Big 12 says players may be penalized for doing ‘horns down’ hand sign toward Texas players | Yahoo Sports College Podcast
Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel and Pete Thamel, and Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde discuss the Big 12’s decision to penalize opposing players for doing the “horns down” hand sign toward Texas players.
Video Transcript
DAN WETZEL: Big 12 officials. Direct coordinator official Greg Burks at the Big 12 said that if you do a horns down sign at a Texas player as an opponent, that's probably going to be a foul. So you will get an unsportsmanlike conduct flag if you do it to a Texas player. But if you turn and do it to the crowd, it probably would not be a penalty. Please, all of you note, quote, please all of you note I said probably, Burks added. We have to consider intent and consider the situation. We'll leave it to the officials.
PAT FORDE: How about if we just leave it to nothing and not do anything and let people do what they want as far as their precious hand signals in the precious Big 12?
DAN WETZEL: Snowflakes fall in Austin.
PETE THAMEL: Is she the meter maid or the chief meter maid? [INAUDIBLE]
DAN WETZEL: Horns down is sacred. I mean, what is this? Come on.
PETE THAMEL: They actually had a meeting about this. Think about that. The horns down meeting. [INAUDIBLE] call together, time to talk about horns down. Oh.
PAT FORDE: Sully and I were talking before we started here where my theory is that the sensitivity of the fan base escalates as the victory totals decrease. So you become much more sensitive and concerned about how people are treating your team with consummate respect and sensitivity when you stink. When you're good, you don't care. First of all, you don't give anybody any reason to horns down you if you're 11 and 1. But if you're 7 and 3 or whatever the heck they tend to be, then geez. Then you have to take umbrage at a lot of people that are beating your ass.
PETE THAMEL: Yeah. I don't think Colt McCoy lost a lot of sleep over horns down.
PAT FORDE: I don't think he did.
PETE THAMEL: Probably not a lot of sleep lost over horns down.
DAN WETZEL: This is pathetic. Just absolute pathetic. I mean, just toughen up. First off, the more they do this and their initial complaints about the sacred bit of horns down, can't do horns down only horns up, only inspires more. The kid getting bullied, sometimes, you got to take it. This isn't hard [? ball. ?] This is awful. This is an embarrassment to Texas. A Texas fan should be ashamed.
PAT FORDE: They should.
DAN WETZEL: I promise you we discuss this every year because you discuss it every year, Burk said. I hope in the future, someone else's symbol will come into play and not just the horns. You can do other symbols. Nobody cares.
PAT FORDE: Exactly.
DAN WETZEL: The TCU's got that little thing with the hand. Do it upside down. It's like a dead horned frog with his legs kicking or something. I don't think Gary Patterson will give a-- he'll no more wear a collared shirt than he'd be like, we got our ass kicked. Come on, Texas. You're supposed to be Texas.
PETE THAMEL: Yeah. You don't hear Texas Tech complaining about guns down. Right?
DAN WETZEL: Guns down. I hate sportsmanship. I'm for unsportsmanlike behavior.
PETE THAMEL: Yeah. Suck less. Yes. If you are bad, be less bad. And you will not get taunted.
PAT FORDE: That's right.
DAN WETZEL: Taunt away. Taunt away. But I do like how there's no-- the feelings of the Texas players matter. But the fans, no. You can sit there and horn down the hole booster program that wasted their billions building that football program. They can't get out of its own way.
PAT FORDE: And actually the feelings of the Texas players only matter when it comes to horns down. They don't matter when it comes to say, oh, eyes of Texas. But that's a whole other issue.
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