Do we really trust SEC officials to make even more subjective calls?
The last thing college football needs is another opportunity for officials to affect the outcome of the game.
I understand the rationale behind the NCAA’s controversial rules change to take points off the board starting in 2011 if a player is called for taunting on his way to the end zone.
The folks who run college football have been uncomfortable for some years now with all the high-stepping and pointing and diving toward the goal line like Superman that they see as a lack of sportsmanship, and they feel that calling a dead-ball foul that’s assessed on the PAT or ensuing kickoff just hasn’t gotten through to the players. As Grant Teaff, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association put it, “this rule is one way to make sure the kids pay attention.”
And this won’t change what happens if a player or team is called for excessive celebration. That’s after the score and will still be a dead-ball foul tacked on to the kickoff.
I understand all that, but I still think this is one of those cases where all the potential pitfalls make the cure worse than the ailment.
We all know that taunting calls vary wildly from conference to conference and even game to game within a conference. Why saddle the officials with yet another subjective call that forces them to inject themselves further into the flow of a game, possibly altering the outcome?
As A.J. Green found out last season against LSU, some officials already have a hair trigger when it comes to those calls. And, as the video showed afterward, they can be flat-out wrong.
That’s my main worry: the execution of this kind of call. Dave Parry, the NCAA’s coordinator of college football officiating, says that “if it’s close to diving into the end zone, most likely it would be ruled that the act ended while in the end zone. We’ll be lenient.” But Dave Parry won’t be the one out there throwing the flags, and in the SEC in particular we know how inconsistently rules are interpreted when they’re subjective.
Plus, as it is, those flags generally only come out for offensive players. If taunting is so bad for the game, why not call it on defenders pounding their chest as they stand over a player they’ve tackled? Or on the defender who holds a running back down on the ground after the play is over? Those calls do happen, but oh so rarely.
And then there’s the question of why the NCAA is trying to keep players from letting their emotions get the better of them when part of the appeal of college football is all the emotion it stirs, among the players as well as the fans. Why try to dampen that?
I know, I know. The players should act like they’ve been there before. And celebrating too early can sometimes result in something really embarrassing like dropping the ball before you’ve crossed the goal line. But those are discussions that should be between players and their coaches. Why get the officials involved?
Rules that are intended to protect players from injury make sense, like the new ban on wedge blocking on kickoffs. But trying to give college football the demeanor of a round of golf at Augusta National is just wrongheaded.
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130 comments Add your comment
GaDawg
April 16th, 2010
7:00 pm
OK! The rules committee wants no injuries, no emotion, and GOOD sportsmanship.
Here is my idea of how we make them very happy.
The teams line up for the kickoff; the kicking team boots the ball down field. While the ball is in the air, the kick off team quickly forms lines on the hash marks on both sides of the field. These two lines of players will extend from the 35 yard line all the way to the end zone providing a safe passage zone for the receiving team.
The receiving team will then jog, RUNNING MIGHT CAUSE AN INJURY, the ball down the field through the safe passage zone formed by the kick off team. When the receiving team enters the safe zone, the kick off team members will applaud the receiving team as they make their way, SAFELY, to the end zone. Once the ball carrier reverently places the ball into the hands of the waiting official, all players and officials will quietly hug, shake hands and extend congratulations one to another. What about the conversion attempt? Awe, just go ahead and give it to ‘em!
The two teams will exchange the kick off, following the same procedure, for the length of the entire game. The team who won the coin toss at the beginning of the game will be allowed to score last giving them the VICTORY!!! As for the spectators in the stadium, there is no more need for emotional outbursts such as screaming, barking, making noise, cheering, or booing the opposing team. Just react with rounds of hearty applause as you would at tennis or on the golf course. And from now on, WHISPER the words
gooooooo dawgs, sic’em! woof, woof, woof, woof, woof!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AltamahaDawg
April 16th, 2010
7:03 pm
The u/c call on our TE for “rolling” the first down signal is a much better example of inconsistancy in a subjective rule. I have seen that done countless times without getting called.
bardawg
April 16th, 2010
7:04 pm
As I woke up this morning , the calender said it’s April 16th , not April 1st , cause surely you got to be kiddin about these new rules. Evidently the NCAA have lost thier collective minds instilling such lunacy . Happy April’s Fool Day ?
Old Dawg
April 16th, 2010
7:08 pm
UGAAlumnus: in that instance you must use the name of the institutions.
