"Two or more players performing an act they created is not in line with the game," said Minnesota coach Dennis Green. "Hard feelings can kick into place and can cause retaliation or fisticuffs on the field."

As much as I love his use of the word "fisticuffs," Green's logic eludes me. If Deion Sanders just blew by you to score a touchdown and danced on his own, would you really be less likely to go after him than if he were surrounded by other elated Cowboys?

The NFL has come up with the darnedest reasons for cracking down on the fun. The league banned the throat-slashing gesture used by Brett Favre because it found the gesture "threatening."

Come on! If you're the opposing team, do you really worry that Brett Favre is going to come after you postgame with a knife? Of course not! When's the last time an NFL player... hmmm. Never mind.

The greater issue here is not one of preventing on-field conflicts or determining the relative harm of individual and group celebrations, but of attempting to legislate sportsmanship. Initially, expecting players not to be joyous seems unreasonable. If you were 25 and being paid millions of dollars to play a boy's game, wouldn't you be inclined to whoop it up in the end zone every so often?

Darned if I wouldn't.

Similarly, if a guard getting paid $4 million a year gets his dunk swatted by Dikembe Mutombo every time, I doubt he'll cry about Mutombo's taunting finger-wag later that night. If he does cry, he can wipe his tears with hundred dollar bills.