I've been, more and more, making complaint against the players and managers (though recognizing when ejections will occur when the call is THAT egregious) in MLB in the rising number of ejections for misconduct on the field.
It appears that the NCAA is taking notice, and in ways people are not going to like.
Look for taunting and unsportsmanlike conduct to be Points of Emphasis in Omaha this year.
I have three college baseball incidents and a non-college soccer incident to show why there is going to have to be a demand (up to and including PSA's) to "SHUT UP AND PLAY THE GAME".
First: Last week, East Carolina star pitcher Josh Grosz was thrown out of an American Athletic Conference game and suspended from an elimination game later in the tournament for giving a hot dog to a player who just scored a home run in the game.
Second: Last night, Tyler Cerny of Indiana was tossed from the semifinal regional game and banned from the regional final today for bringing a "home run chain" onto the field.
And, in both cases, the fans are in an uproar.
The NCAA has seen fit to change the rules to explicitly ban the practice and throw players out who violate. It was a rule change made to the 2023-24 Baseball Rule Book.
Rule 5 Section 2(d) now reads:
d. After a home run, no offensive team member, other than the base coaches, shall touch the batter-runner before home plate has been touched. Team personnel, except for preceding base runners and the on-deck batter, shall not leave the warning track area in front of the dugout (a recommended minimum area of 15 feet) to congratulate the batter-runner and other base runners. After a home run, scoring play or at the end of an inning, teams shall not bring celebratory props onto the field of play. Any such props must remain in the dugout.
The underlined is a new rule this year for sportsmanship purposes. There has apparently still been enough of this that the umpires are now going straight to ejection.
The third baseball ejection getting people riled is also from a new addition Point of Emphasis this year: Unsportsmanlike Conduct. Clemson second baseman Cam Cannerela has been banned from today's elimination regional game against the University of Charlotte for unsportsmanlike conduct at the end of the 13th inning between Clemson and Tennessee.
It was not caught by any video, as it was between innings, but Cannerela was thrown out of the game by the second-base umpire after he said something to a Tennessee runner after a double play wiped out what would've been the winning run for the Volunteers. The second-base ump walked over, consulted with his crewmates, and tossed Cannerela under a completely new Rule 5 Section 17 in the rule book:
SECTION 17. Game personnel shall not use language that will, in any manner, refer to or reflect negatively upon opposing players, coaches, umpires or spectators. Any orchestrated activities by any player or dugout personnel designed to distract, intimidate or disconcert the opposing team or reflect poor sportsmanship shall not be allowed. This includes activities such as:
- Negative comments directed at an opponent, umpire or spectator.
- Bench jockeying.
- Bat flips near or toward an opponent or umpire.
- Use of props or signs directed at an opponent or umpiring decision.
And why would the NCAA see fit to make these Points of Emphasis?
Let's go to the brand new The Soccer Tournament (the $1M winner-take-all 7v7 soccer tournament), held this weekend in Cary, NC. During a group-phase match between a seven-man team from West Ham United and an amateur team from Dallas, owned and funded by a FIFA 23 video-game streamer, the game was stopped when Anton Ferdinand was given racial abuse on the pitch.
The amateur team from Dallas was expelled from the tournament.
At what point are we going to say "SHUT THE FUCK UP AND PLAY THE GAME" and damn well mean it, professional to Pop Warner/Little League?
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