Flop or Nah?

Ah yes, there is nothing more refreshing than witnessing the outrage or the hilarity of reaction that are caused by a player unnecessarily flailing, when contact is made with them from an opponent. The throwing up of arms when they’re elbowed tenderly in the chest, the falling backwards after minimal contact has been made, or the prolonged floor/ground action that ensues before they hop back up like nothing ever happened.

Flopping has been one of the most notable and comical topics discussed over the last two decades, with plenty of evidence of athletes adding their own flare to contact made during these competitive contests. Now this is not to ignore the happenings where an athlete legitimately becomes injured or has a justified bodily reaction to their opponent’s interaction with them. Those instances are understandable and mostly obvious to the naked eye of spectators and officials. But in modern sports, flopping has become such a trend that it tends to demean those realistic views of what flopping is versus the athlete being reasonably affected by contact. So therefore, it brings forth a gray area to how games are officiated because most of these contests are so fast paced and even those best officials are fooled by players flopping. Which has caused unrest in the officiating world with the deception it provides by antagonizing the intelligence of the officials!

So, tell me, what can be done to negate these theatrical and sometimes hilarious reactions? There has already been action to limit the amount of flopping in certain professional leagues. Before the 2012-2013 season, the NBA implemented Anti-Flopping rules where questionable flopping calls were reviewed after the games by the league to determine a flop or justifiable reaction. If the call is indeed a flop, then fines are doled out to the party at hand. While other leagues that consist of contact like the NFL, FIFA, and USFL do not have official flopping rules but if a player during the game is validated for deceiving the official, they are penalized during the game. Safe to say there has been somewhat of a crackdown on the issue but doesn’t mean that it will completely deter those who like to dabble in flopping every now and then. But it will for sure make them think twice about it the next time they decide to sell the action that’s taking place.

It does take away some integrity to how sports is played and officiated but unfortunately it looks like flopping is here to stay. Whether we love it or hate it, some of our favorite teams and players have gained from the ways of flopping. I guess we’re just going to have to suck it up and hope an Oscar is in the works for some of these flops!

 Here is a prime example of flopping: