Erroneous Celebration

I was watching a football game for a while earlier. I was actually working outside, but the tractor had developed a malfunction and I decided that it was more important to me that I eat something than fix it.

But anyway, I was watching the football game mostly because out of seventeen thousand channels on satellite TV, it was the least offensive thing. And they were playing, and the officials threw the occasional flag for "excessive celebration". And I think we as reasonable people can all agree that a seven-foot-six 850-pound lineman doing the Funky Chicken really is excessive.

But I notice there's a lot of other celebrating that goes on. Some guy comes off the field, downs a cup of Gatorade, and pumps his fist. "Yeah! I totally owned that beverage! Boo-yah!" Most of the time it seems to me that they're celebrating just doing their job. Excuse me, Mr. Defensive Tackle, but isn't it sort of your job to tackle the running back when he attempts to run up the middle? Why are you celebrating doing something that you're expected to do? Do you need more attention? Do you need a cookie? Other than paying you your generous salary, I'm not sure what more the world owes you for stopping the running back on a third-and-short.

But maybe I have it backwards. Maybe we should all celebrate doing our jobs. Maybe if I write a big chunk of code and it successfully compiles and links, I should jump up, windmill my arms, and shout "Oof! Oof! I pwned that do-while loop, oof, oof, who let the dogs out, oof oof. Oh yeah, look at that loop counter increment; I am THE MAN, I took that loop counter downtown and totally made it look like an unsigned short integer!"

Or maybe I just think "Well, that's pretty much what I get paid to do, and besides my ego is pretty secure and I don't require sustained pumping-up."

I finally had to admit to myself that I don't like watching basketball any more. The endless celebrating, taunting, pumping up, chest-bumping, huffing, puffing, and wall-to-wall tattoos finally got to me. I like playing basketball, and I like basketball the game, but I don't care for the NBA's apparent idolization of thuggery and nastiness (and I don't like how the only play they run any more is "clear out for the superstar"). And football isn't all that far behind. The only thing going in its favor is the fact that they wear more clothes and their tattoos aren't as visible.

And with that said, permit me to spin wildly in my chair and shout "Oh YEAH, I totally made this post my bitch! Boo-yah!"