(image taken from Tebow’s Eye Black)
In addition to banning wedge blocking, the NCAA announced a pair of additional college football adjustments Thursday, with the following being forbidded by the governing body writes the Dallas Morning News’ Chuck Carlton :
*- No eye black messages. Accurately or not, this will be viewed as the Tim Tebow rule. Players will not be able to feature a favorite Bible verse or a shoutout to an area code or simply make a statement. Verdict: Is this really a problem?
* – New taunting penalties. Players who are flagged for taunting while scoring a touchdown will be penalized from the spot of the foul, beginning in 2011. In other words, the points will come off the scoreboard. Verdict: Expect inconsistency and controversy. Imagine a player diving into the end zone between defenders for a go-ahead score. Taunting or valid play? The difference will be either a touchdown or the ball at the 16. Big difference. Remember, the penalty call on Georgia’s A.J. Green after a touchdown against LSU last year?
Not to channel Phil Mushnick or anything, but the anti-eye black ruling seems somewhat discriminatory. There’s currently no edict preventing college footballers from visiting their campus tattoo parlor and having any number of editorial slogans placed prominently upon their persons. We’ve long known the NCAA is terribly dependent on network TV loot, but what sort of kick-back are they getting from the tattoo industry?