16 - Opinion (Local Issue)

 Muleriders end Season with a 43-point victory against Boll Weevils After a Dramatic Game 

Southern Arkansas University's football team finished their season at home against Arkansas Monticello. I have been attending almost every home game this season since I am working as a videographer for the athletic department. Watching the game from the sideline is always fun but I did not enjoy watching this game. 

During the game, there were 10 unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, six against the Muleriders four against the Weevils, two player ejections, and many calls for roughness and chopblocks. In total, UAM was penalized 5 times for 30 yards, and SAU 14 times for 147 yards. 

I understand that football is an aggressive sport that includes a lot of tackles and roughness, but yesterday was something else. I witnessed so many situations that should have been called out by the referees but it did not happen. Seeing one of the UAM players rip off the helmet of a Mulerider and throw it away across the field, and multiple of what seemed to be attempts to fight each other, removed the joy of watching the game. 

It was clear from the start of the game that the teams did not like each other on a level that was something else than just opponents. I think the urge to be aggressive towards the other players should be taken more seriously than it seemed to be yesterday. In my opinion, it took a long time before the referees started calling out the roughness and penalizing the teams. Unnecessary roughness should be called out and taken care of earlier. Sport should be fun to watch and should not consist of fights and roughness like this. 

The teams even skipped the traditional post-game handshake.