A quick dance in the end zone, a bow to the crowd after a sack and openly celebrating with teammates can all draw penalties in football. Those penalties can be momentum changers because of how they can affect field position.

All of this because a young athlete is letting off steam, reacting naturally after all the hours of practice and stress placed on him to deliver from his coaches. On top of that, football players more than most place their well-being on the line with every play.

Let them have their fun. Turn your head if you don’t like it.