Oregon Coach Promising To Discipline Players Responsible For 'No Means No' Chant Is Proof Positive That Some Punishments Are Worth It

http://www.salon.com/2015/01/02/oregon_players_face_team_discipline_for_no_means_no_chant/

Salon- Several Oregon football players will face discipline for chanting “No means no,” following their Rose Bowl win versus Florida State University on Thursday.

The players were identified by the Associated Press as “running back Kadi Benoit, linebacker Torrodney Prevot and a third player wearing a ‘WON NOT DONE’” shirt; wide receiver Chance Allen was also seen participating in the chant.

The “No means no” chant — to the tune of the FSU fan chant — was apparently aimed at Florida State University quarterback Jameis Winston, who was accused of rape in 2012.

Oregon’s coach, Mike Helfrich said in a statement that the players would face team discipline.

I know the Oregon coach based on looks and persona alone gives off the vibe of sort of a hard ass. Even so, I have to imagine he was holding back a laugh when asked about this incident. Unless he is completely void of a sense of humor, even he found this funny. Plus, after your team beats another team that hasn't lost in two years you pretty much except any way they choose to celebrate that victory, whether it be politically correct or not. Even if they decided to sacrifice small animals on the field of play, you sweep it under the rug and start preparation for next week. Almost a guarantee that his promise to 'discipline' the players responsible was nothing more than lip service. A little PR tactic to keep any media attention on the team positive. Laugh out loud funny when he says "we are aware of inappropriate behavior". He's aware of it because the players have  been chanting in the locker room for the last month. That kind of ingenuity isn't spontaneously created while you have adrenaline coursing through your veins. That chant was as premeditated as it gets. Birthed through a confidence, almost cockiness, that they would beat Florida State handily.

I guess the question in any of these situations is whether or not the pay off is worthy of the punishment. In this situation specifically, you can undoubtedly say it is. These guys are in the early running for viral video of the year just hours after the inception of 2015. What could this coach possibly do to punish these kids? Take away their meal plan for a day? Make them run sprints? Bench them for a series? Anything short of kicking them off the team or out of school is not enough to deter them from dropping an absolute gem of a chant to a nationwide audience moments after dismantling a historically successful team. That chant is too hilarious to go unheard.

Another thing to keep in mind is the statue of limitations on rape jokes. In my opinion, that completely depends on how funny the joke is. Can't just drop any run of the mill reference to rape allegations a year or two after they have taken place and garner a laugh. However, when you beat a team by 40 in the first college football playoff game ever, and you are able to incorporate an anti-rape slogan into possibly the most infamous rallying cry in college sports, you defy any time limitation. The fact that it's actually catchy only adds insult to injury. For the foreseeable future I will automatically insert 'no means no' into the Florida State chant. For the simple minded like myself, that is a joke that will stand both the test of time and social acceptance.