Ha, I can assure you if my struggling, but much beloved Hogs can pull of a win against Kentucky, there will be a similar scene in my living room. Summlin needs to loosen up a bti, not to say he should go all John L. though.
We’ve got a tip for Kevin Sumlin.
No, it has nothing to do with football. The Texas A&M coach has led his team to a surprising 4-1 start in 2012. He’s got the football side of things covered for the time being.
Instead, it’s a tip about recruiting — Coach, there’s nothing wrong with letting recruits see your players having fun and enjoying victories.
Following Saturday night’s come-from-behind 30-27 win at Ole Miss, the school’s own “12th Man TV” caught on camera the screaming and yelling and jumping around that often goes along with winning an SEC football game. The school then posted the video for all to see. You can see it, too, right here:
12th Man TV Exclusive: A&M Locker Room Celebration
Sumlin’s reaction to that video? He’s banning his school’s cameras from the Aggie locker room:
“There won’t be anymore cameras in the locker room. That’s not going to happen again. But you got to remember 20 minutes before that we were losing by 10 points… it’s OK to celebrate.”
Yes, it is OK to celebrate. Especially when you score two touchdowns in the final six minutes of the game to erase a 10-point lead and bank a road win over an SEC divisional rival.
So why the heck would Sumlin actually ban cameras?
If the idea is that Texas A&M should be above celebrating a win over Ole Miss, sorry, that doesn’t fly. Come-from-behind wins and last-second victories bring joy. Period.
We thought it was silly when Tennessee was taken to task for winning an overtime game with Vanderbilt last year:
We thought it was sillier when Vandy’s James Franklin became so upset by UT’s celebration that he backhanded his own program in an attempt to insult Tennessee:
James Franklin on Tennessee's locker room comments
And we think it’s silly now that A&M’s coach — if he’s seriously going to ban his own school’s camera from his locker room — doesn’t want fans and recruits to see his team enjoying a victory.
Hey, if an SEC team goes bonkers because it’s topped South Carolina State, Georgia State or Presbyterian, then that squad’s got issues. But to celebrate a late-game or comeback win over an SEC rival? There’s not a thing in the world wrong with that. Nada. Nothing.
Teenaged recruits like to see that kind of thing, too. What? You think they’d rather see a locker room filled with a bunch of stoic guys smoking pipes and greeting one another with congratulatory handshakes? Please.
So if Sumlin’s really planning to nip celebration videos in the bud, we think he needs to take the advice of one Sergeant Hulka and “Lighten up, Francis.”
Psyco – Lighten up Francis