Small Johnson
April 16th, 2010
7:17 pm
yeah whatever
Seriously
Richt is a great person but you have to realize he owes his SEC championship game appearances to FL losing out during the season and not UGA beating them to get their.
His two wins against FL were not that great when Zook was fired the week before and yes also the defending FL champs were depleted and were mostly freshman and sophmores playing, so big deal.
8-1 against Tech while that is great to talk crap with, really is GT that tough of a win no (yes it is with WILLIE MARTINEZ as your defensive coordinator)
Richt owes a lot of his early success to Van Gordor as we saw after his departure hopefully he has hired the right D coordinator
Under CMR:
UGA has lost to Vandy and Kentucky at home in last 5 years.
UGA is 14-11 against SEC east opponents the last 5 years.
UGA is 2-7 against Florida
UGA is 3-8 against Florida and Tenn. the last five years.
UGA is 2-3 against Tenn. the last five years.
UGA has never beaten won all its SEC east games in a season
UGA has never beaten Tenn and Fla in the same season since the conference was split
You want to compare Saban to Richt well Saban has the upper hand on Richt and he has won 2 national titles to Richts hand me down SEC championships
Arizona State,
Boise State,
Boston College,
Clemson,
Colorado,
Florida State,
Georgia Tech,
Michigan State,
Oklahoma State,
Purdue,
Texas A&M,
Virginia Tech,
West Virginia, and
Wisconsin.
And those are signature wins I don’t really think so.
Again I like Richt but 3 million a year and demanding more money from fans to consistently see teams lose the big game demands in my opinion more than just 10 wins
Richt needs to take a page from Mac Brown and get people who will beat their main rival who prevents them from going to the big game. Lets hope he has done that with the new hires
Dawg in Breman
April 16th, 2010
7:37 pm
Dawg fan here beating my chest about games that happened 4,5,6 decades ago long before I was born. I would much rather have those wins under my belt then to see us beat Florida now. I reminisce about the 7 wins in a row in 1941, 1942, and 1944-1948 on the wikipedia on my laptop while riding home from Jacksonville. I read about the wins from 1931-1936 and my spirits are lifted as I cross the border back into the Peach State. Take that Gator fans, you can have your 17 wins in the last 20 games which I have attended each one of and I will take those runs we went on in the 30’s and 40’s.
yeah whatever!
April 16th, 2010
9:00 pm
and Fla owes its NC to USC losing to UCLA in 2009 and stanford in 2006…..your point?
Small Johnson's Wife
April 16th, 2010
9:45 pm
Now Small go take your medicine. He’s medicated because, unfortunately, he is really, really small.
Dawg in Bremen's boyfriend
April 16th, 2010
9:48 pm
I’m sorry for the rudeness of my “friend.” He’s so angry about another loss to Georgia he threw out all of his gold and black underwear.
Former Georgian
April 16th, 2010
10:37 pm
1. Georgia can forget winning SEC games as long as Tech grads control SEC referreeing.
2. When refs mess up the way they did last year against LSU, they should be fired permanently.
How can we expect 18 yr. old athletes to behave when the supposedly adult referees don’t?
Oh come ON!!
April 16th, 2010
11:46 pm
Do we really need this rule and more BS that refs can call’ I mean really, it’s celebration.The kids get caoght up in the moment sometimes and are pumped up.Besides, if the other teams want to cry about a little taunting, then STOP THE DAMN PERSON WITH THE BALL BEFORE HE CAN BREAK AWAY. Why are people so damn sensitive these days.BOO HOOO, My wittle feewings got huwrt! Don’t play the game then. Society has gotten soft. You know that the Bear, Erk, and every other tough as nails coaches have been constantly rolling over in their graves the past few years w/ all of the pansy a$$ rule changes. Whats next? No tackling, someone might get hurt. Or god forbid someone talk a little smack during the game, they might get their feelings hurt.
Oh come ON!!
April 16th, 2010
11:51 pm
How about we just not keep score at all, then everybody wins, nobody loses and no more hurt feelings! Then afterwards we can all storm the field, hold hands and sing Koom ba ya! That would be so great.
