July 1 formally marked a serious shift within the school sports activities panorama with (now-former) Massive 12 giants Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners becoming a member of the SEC. And let me inform ya, reporters didn’t wait to ask SEC commissioner Greg Sankey the vital query:
Will “Horns Down” nonetheless be a penalty?
Sankey met with the media on Monday to welcome the convention’s two latest applications. And anybody who has been acquainted with the Texas-Oklahoma rivalry is aware of that the “Horns Down” celebration has been the go-to gesture from Sooners followers — and any Longhorns opponent, actually — to mock Texas. It even occurred when Alabama gamers walked off the sector following an early season loss to Texas.
Horns down from Alabama as they depart the sector 😬 #FOXFieldPass pic.twitter.com/UeD9gxeCzM
— FOX Faculty Soccer (@CFBONFOX) September 10, 2022
However within the Massive 12, it was an unsportsmanlike penalty to do the “Horns Down” gesture in video games. That had SEC reporters questioning if the identical coverage would apply in Texas’ new convention. Sankey wasn’t precisely speeding to reply that query on Day 1.
Greg Sankey when requested if horns down will likely be a penalty within the SEC: “I gained’t be answering questions on soccer penalties on July 1st.”
— Summer season of George (@GeorgeStoia) July 1, 2024
Let’s hope Sankey permits the “Horns Down” to face. It’s innocent banter, and the “Horns Up” celebration invitations that response. However I wouldn’t be shocked to see the “Horns Down” get the identical remedy as what we noticed within the Massive 12.
In spite of everything, sportsmanship is a precedence.