Suspended Ref's Comments in Newspaper Today

[TideHead]

I agree.
Also, this ding ding ding we have a winner stuff is not exactly true when I believe most of the members here do not want any more delays in this game.
I believe you would take the human element out of the game in turn, ruin collegiate football.
However, I agree that a suspension is warranted. But, please don`t lengthen the games.

If Bama were to get a game changing call similar to this against us on Saturday, are you going to tell me that you didn't have 5 minutes to spare?

 

[LCN]

SIAP elsewhere on the board but Bill King had a fairly interesting read on the subject .

A link to his AJC blogosphere was inside the article ..... but I now fail to see it .
This one works tough and is linked to related release from Sunday - http://blogs.ajc.com/junkyard-blawg/2009/10/18/two-ways-of-viewing-ugas-win-over-vandy/

(Southeastern Conference)

To stand out as a really bad officiating crew in the SEC is a challenge.

But the team of officials headed up by Georgia Tech grad Marc Curles deserves some sort of special golden flag for phantom calls that affect the outcome of a major game.

You’ll remember Curles and Co. for the bogus celebration call on Georgia’s A.J. Green in the LSU game, a call that the head of SEC officiating, Rogers Redding (another grad of the Institute), subsequently had to disavow.

Now Redding has had to issue another statement on a call by Curles’ crew during a fourth quarter drive in Saturday’s Florida-Arkansas game when the Gators were trying to tie it up. Razorbacks defensive lineman Malcolm Sheppard was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for legally using his shoulder to fend off a Florida player who was coming at him. It wasn’t even close to an infraction, as CBS’ Gary Danielson pointed out, but the 15-yard penalty set up the Gators to score on the next play.

As was the case with the Georgia call, the conference said it found “no evidence on the video to support the personal foul penalty” against the Hogs.

Cold comfort to Arkansas, just as was the SEC’s mea culpa for Georgia after the LSU game.

Arkansas also had complained about a questionable pass interference call on that same drive and a noncall on a late hit by the Gators elsewhere in the game, but the SEC said those were “judgment” calls. You can check out video clips of some of the Curles crew’s work in that game here.

It’s gotten to the point where you have to wonder what it takes in the SEC for an officiating crew to get suspended. Maybe the magic number is three. With the Dogs’ luck, Curles and his crew will get a chance to go for the trifecta when Georgia and Florida meet in Jacksonville. Or perhaps we’ll get the Penn Wagers crew, which has proved its deficient knowledge of the rule book in the past. Talk about Hobson’s choice.

On top of these blown calls, there’s the inconsistent manner in which unsportsmanlike conduct flags are being thrown in the SEC, as I noted in Sunday’s blog.

Certain teams, such as Georgia, routinely draw those flags while others, including league leaders Florida and Alabama, don’t. It’s getting to be something of a joke what Tim Tebow can get away with. Likewise, the self-aggrandizing behavior of Alabama defenders in Saturday’s game against South Carolina in apparent violation of the rules against taunting or calling attention to one’s self. One Bama player even took his helmet off on the field after a big play, supposedly a sure infraction, but no flag was thrown.

Now, personally, I have no problem with kids celebrating, gesturing or calling attention to themselves. Emotion is a big part of college football. Such displays are against the rule, but it’s a dumb rule. Heck, I don’t even have a problem with taunting, as unpleasant as it can be sometimes. I wish the rule would go away.

But as long as it’s in place, they either need to call it on everyone or not call it at all. Just apply it consistently across the board. And that very plainly is not happening right now.

There were gestures in both the Florida-Arkansas and Alabama-South Carolina games that were much more blatant than what Orson Charles did in the LSU game, but no flags.

And in Saturday’s Georgia-Vandy game, Rantavious Wooten was flagged for spiking the ball after a big catch, but a Commodore celebrating a sack by throwing a towel in the air drew no flag.

I don’t really think that there’s a conspiracy among the SEC refs to “get” Georgia. I’m not so sure, however, that there isn’t some sort of unspoken agenda to “protect” certain high-flying teams. And even if it’s just a case of officials perceiving certain teams as undisciplined and being more prone to throw flags on them than on other teams seen as model citizens, that plainly isn’t fair.

At the very least, Redding and his officials should be aware that there’s the perception that Florida and Alabama are treated differently because it’s in the SEC’s financial interests that they succeed.

