“Just when I thought you couldn’t possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this... and totally redeem yourself!!!” -- Harry Dunne, 1994.
Fast-forward nearly two decades, and the NCAA and its committees has -- once again -- assumed the role of Lloyd Christmas.
Given the tremendous amount of criticism raining down on the NCAA over the past year or two thanks to its own incompetence, you would think The Association would have more pressing issues than social media nomenclature being placed on college football fields. You, of course, would be dead wrong as the NCAA Football Rules Committee has approved a measure that “social media designations such as URL’s and hashtags, are prohibited” on the playing field, end zone and sidelines.
Mississippi State was the first FBS school to place a Twitter hashtag on its field (#HAILSTATE) in November of 2011. Since then, schools have utilized them in increasing numbers to draw attention to their social media websites.
When it comes to the actual hashtags, I’m personally agnostic as most look rather clumsy and completely out of place. The point is, though, it would seem the NCAA and its committees have bigger fish to fry -- and more important toothpaste to cram back into the tube -- than wasting its time picking nits on something as meaningless as hashtags on a football field/.
There are, though, $everal thing$ $till allowed on the playing field:
Conference logo College/university name and logo
Team name and logo
Name of the commercial entity with purchased naming rights to the facility in no more than two locations (Note: the entity’s commercial logo is not allowed.)
Postseason game: Name/commercial logo of only the title sponsor associated with the name of the postseason game. There may be a maximum of three such advertisements: a single advertisement centered on the 50-yard line and no more than two smaller flanking advertisements. These advertisements must adhere to paragraph 2 below. No other advertisements, either by the title sponsor or by any other commercial entity, may be on the field.
Also new this season is all end zone pylons “may bear a manufacturer’s logo or trademark. Institutional logos, conference logos and the name/commercial logo of the title sponsor of postseason games are also allowed.”