CFL fines Arceneaux for golf celebration, following the No Fun League’s poor example

The CFL's list of Week 4 fines released Thursday carried two relatively unsurprising entries, with Winnipeg's Glenn January and Teague Sherman fined for illegal low blocks. However, it also included an unexpected one: B.C.'s Emmanuel Arceneaux was fined for "using a prop in a celebration." After catching a long touchdown pass against the Edmonton Eskimos in B.C.'s 31-21 win Saturday, Arceneaux opted for an unusual celebration, and one that apparently riled the league the wrong way. Here's what he did:

Sure, Arceneaux's golfing act isn't close to some of the best touchdown celebrations this league has seen over the years, but there's still no need to regulate it. The league's reasoning? "CFL rules state that players cannot use props, including field markers or foreign objects, during touchdown celebrations." That may be a rule, but it's a foolish one. In fact, arguably the greatest touchdown celebration this league's ever seen came from a prop. That would be the boat Winnipeg foolishly placed in the end zone as part of a sponsor promotion ahead of a November 2009 game, clearing the way for a group effort from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats:

Yes, creative celebrations may irk a few football purists, but they're a great source of amusement to many of us, and they help to promote the league. Think Arland Bruce III winds up on Deadspin if he politely hands the ball to the referee instead of donning a Spiderman mask? Unlikely. The CFL should embrace the weird and wacky, as that's part of the league's appeal, especially beyond traditional football fans. (On that front, it's interesting that after years of regularly posting embeddable highlights of every game on YouTube, the league's opted to post nothing on their account since a promo video from last month. It's their loss, really: the previous new-media-friendly strategy was highly beneficial for the league's profile, while the current policy is...less so.) Moreover, fining players for celebrations is silly when you consider that most fines are for dangerous play (and that they're a useful deterrent on that front). It's a weird universe where a touchdown celebration that harms no one is considered as bad as a chop block or a helmet-first tackle that can cause serious injury.

Really, the only reason to regulate celebrations is if they're significantly delaying the game. Arceneaux's doesn't even come close to that: it took a few seconds, less time than most celebrating players just idly throw their hands up for. Instead of being conventional, he did something creative and entertained the fans in attendance, and that shouldn't be lost, either: while the on-field football in the CFL's quite serious, sports is an entertainment product, and efforts towards making it more entertaining that don't compromise the sanctity of the game should be embraced, not punished. Fining those who step outside the approved box is a move right out of the playbook of the "No Fun League." The CFL hasn't copied American football in areas where it might make sense to , so why should it fall in line with one of the silliest rules created by the NFL? Embrace the fun, embrace the celebrations and embrace sharing them with the world; it's only going to benefit your league's profile in the long run.