Funny, this is the only game I watched any of this year. And I tuned in just prior to the taunting play. Maybe I will watch part of a game next year. Or not.
It's probably too late to get your kids into ultimate frisbee, right? While my own athletic profile (good at running in circles for hours) is not a good match for ultimate (or anything besides distance running), I've come to appreciate how ultimate culture takes sportsmanship very seriously. At my eldest son's high school games, the players call their own fouls via well-established policies, each team does a "Good game, [School X]!" cheer afterward, etc. It's a milieu in which taunting would be appropriately called out as unnecessary and rude.
In addition to taunting, I'd really like to see the whole posturing towards the refs go away. Esp in the NBA. I mean, if you legitimately think you got fouled, and there was no call, sure, gripe about it. Heat of the moment and so forth. But please don't be whining/scowling/shouting/gesturing at the refs after every freaking shot.
I definitely thought it was weird when they declared that spinning the ball was inherently taunting, even when it obviously was not directed at a particular opponent. But at the same time, taunting is SUCH an unpredictably enforced penalty that I see the appeal of having a list of things you definitely cannot do. But overall, I totally agree with your take, and I think that at ANY level, trying to make your opponent feel bad only makes the sport worse for anyone. And when you look at the "players should be allowed to taunt" arguments from fans, they all just come across as SO selfish, basically "I pay your salary, I'm entitled" type crap.
I try to thread the needle: Celebrations: Good. Taunting: Bad.
Funny, this is the only game I watched any of this year. And I tuned in just prior to the taunting play. Maybe I will watch part of a game next year. Or not.
It's probably too late to get your kids into ultimate frisbee, right? While my own athletic profile (good at running in circles for hours) is not a good match for ultimate (or anything besides distance running), I've come to appreciate how ultimate culture takes sportsmanship very seriously. At my eldest son's high school games, the players call their own fouls via well-established policies, each team does a "Good game, [School X]!" cheer afterward, etc. It's a milieu in which taunting would be appropriately called out as unnecessary and rude.
In addition to taunting, I'd really like to see the whole posturing towards the refs go away. Esp in the NBA. I mean, if you legitimately think you got fouled, and there was no call, sure, gripe about it. Heat of the moment and so forth. But please don't be whining/scowling/shouting/gesturing at the refs after every freaking shot.
I definitely thought it was weird when they declared that spinning the ball was inherently taunting, even when it obviously was not directed at a particular opponent. But at the same time, taunting is SUCH an unpredictably enforced penalty that I see the appeal of having a list of things you definitely cannot do. But overall, I totally agree with your take, and I think that at ANY level, trying to make your opponent feel bad only makes the sport worse for anyone. And when you look at the "players should be allowed to taunt" arguments from fans, they all just come across as SO selfish, basically "I pay your salary, I'm entitled" type crap.