Celebrate This

Football Commissioner Roger Goodell has decided the NFL needs to lighten up, so he’s implementing new rules in keeping with the need to “deliver a more exciting game experience” for fans, as Goodell put it in an open letter this week.

Hear ye, hear ye, the poohbahs are “relaxing our rules on celebrations to allow players more room to have fun after the[y] make big plays.”  Back are such fan favorites as the football used as a prop; “celebrating on the ground” (as opposed to the air, apparently); and “group demonstrations,” provided they don’t lead to a stronger players’ association, I’ll bet.  I may be mistaken, but I think Walter Payton, who didn’t do any of the above, said a player after scoring a touchdown should act like he’d been there before and was going to be there again.  Well, it’s not Walter Payton’s NFL anymore.

On a related note, I was standing in line Saturday afternoon outside of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Huertley House, his 1902 masterpiece with the low, brooding eaves, and, as God is my witness, three people behind starting talking about which professional sport will collapse first.  Their consensus was the NFL.  Just thought you’d want to know, Commissioner.  Maybe there’s a dance to prevent it.