As CBS Sports exec Mike Aresco told the Birmingham News last week, “Tim Tebow has just been ratings gold … You cannot overstate the value of Florida and Alabama. … If you needed two teams to carry you, those are the two.”

Maybe that kind of thinking only goes on at CBS headquarters and not at the network’s business partner, the SEC. If so, SEC commissioner Mike Slive and Redding need to act now to counter the perception that the fix is in. When you start to hear comparisons between the SEC and professional wrestling, decisive action is needed to restore fans’ faith in the conference.

Suspending Curles and his crew would be a good first step. But more than that, Slive needs to make it abundantly clear to all officiating crews that the rules must be applied evenly and equally, no matter who is playing.

 

[LCN]

It's not come up in this thread, but Redding's predecessor, along with Kramer, changed the makeup of crews completely. Under the old system, we had elite crews, with the most experience, grading down to green crews. The "big" games got the elite crews, while the younger guys got experience on Vandy vs. Popcorn St. UA, being highly ranked, would get an elite crew for all but the OOC games. Under Kramer and his buddy, they "homogenized" the crews. The head guy will still be elite, but you're guaranteed that you're going to get a back judge or linesman, for example, who's only been training for a short period. And they're assigned randomly. I guess its a way to avoid thinking. I think it stinks...

Yep . The officiating has ranged from poor to costly for the past 15 or so years .

 

[CrimsonDonald]

If Bama were to get a game changing call similar to this against us on Saturday, are you going to tell me that you didn't have 5 minutes to spare?

There could possibly be several questionable calls throughout the game that could lengthen the game considerably more than 5 minutes.
But, the answer to you`re question, yes I would have 5 minutes to spare.
However, football being secondary in my life, my family first, I would not like to see the game lengthened as it would be if you replayed every game changing call, and sir, there could be a lot of `em.

 

[bayoutider]

At the very least, Redding and his officials should be aware that there’s the perception that Florida and Alabama are treated differently because it’s in the SEC’s financial interests that they succeed.

It was painfully obvious during our probation years and the bowl ban years any judgement call was going against Alabama and calls in favor of teams like LSU, Auburn, Arkansas and Tenn would be the mainstay for the day. I'm sure our LSU guys will be along soon to straighten me out on this obvious lie. There is youtube video to support it though.

 

[2003TIDE]

If Bama were to get a game changing call similar to this against us on Saturday, are you going to tell me that you didn't have 5 minutes to spare?

The problem is not with reviewing 1 play. It's with reviewing all the "blown calls" or however it was put. Where do you draw the line? Are you going to review every pass play where there might be pass interference? What about holding? I really could go on and on about the stuff people complain about on here. If all those were reviewed during the course of the game, it would add an hour. I don't care to watch a 6 hour game.

And truth be told most blown calls really don't have any bearing on the outcome of the game.

 

[TommyMac]

The problem is not with reviewing 1 play. It's with reviewing all the "blown calls" or however it was put. Where do you draw the line? Are you going to review every pass play where there might be pass interference? What about holding? I really could go on and on about the stuff people complain about on here. If all those were reviewed during the course of the game, it would add an hour. I don't care to watch a 6 hour game.

And truth be told most blown calls really don't have any bearing on the outcome of the game.

I'd love to watch a six hour game of Bama totally dominating 10rc, with plenty of shots of Kiffy.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

At the very least, Redding and his officials should be aware that there’s the perception that Florida and Alabama are treated differently because it’s in the SEC’s financial interests that they succeed.

It's very easy to pick out individual incidents in various games to try and prove the point that one team or the other is favored. It's also obvious that he is looking through Bulldog glasses. Last I looked (I will again), we were being penalized as much - or more - than the teams we played. If we're so favored, why the hell didn't they penalize USC's OL for blocking our DL by hanging on the rear of their shirt-tails? I don't buy his crap at all... (well, maybe about Tebow)

 

[REBELZED]

It's very easy to pick out individual incidents in various games to try and prove the point that one team or the other is favored. It's also obvious that he is looking through Bulldog glasses. Last I looked (I will again), we were being penalized as much - or more - than the teams we played. If we're so favored, why the hell didn't they penalize USC's OL for blocking our DL by hanging on the rear of their shirt-tails? I don't buy his crap at all... (well, maybe about Tebow)

Yeah, the guy is obviously a UGA homer still smarting from "THE BLACKOUT"

And the play where Zo Washington pulled his helmet off, it was as if he realized he was doing something wrong and IMMEDIATELY put it right back on. I specifically remember the incident because I laughed and just imagined him saying, "OH CRAP I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT!" as he hurriedly jammed his helmet back on.

