SEC suspends officials

[GainesvillebornNraised]

SEC suspends officials

By Jon Solomon -- The Birmingham News

October 21, 2009, 4:53PM




The officiating crew from last Saturday's Arkansas-Florida game will be removed from its next scheduled assignment on Oct. 31 and won't be assigned a game until Nov. 14, SEC Commissioner Mike Slive announced today.
"A series of calls that have occurred during the last several weeks have not been to the standard that we expect from our officiating crews," Slive said in a statement. "I believe our officiating program is the best in the country, however, there are times when these actions must be taken."
The suspended officials are referee Marc Curles, umpire Ronnie Jones, linesman Randall Kizer, line judge Michael Shirley, back judge Michael Watson, field judge Greg Thomas and side judge Jesse Dupuy. The SEC acknowledged the crew made a mistake by calling an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Arkansas last week. That came two weeks after the SEC said the same crew should not have called an excessive celebration penalty on Georgia in a game against LSU on Oct. 3.
Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino complained about several calls from last Saturday's 23-20 loss to No. 1 Florida. Criticism of the officiating has come from all across the country this week.
"While only a few calls have been identified, the entire crew shoulders responsibility for each play," Slive said. "I have taken this action because there must be accountability in our officiating program. Our institutions expect the highest level of officiating in all of our sports and it is the duty of the conference office to uphold that expectation."
The SEC said the disciplinary measures will impact the officials' eligibility for postseason bowl assignments.

 

[Floridagators13]

so stupid... do you think they were paid hah?

 

[MahxFahn]

Coincidentally, MLB is having officiating probs in the playoffs and the fans are making a lot of noise for re-plays. I think the problem is indecisiveness and incompetence in the case with the SEC officials. I commend Slive for his action but condemn him for not taking action sooner. How many games do you recall where you wanted to throw something at the ref or thru your tv for a call in a Gator game?

 

[Escambia94]

I still think good or bad officiating is part of the game. The suspension does not help unless those officials are undergoing remedial training during suspension. Otherwise, this is just a move to placate the masses that don't agree with all the calls. I think the NBA is the worst at officiating, but blown calls are part of pro basketball. At different times, MLB, NFL, and NCAA get headlines for bad calls, but I don't think more levels of replay and review should be used just because we now have more slow motion cameras than the officials. If we went back in time with instant replay, we could easily overturn some of the greatest games in history just to appease the losing team. I'm not just saying that because Florida won--I can remember many blown calls against Florida as well over the years, for and against UF.

 

[O-town Gator]

I'm sure we can all agree that the all-time worst officiating job was during The Swindle in The Swamp (UF-f$u game in 2003). In spite of all the bad calls from Jack Childress & Co; ACC commish John Swofford took no action against that crew.

 

[Escambia94]

I'm sure we can all agree that the all-time worst officiating job was during The Swindle in The Swamp (UF-f$u game in 2003). In spite of all the bad calls from Jack Childress & Co; ACC commish John Swofford took no action against that crew.

I definitely agree.

 

[GainesvillebornNraised]

i think its good they suspended them, you just cant make horrible calls like they did in the 4th quarter in a close game(im talkin AJ green celebration and the personal foul against ark)


those are calls that make me wonder should the officials be able to correct a bad call? like after they see it on the jumbo tron and know their wrong

 

[ShortBus]

i think its good they suspended them, you just cant make horrible calls like they did in the 4th quarter in a close game(im talkin AJ green celebration and the personal foul against ark)


those are calls that make me wonder should the officials be able to correct a bad call? like after they see it on the jumbo tron and know their wrong

this is why i think penalties should be reviewable just like regular plays..

 

[Escambia94]

this is why i think penalties should be reviewable just like regular plays..

Disagree. This would prolong the game and denigrate the role of an official. We might as well call them "unofficials", and let everyone at home text "HOLDING" to "64566" if you want a holding call. We could even have a dial-in number for everyone to call in a penalty, and have people submit their video replay evidence via YouTube.

Penalties are part of the game, people! Just as the ball sometimes bounces your way, sometimes it does not. The same can be said of penalties. I don't even like instant replay for plays if it changes the pace of the game.

Now, if you mean a field review of an official's calls on the field, I am okay with that as long as it does not affect the pace of the game. Maybe an official can call a "no see" and defer to the Jumbotron for his own calls, or to an official in the booth, but with a time limit.

 

[GainesvillebornNraised]

i think if they gave 1 flag a game for bad calls it could work, the officals get togother call a vote and majority over the one guy

 

[ShortBus]

Disagree. This would prolong the game and denigrate the role of an official. We might as well call them "unofficials", and let everyone at home text "HOLDING" to "64566" if you want a holding call. We could even have a dial-in number for everyone to call in a penalty, and have people submit their video replay evidence via YouTube.

Penalties are part of the game, people! Just as the ball sometimes bounces your way, sometimes it does not. The same can be said of penalties. I don't even like instant replay for plays if it changes the pace of the game.

Now, if you mean a field review of an official's calls on the field, I am okay with that as long as it does not affect the pace of the game. Maybe an official can call a "no see" and defer to the Jumbotron for his own calls, or to an official in the booth, but with a time limit.

not even close dude. i'm not saying u can review to get a penalty to made, but only to review when a bad call was made. if it wasn't a penalty. not if it was a penalty and not called. if the refs missed it, they missed it. but if they called it, i think they need to be damn sure. and if its part of the replay system, obviously they would only get one challenge per game (IIRC college only allows one challenge per game) and that would go for both plays and penalties. so if you already used your challenge on a play review u don't get one for a penalty later or vice versa.

 

[Escambia94]

not even close dude. i'm not saying u can review to get a penalty to made, but only to review when a bad call was made. if it wasn't a penalty. not if it was a penalty and not called. if the refs missed it, they missed it. but if they called it, i think they need to be damn sure. and if its part of the replay system, obviously they would only get one challenge per game (IIRC college only allows one challenge per game) and that would go for both plays and penalties. so if you already used your challenge on a play review u don't get one for a penalty later or vice versa.

I just wanted to be sure of what you meant in your post. I still assert that an official is part of the game, and that includes bad calls, no calls, good calls, or whatever. I already don't like instant replay, because an incorrectly applied rule takes away from the pace of the game. In a perfect world, I would do away with instant replay because it leads us down a slippery slope. Are all plays reviewable? Are all penalties challenge-able? If not all, why the ones we have selected? What about automatic reviews within the 2-minute warning like the NFL? Why not this rule, like the NFL? Why not have it like soccer--one official referee whose word is final, and assistants who just help out? Do you know how many rules those soccer players break and get away with? I'm okay with that. Rubgy has one referee. Why does American football need all those referees AND a staff in the booth AND instant replays AND outside pressure?

I think most officials are "damn sure" when they throw a flag or else they would not throw the flag. If we can't trust our refs, when whom do we trust?