SEC Officiating Reaches The Crisis Stage
posted by Scott Hood, Thursday, October 29, 2009
Unfortunately, the recent surge in the number of mishaps involving game officials has brought an avalanche of negative publicity for the league.
It reached a crescendo eight days ago when the league suspended the entire crew that officiated the Oct. 17 Arkansas-Florida game. In that game, Arkansas was flagged for a personal foul penalty late in the game when video evidence indicated the Razorback player did next to nothing on the play.
Coincidentally or not, many of the most publicized poor calls were made in games involving Florida or Alabama, particularly the former. Oh yeah, those two teams just happen to be ranked No 1 and No. 2 in the country right now.
Conspiracy theorists, of course, have leaped at the home run opportunity. They will tell you the league is trying to protect the Gators and Tide in order to set up another No. 1 v. No. 2 showdown in the SEC Championship game, thus guaranteeing a conference team would play in the BCS National Championship game.
While I’m not convinced by the conspiracy theorists yet, there’s no question the quality of officiating is subpar for a league that deserves much better.
I also believe there is a pecking order among the league teams. In short, teams like USC, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State simply are not going to get the same consideration (‘respect’ in today’s lingo) from the officials as traditional SEC heavyweights like Alabama, Tennessee or LSU.
Does that make the SEC a little like the NBA, whose officials have blatantly allowed superstars to get away with more ‘things’ over the years? Yes.
That‘s why I’m giving you this friendly warning right now: if Saturday night’s game in Knoxville is close in the fourth quarter, don’t expect the close calls to go in the Gamecocks’ favor. When is the last time a controversial call in the fourth quarter went against the Vols in Knoxville? I can’t remember either.
But the most potential for mischief will arrive Nov. 14 when Florida invades Williams-Brice. The Gators could be undefeated and ranked No. 1 when they arrive in Columbia. With the developments of the last few weeks, every call in that game will be closely scrutinized.
Slive knew he had to try and nip the budding controversy by suspending the Arkansas-Florida crew. But what he and SEC Coordinator of Officials Rogers Redding need to focus on is improving the quality of officiating because right now the league is shackled by mediocrity.
College football has increasingly become a faster game over the last two decades. Even Steve Spurrier acknowledged that reality this week. But many of the SEC officials simply can’t keep up with the speed of the game.
If Slive thinks criticism of officials by coaches or fans is going to decrease, he’s badly mistaken. Sorry, but as long as the same officials remain, the backlash is not going to go away anytime soon.
Coaches know their careers can be broken by a few too many bad calls, and clear-thinking head coaches prefer their multi-million salaries and the luxurious lifestyles that come along with the large paychecks.
In short, you can expect to see more SEC coaches like Lane Kiffin and Dan Mullen reprimanded for post-game comments concerning officials deemed inappropriate by the league office.
Millions of dollars are at stake depending on the outcome of each SEC football game. With the new 15-year, $3 billion TV deal with ESPN and CBS in its first year of existence, the financial stakes will only go up in future years.
Thus, the last thing Slive or the TV executives at CBS and ESPN want is the widespread perception that the SEC is college football’s version of WWE.
Perception, as we know, is reality. If the national sports talk radio shows are an accurate barometer, that’s the direction it’s headed.
In my opinion, the SEC must take a portion on of the billions they’re mining from the TV networks and establish a developmental program for officials. Recognize the best and brightest at an earlier age and turn them into quality officials.
The future of the conference could depend on it.
New blood among SEC officials is badly needed at this juncture. Too few competent officials has led to too many bad calls at the worst possible times.
It’s time to step up, SEC.
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SEC Commissioner Michael Slive knows he has a potentially devastating problem on his hands.
Unfortunately, the recent surge in the number of mishaps involving game officials has brought an avalanche of negative publicity for the league.
It reached a crescendo eight days ago when the league suspended the entire crew that officiated the Oct. 17 Arkansas-Florida game. In that game, Arkansas was flagged for a personal foul penalty late in the game when video evidence indicated the Razorback player did next to nothing on the play.
Coincidentally or not, many of the most publicized poor calls were made in games involving Florida or Alabama, particularly the former. Oh yeah, those two teams just happen to be ranked No 1 and No. 2 in the country right now.
Conspiracy theorists, of course, have leaped at the home run opportunity. They will tell you the league is trying to protect the Gators and Tide in order to set up another No. 1 v. No. 2 showdown in the SEC Championship game, thus guaranteeing a conference team would play in the BCS National Championship game.
While I’m not convinced by the conspiracy theorists yet, there’s no question the quality of officiating is subpar for a league that deserves much better.
I also believe there is a pecking order among the league teams. In short, teams like USC, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State simply are not going to get the same consideration (‘respect’ in today’s lingo) from the officials as traditional SEC heavyweights like Alabama, Tennessee or LSU.
Does that make the SEC a little like the NBA, whose officials have blatantly allowed superstars to get away with more ‘things’ over the years? Yes.
That‘s why I’m giving you this friendly warning right now: if Saturday night’s game in Knoxville is close in the fourth quarter, don’t expect the close calls to go in the Gamecocks’ favor. When is the last time a controversial call in the fourth quarter went against the Vols in Knoxville? I can’t remember either.
But the most potential for mischief will arrive Nov. 14 when Florida invades Williams-Brice. The Gators could be undefeated and ranked No. 1 when they arrive in Columbia. With the developments of the last few weeks, every call in that game will be closely scrutinized.
Slive knew he had to try and nip the budding controversy by suspending the Arkansas-Florida crew. But what he and SEC Coordinator of Officials Rogers Redding need to focus on is improving the quality of officiating because right now the league is shackled by mediocrity.
College football has increasingly become a faster game over the last two decades. Even Steve Spurrier acknowledged that reality this week. But many of the SEC officials simply can’t keep up with the speed of the game.
If Slive thinks criticism of officials by coaches or fans is going to decrease, he’s badly mistaken. Sorry, but as long as the same officials remain, the backlash is not going to go away anytime soon.
Coaches know their careers can be broken by a few too many bad calls, and clear-thinking head coaches prefer their multi-million salaries and the luxurious lifestyles that come along with the large paychecks.
In short, you can expect to see more SEC coaches like Lane Kiffin and Dan Mullen reprimanded for post-game comments concerning officials deemed inappropriate by the league office.
Millions of dollars are at stake depending on the outcome of each SEC football game. With the new 15-year, $3 billion TV deal with ESPN and CBS in its first year of existence, the financial stakes will only go up in future years.
Thus, the last thing Slive or the TV executives at CBS and ESPN want is the widespread perception that the SEC is college football’s version of WWE.
Perception, as we know, is reality. If the national sports talk radio shows are an accurate barometer, that’s the direction it’s headed.
In my opinion, the SEC must take a portion on of the billions they’re mining from the TV networks and establish a developmental program for officials. Recognize the best and brightest at an earlier age and turn them into quality officials.
The future of the conference could depend on it.
New blood among SEC officials is badly needed at this juncture. Too few competent officials has led to too many bad calls at the worst possible times.
It’s time to step up, SEC.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.