And IIRC, we had over 100 yards of penalties in the USC game while USC's OL had handfuls of jersey on nearly every play. OBVIOUSLY the refs were favoring Alabama...

 

[bamapair]

Well, I have known one of the guys on this crew for many years. I feel sorry for him. He is an excellent official and just happens to be on a bad crew.
He'll sit at home with the rest of the crew......at least Fort Payne is beautiful this time of year.

I have known this same man for about 27 years or so myself and agree. It is unfortunate that the full crew to has to pay for the work of a couple of bad officials.

 

[Just Win]

I know that people don't like to think that there could be any intentional wrongdoing in these type cases, and I'm not implying that there was in this instance (as well as the one with UGA/LSU, the one with the no call on the LSU defender who shoved our receiver to the ground and intercepted the ball back in 2003, and the fact that Tim Tebow blatantly "draws attention to himself" at least 10 times a game with no celebration penalty being called on him, even though the officials acknowledge that drawing attention to yourself is the big no-no that usually gets the flag thrown - but apparently it's OK to do so as long as it's not in the end zone), but it's not out of the realm of possibility. Just think of how much money is at stake if an SEC team gets into the BCS Title game, or other BCS bowl games. The conference would take home a chunk of change folks. Our society, for the most part, has shown that greed can get the best of people who are otherwise normally good-hearted individuals. I have watched many a game where it seems that many of the "judgement" calls, like holding, celebration, & pass interference tend to favor the team that has the most to gain for the conference. But other times, it just seems like some of the officials have a little of what I call "you tube-itis", which is where you have such a desire to be a star on TV you'll do whatever it takes to get there, like throwing lots of yellow hankies around so you can turn on your mike and talk to the world as you're front and center on the flat-screen. I thought the referee in last weekends Bama-SC game was going to have to pay a visit to Dr. Andrews for a torn rotator cuff injury because he threw so many flags.

But I think most of the refs do a good job considering that they don't have the view that we do, which is an important point to remember. Any of you who have ever played football know that the view from the stands and from the TV screen is totally different than what the players or the refs see from field-level.

I just really wish though that they would get rid of the celebration rule. What message are we telling these guys that have to bust their rear ends all week long in practice, but if they score a TD they're not allowed to get excited and celebrate with their teammates without fear that they might do something wrong and get a 15 yd penalty. One way that may be more fair than issuing a penalty is for the officials to set the ball in position for the extra point and start the play-clock as soon as the official finishes signaling the TD. But if that's not a viable option, make the 15 yard penalty enforcable only on the next play, the extra point, not on the kick-off. it would not really hurt the kicker who is kicking an extra point, but it would hurt a team that may have gone for 2 points. Marking it off on the kick-off makes no sense. I can't think of any other penalty in football where they skip a play before enforcing the penalty.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[TommyMac]

We need to remember that every one of the refs are huge football fans and football fans bet on football games. I'm not saying that all of them bet on games, but you can bet your hat and arse that some of them do. Sometimes it's pretty easy to tell which ones do.

 

[capnfrog]

My input is that they should have been suspended immediately pending a SEC investigation but at this point we have to just let the SEC handle it and hope they make the right decisions. The only answers as I see it are to either add more refs or to, on controversial calls, to review the play especially on game changing flags. Maybe in fear of suspensions the refs will make better decisions.

 

[rolltidewin]

that was a good call suspending him


RTR!!!:biga:

 

[CapstoneTider]

Remembering the clockgate game that ushered in the demise of our women's basketball program.

 

[Boarcephis]

Petrino got his hands slapped by the SEC for his comments regarding the officials the other day. He was "Publicly reprimanded" by Slive, which was not unexpected. Loved his comments on his show.

The Arkansas fans deserve some credit for the SEC not being able to sweep this under the rug, which they preferred to do. Like the ESPN announcers claimed, the hog fans "melted the internet" with their protests and may have helped force the SEC's hand in this matter.

 

[LCN]

We need to remember that every one of the refs are huge football fans and football fans bet on football games. I'm not saying that all of them bet on games, but you can bet your hat and arse that some of them do. Sometimes it's pretty easy to tell which ones do.

Does Mike Guman's uncle still owe you money ? /