This thread isn't intended for your "the ball touched the vol" or "the interference was before the tip" rants... There is something wrong in the way college football manages it's officiating. The Big Ten blazed the instant replay trail. Can the SEC blaze the "fair instant replay and plausible neutrality of officials" trail? Officiating is governed at the conference level. This attitude of "shutup, don't complain, no matter what the officials were right" coming from the SEC offices has got to go. I'm not talking just about LSU complaints. Other teams have complained and gotten the exact same treatment. They are equal opportunity a-holes that are too arrogant to admit they're wrong, when they are wrong, and act like the idea of "homer" officiating is asinine. This isn't the Sun Belt. The SEC has the money and the DUTY, given it's national importance, to make officiating impartial. There is something worng when the replay guy is just a car dealership owner in the town over. This sin't a job for the weekend warrior. It would satisfy many, even make it easier to live with bad calls, if there were some simple guidelines about where officials were from, where they went to school, and their level of experience were held to higher standards. That's all I'm asking. A league like the SEC should be able to do this. Settling for less only invites further criticism. What can the SEC do to fix the conflict of interest, whether only in appearance or in reality, of it's officials? Yes, fans will always complain, but it's only a matter of time before there is a scandal or something truly criminal happens.
Yesterday there was an article about how the Vince Young fumble was not a fumble. Can't expect perfection and it's not scientific because we do rely on human judgement but it does seem like there is some bad ****. The USC/Oregon game......a play was overturned then that was reviewed and the review call was overturned.
And what an awful call it was... Wouldn't it have been better for everyone involved had the replay guy not been some Oregon honk that lived just down the road? That's part of what I'm saying needs to be changed. It still would have been an outrageous call but the fact that it was a PAC10 official that had ties with Oregon just begs people to question the integrity of the game. Governement and corporations have all kinds of rules that prevent such conflicts of interest from even being able to occur. They aren't perfect but at least they're trying. It kills me that big time college football, with all that is on the line, would play with fire like this. If the integrity of the game is compromised or even just APPEARS to be compromised, the fans won't be the only ones who lose out.
The whole replay system in both the college and NFL needs to be scrapped. It simply does not work as intended. Nothing infuriates me more than when the pigheaded officials go to replay and clearly still get the call wrong. I would rather get screwed by the call made on the field at least then the have the excuse of human error. There are too many examples of using the cop out excuse of no indisputable evidence to overturn the call and then sometimes the overturn call that should not be overturned. THe replay system has reached the point of so much aggravation for me that even in games that I have no vested interest the improper use of replay raises my blood pressure. I thought the replay system was supposed to get the call right and nine times out of ten it goes exactly the opposite of what my eyes are telling me. Do you they not get the same angles as we get at home. Sometimes I feel like what the hell are they watching to have botched the call so badly. Examples -Jacob Hester's fumble against AU clearly takes 2 steps and fumbles ruled an incomplete pass -Punt call where the ball obviously changes direction and rotation and the crap no indisputable evidence. -Wake Forest player fumble overturned and called a dropped pass when he clearly took steps with control of the ball -Houston Texans game against Jax when Owen Daniels catches ball brings it into his body takes 3 steps and fumbles and then overturned called a dropped pass. What the hell is official definition of a football move? Obviously catching a football and running 2 steps after is not considered a football move.
The SEC office has taken the Stern/NBA approach. Deny responsibility, and reprimand any who dare oppose. It's disgusting.
