Lots of people are yapping about sportsmanship these days. Tampa Bay Buccaneer Keyshawn Johnson got football fans in a flutter when he started to trash talk his former coach and teammates. 49ers receiver Terrell Owens really sent sports fans into a tizzy when he ran to the 50-yard line in Texas Stadium after scoring a touchdown and danced around on Dallas’ star logo. Both these guys have been raked over the coals for "crossing the line" and I think it’s time for sports fans and the NFL to quit their whimpering. I like it when athletes dance around, mock other players and talk smack. It’s part of the game. Or it was before the league decided 7’2", 350 pound guys couldn’t handle it. I call it the wussification of football. The NFL’s new rule says if a player "strikes a pose," like Owens did in Dallas, it will be considered taunting. That’s a 15-yard penalty and the player gets fined. That’s a bunch of hooey. If baseball had that rule, Babe Ruth would have been fined when he raised his arm and called his home run in game three of the 1932 World Series. He’s beloved for that, but isn’t that taunting the other team?

These guys aren’t CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, they are big, strong brutes paid to run, catch, kick and smash into each other. How do you do that without some intimidation and taunting? From everything I’ve been hearing the past couple of weeks, we want to see eye-popping, breath taking tackles, so long as nobody makes a spectacle of themselves. Folks, its football. This ain’t ballet class.

I know there’s a whole flock of you who are whining about how these guys should be setting good examples for your kids. I whole-heartedly disagree. Give your kids some credit or at least a little guidance. If they’re looking to pro-athletes for behavioral skills then something is missing at home. I remember pretending to play basketball like Wilt Chamberlain as a kid. When he claimed he had sex with over 10,000 women, I didn’t suddenly think, "I want to do that too!" Do you think fans of OJ Simpson are more likely to kill because of what he may or may not have done to his wife? Of course, not. We have higher expectations for athletes than we do for ourselves. I admit I’ve danced around and reveled in my own glory after turning the screws on a car salesman to get a good deal. Yet, a football player isn’t allowed to bust a move after catching a hail mary, dodging seven defenders and scoring the winning touchdown. Would you rather he go back to the bench and pop open a cold one? Of course not, but that’s what a lot of people do after scoring touchdowns in the real world. I want to meet the guy or gal who hasn’t gone to a bar or raided the office alcohol after landing a big account, or completing a tough job. Call me crazy, but I’d rather have my kid dancing around like an idiot when he does something good than getting drunk. I’m serious, what happens in pro-football is no worse than what happens in the real world when lawyers trash each other in the media during a trial, a business hostilely takes over another, or associates step on each other while they’re trying to climb the corporate ladder.

Sportsmanship is important, but it should be taught at home, not on Sunday afternoons on TV. I think the NFL should let the players taunt and dance and flap their jaws and to appease parents they’ll probably have to put a warning at the bottom of the screen, "These are paid professionals. Do not try this at home."