YELLOW HAMMER
April 17th, 2010
12:03 am
yea whatever said it uga was 2-1 in black. like he was proud of that. that = 8-4 .sounds to me that it doesn’t mater black. red .white shirts .black hats.silver britches there still an 8-4 team
The Watergirl
April 17th, 2010
2:17 am
I’m so sick and tired of everytime UGA makes a good play, the first thing I do is look up at the TV to see if yellow flag comes up!!! Putting the officials in charge of judgement calls will ruin the game we know
#2 BAMA FAN
April 17th, 2010
6:00 am
If the wheels fall off the Georgia football team this season who would replace Richt. I hope that never
happens but crazy things happen in college football every year. It is going to interesting who replaces
Nick Saban in a few years at Alabama. I think the new coaches on defense will help the dawgs be a
better team this year and get to play on New Years Day in stead of the weed eater bowl. RTR
BS Patrol
April 17th, 2010
6:33 am
What we need is more stupid rules for stupid officials. A contest of officiating. Just wait There will soon be a “Touching the QB 15 yds penalty”. The more rules for everyone,the better. Better just to lie down on the field.
Richt's Elephant
April 17th, 2010
8:04 am
Richt needs all the help he can get with special rules to beat Florida or Alabama. right now, he’s looking at 3-4 losses and another minor bowl. The SEC refs need to do something next year to get him another win or two. Damon Evans and Michael Adams need to put pressure on the SEC to “restore the dogs” to their glory days of 1980.
Dennis G. Berdanis
April 17th, 2010
8:56 am
Horrible rule change. Fans want less penalties for celebrations not more. The only thing these subjective penalties do is give the refs even more power in protecting certain teams.
NC Dawg
April 17th, 2010
9:17 am
Then, if the official gets overruled on a call against the Dawgs, they should ref the next game with one less official on the Dawgs side.
AltamahaDawg
April 17th, 2010
9:37 am
The good news is that given the scores of the past couple of Ga/Fla games, the gators would be much more likely to incur a taunting into the endzone penalty than the Dawgs, just based on opportunity.
cliff
April 17th, 2010
10:01 am
Obvious that officials favored Alabama, Florida and to a lesser degree LSU.
Small Johnson
April 17th, 2010
10:29 am
yeah whatever
And whats your point stupid, if UGA would have beaten FL in 2002 we would have played for the NC
Again FL wins the games it needs to win, we do not
Its fans like you who think 10 win seasons are great. Sorry I dont.
I much rather have Saban and Meyers records with championships than a bunch of 10 win seasons
And another thing your to stupid to realize that “SMALL JOHNSON” is making fun of PAUL and the middle school option veer Johnson. Im not a Tech fan you dope
Your intellect is real on the level of a retard
I guess your still crying that your boy WILLIE the great MARTINEZ was fired. Im sure your one of the one’s last year defending the dope.
patrick
April 17th, 2010
12:00 pm
Ur A moron. Fla did win anymore games in 2006/8 than uga won. In 2002……fla NEEDED USC to lose. Dayum u r not too bright.
Ted Stevens
April 17th, 2010
3:13 pm
As you know, the internet is a series of tubes. In these boards we see why these tubes must be regulated. Go you hairy Nanooks.
yeah whatever!
April 17th, 2010
5:11 pm
Fla needed USC to lose in 2006 and 2008.
UGA needed Ohio State to lose in 2002.
THATS the ONLY difference
FLMoonpie
April 17th, 2010
5:36 pm
To: “OH COME ON” It has been said many times that football is nothing more than “Controled Violence”, with the emphasis on “Controled”. Todays college athelete too often forgets that his mere appearance on the field representing an institution is a privalage and not a God given right. Too often these “players” exibit a total lack of sportsmanship….It’s all about “me” and my taudry attitude, about azz whooping and beatdowns. That Sir is not what football or any other game was ever intended to be.
Joes Cox
April 18th, 2010
9:19 am
THE SEASON AIN’T STARTED YET AND GEORGIA FANS ARE ALREADY WHINING ABOUT OFFICIATING?!?
Joe
April 18th, 2010
11:16 am
What a bunch of crap! The SEC officials now can really help UF……what a joke college football has become…I am done with it- good luck!
Dawg Master
April 19th, 2010
9:21 am
The UGA-hating SEC refs will continue to hose the Dawgs on big calls in 2010—mark it down.
DawgVoiceofReason
April 20th, 2010
9:44 pm
Bill,
This new rule is a DISASTER waiting to happen. This rule is almost guaranteed to ruin one or more teams season, when some official costs that team victory by making a mistake on a call in a key game.
Think about this for a minute. This is the most severe penalty in the entire history of college football. This is a rule specifically designed to take 7 points away from a team based ENTIRELY on a subjective call. You may say that other penalties may cost a team a touchdown or many yards in lost yardage, but this rule is set up specifically to take away the points scored. Unbelievable. The FOOLS who made this rule must not have a clue about what happened with some of the horrible calls in the SEC in 2009.