UNLV sadly finds spirit of rule trumped by letter of law

UNLV football coach Bobby Hauck spoke this week about the letter of the law, which means obeying the literal interpretation of a rule.

But it’s often not the intent of those who wrote it.

I can’t believe what we witnessed near the end of the UNLV-Hawaii game Saturday night and countless other times at the college and NFL level for years now is what those who penned celebratory penalties intended.

I can’t believe there are that many narrow-minded people deciding how best the game should be officiated.

“I guess by the letter of the law, that’s how it reads,” Hauck said. “But with 15 seconds left in a game and a team having just scored a touchdown to go ahead, I don’t know. ... If that’s me, I probably turn my back and get ready for the extra point if I’m (an official).”

So would anyone with an ounce of common sense.

So would anyone who understood the spirit of a rule is far different from its intention.

The Rebels lost 37-35 in one of the more controversial endings the college season has produced, when the white rabbit from “Alice in Wonderland” assumed the role of official timekeeper and Hawaii had a player return a kickoff 13 yards in two seconds to set up the game-winning score, which either means the rabbit was drunk and asleep on his pocket watch or the Rainbow Warriors have somehow disguised Usain Bolt on a double-dose of steroids and placed him on the roster.

That a phantom clock was at the least a questionable level of home cooking twice following UNLV’s last score is concerning, but perhaps even more egregious than the rabbit’s slow trigger finger was what occurred before the game’s final snaps.

The Rebels were flagged for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for excessive celebration, for two players on the bench running down the sideline with their helmets off and joining teammates following a go-ahead score with 15 seconds remaining and yet in no way taunting the opposition or carrying out some choreographed act that wasted time.

UNLV was then forced to kick off from its 10-yard line, an offering that Bolt on steroids advanced to the Rebels 42.

Joy has been inhaled from football like that plate of turkey and stuffing you will devour on Thursday. The N(o) F(un) L(eague) flags a player for kneeling in prayer to give thanks, and the NCAA does the same for kids reacting with innocent jubilation.

They ask that a game defined by passion and energy and anguish and thrills shrink to an inexpressive observance at the most exciting times. They ask players to do the impossible: to play at 110 mph each snap, engage in an aggressive, violent, ultra-competitive competition one second and become statues the next.

They are controlling human emotion at the most unreasonable times.

Fact: Even those who wrote the rule agree it’s open to interpretation, that it’s as much judgment call as pass interference, that a murky line exists between right and wrong when it comes to celebration.

Then why do they blow the call so often?

I understand the concern for safety and embrace any rule that discourages taunting that could lead to a fight and potential injury. I think far too many players make the moment about themselves and not the team with prolonged or excessive celebrating. I believe players who do a sack dance or mimic a home run swing after a tackle at any time, much less with their team trailing big, look the part of fools.

There is a place for the rule, and yet somewhere along the way, especially in college games, it has in this sense become far more about those throwing flags than the young men performing.

UNLV players Marcus Sullivan and George Naufahu ran down a sideline Saturday night in Hawaii to high-five and jump around with those teammates who had just produced a touchdown that gave the Rebels a lead with 15 seconds left. The two never stepped onto the field, never disrespected the game, never showed anyone up, never in any way taunted the opposition, never did anything that should have caused one penalty to be enforced, much less two.

They did what countless of Hawaii players later displayed when celebrating their team’s final touchdown, running onto the field without helmets when the game, despite showing no time left, wasn’t officially over until a conversion attempt took place. No flags were thrown then, but had they indeed assessed 15 yards against each Hawaii player out of place, the ball would have been spotted in Maui.

There is the letter of the law and the spirit of a rule, and officials have failed miserably time and again understanding the distinction.

It’s a joke, really.

Unless you lose a game because of it.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on “Gridlock,” ESPN 1100 and 100.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.