The NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, has banned the use of Twitter “hashtags” from the football field not a moment too soon. How tacky that would be. We are already in danger of having our traditional sporting events taken over by rampant commercialism. Spelling it out in the end zone smells of overkill.
Mississippi State University, down in Starkville, began using what are known as “hashtags” in their end zone last season. For those of us who are not twitter fans, hashtags are what they call these little blurbs that are preceded by a “#” that we see popping up everywhere. It’s called “Social Media” and it seems to be the latest craze for folks, both famous and common, to express themselves via the Internet.
When the hashtags began showing up at college spring training games, the powers that be at the NCAA decided to step in and put a stop to the practice. On the surface it did not sound like such a bad idea but then, think about showing up at the stadium for the big game and finding an ad in your end zone like #Wendy’sBigBurgerOnSale or some such nonsense.
Horrific as that might sound, that’s exactly the direction that this was taking before the NCAA shut it down. At least someone up there was paying attention.
There were a few other rule changes imposed by the commissioners’ office for next year. None quite as dramatic as the hashtag rule, but none the less, interesting in their own right.
- Numbers displayed on jerseys must have a distinct color from the jersey itself.
- Towels used on the sidelines must now all be solid white. No other color will be acceptable. Not only that, the towels must be between 4 x 12 and 6 x 12 inches yes, they sound serious about this.
- All eye shields, including glasses and goggles, must be made of clear material only. No colored shades on the playing field anymore.
Of course, the attention getter here is the hashtag rule. It also outlaws website URL’s out on the field. While this move might seem unnecessary, it is simply a way for the NCAA to maintain control over what goes on during their games in the future.
So, no advertizing on the field or in the end zones… or on the sidelines. The only allowable markings will be the NCAA Logo, the Conference Logo, the University Logo and the Team Name and Logos.
Three cheers for the NCAA!
