What should we think of sports celebrations?

Many of us love sports, but there are few things as divisive (and generational) as the celebrations that come from said sports.

Watch a modern athlete celebrate a good play and you'll get one of two reactions: Excitement or disgust.

It comes up every time an NBA player dunks over an opponent and flexes his muscles. Or a football player scores a touchdown and dances. Or a baseball player hits a home run and flips his bat, then runs around the bases slowly. A hockey player . . . oh, heck, I don't watch hockey. I don't know what they do to celebrate.

Oh! Soccer players score a goal and run around like they're an airplane. (Do they still do that?)

You get the point. The problem is defining what's really at stake.

Is it that a young generation has gotten carried away with its importance and doesn't respect the game?

Is it that the older generation has forgotten that we play games and that they're supposed to be fun?

Should athletes act like they've been there before? Or should they remember that sports are entertainment?

It's all in how you view it. Is an athlete celebrating an example of what makes sports great or why it's gotten awful?

Professional sports leagues have, of course, weighed in on this important issue by legislating it. In the NFL, there are rules on what is a penalty (one guy spontaneously celebrating? OK. Three guys doing a choreographed dance? Not OK. Spiking the football? OK. Spinning the football? Not OK.).

In baseball, it's nuanced and left to the players to enforce. A pitcher who over-celebrates (according to the grumpy old teammates) a strikeout or a hitter who enjoys a home run is apt to cause a bench-emptying brawl. At the least, he'll be told he's out of line. Local example: Madison Bumgarner of the Giants, who is 26, acts like Wilford Brimley on the mound – lecturing opponents on how to act, so they don't break the 120-year-old unwritten rules.

It's really kind of silly, but draws lines among fans. Mrs. Brad usually won't watch celebrations, while I run toward the TV to see them (the same reactions we have to a serious injury).

Is there a middle ground? Or is this the sports version of Coke vs. Pepsi, rap vs. rock or sock-sock-shoe-shoe vs. sock-shoe-sock-shoe?

I say there's a middle ground: Celebrations are good. Taunting is bad.

Most of us who aren't sociopaths (which is one way to eliminate disagreement with your opinion) are fine with an athlete showing joy. Think of Magic Johnson. Or Steph Curry when things were going well. Or Brett Favre running around like a little kid.

Joy is fine.

Taunting isn't. Shoving a ball in an opponents' face is a recipe to start a fight. Standing over someone who you just sacked or over whom you dunked is bad form. Mocking someone is negative.

Here's the easiest solution for all major sports. Quit making new rules. End efforts to legislate whether something is spontaneous or rehearsed. Don't tell players what they can't do.

Let athletes show joy, whether it's rehearsed or spontaneous. Let them dance, jump and celebrate. Let them have fun.

But penalize taunting. Enforce your rules against unsportsmanlike conduct that every sport always has. Whether it's a 15-yard penalty, a technical foul or an ejection, officials can stop taunting.

How can you tell the difference? It's like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said of obscenity: I can't define it, but I know it when I see it.

So should the refs.

Brad Stanhope is a former Daily Republic editor. Reach him at bradstanhope@hotmail.com.