The ongoing outrage from Texas fans, players and coaches, offended by the “Horns Down” gestures, has been a recurring topic of conversation for years now.
People in and around Austin apparently feel they deserve some sort of special protection when it comes to the gesture used, and have even managed to get the Big 12 to consider its use worthy of a sanction for “unsportsmanlike conduct” on the football field.
Recently, Texas basketball coach Rodney Terry sparked the conversation again by telling the UCF players during the postgame handshake that it was “classless” after beating the Longhorns at the Moody Center.
FOX’s Joel Klatt was candid about his feelings about the outrage and, frankly, I think he spoke for many of us in the sports community when he expressed his opinion on the subject.
“I’m so sick of people being offended by Horns Down. It’s ridiculous,” Klatt said.
“Like, why is this the one move in intercollegiate athletics that worries us so much? There are a lot of hand gestures that are done on the football field, on the basketball court that are much worse than lowered horns – much worse, don’t Google them if you know what I mean . And here we are still wasting time over Horns Down.
Klatt, like the rest of us, realizes that the gesture, in and of itself, should be treated no differently than, say, a middle finger.
“It’s one thing if you do it, like you do it to your face, as a provocation – like anything as a provocation. I think it is fair to penalize. But, in many ways, the Big 12 kind of created this mess when they started saying, “We’re going to penalize horns as unsportsmanlike!” » Klatt said. “Like, why?” It’s so weak. It’s so weak.
“Stop making a big deal out of it. By the way, the SEC isn’t making a big deal out of this. The SEC said it would not penalize Horns Down’s action. GOOD! GOOD. It is only a thing because it was created.
Regarding the Rodney Terry outrage in particular? Klatt once again says what we are all thinking.
“Then someone throw a Horns Down. Who cares?” Klatt asked. “If you don’t like it? Win. Okay? If you don’t like it? Win.”
