The SEC, its refs and the conspiracy theory: No sale, I say

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! And Second!!

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Many thanks, Mark

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Its all about the spreads and Vegas Baby!! The Mob has their hand in it. I think the refs need to take longer to review these questionable plays rather than throw the flag and move on. SEC games are always competitive and their needs to more analyzing rather than going by first look or judgement.

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Sorry Mark, but you’re just plain ign’ant on the Cody situation. Doesn’t matter if the ball was still live or not, helmet removal/celebration is treated as a dead ball foul, meaning it would be enforced after the play was over. In this case it would have been treated as a post-possession foul. From the rule book:

“(f) Removal of a player’s helmet before he is in the team area (Exceptions: Team, media or injury timeouts; equipment adjustment; through play; between periods; and during a measurement for a first down).

. . .If committed while the ball is alive, these fouls are treated as dead-ball fouls. “

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Mark, I don’t know that there is a conspiracy per se. But, you have the two highest paid coaches in the league, along with the highest profile player in the league, combined with the numbers one ane two ranked teams in the country. I would think that all of those factors would combine to produce hesistance/resistance on the part of the officials going in to an Alabama or Florida game from the start.

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What about the non-call on the Teebow celebration and exhorting the crowd in the Arkansas game – anything AJ did PALES in comparison to that.

Mark, I hear you, but I disagree that rigging the game would be difficult, in truth, I think it would be very easy. Too many call very bad calls going the way of the “favorites” in the SEC. I can’t explain it another way besides collusion.

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Mark – not that I subscribe to it, but the LSU/UGA conspiracy theorists believe that the SEC wanted to preserve the next week’s Floriday/LSU Saturday night game as a game between undefeated teams. An LSU loss to UGA would have stripped that game of some of its luster.

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I agree with WhopperDawg- why can’t Tebow get a flag for pumping up the crowd or his team. Isn’t he drawing attention to himself? But i guess its just Tebow- God’s gift to college football.

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Tebow can do anything he wants…ESPN holds the record for “man-crushes” on this guy! SEC officials can’t help but follow along. He left the bench for cryin’ out loud in last years game to “show boat” and didn’t get anything called!

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Baby Kiffin complained that Alabama had messed with the headsets in order to give the Tide an advantage. However, Lame failed to realize that the Volunteers had overloaded the circuits and tripped a fuse. They plugged all their equipment into the same outlet (ignoring the many open outlets) and thus caused their own problem. Yet, he was so mad he crossed his arms and pouted to the refs while his Dad did all the talking. Poor guy. He can’t win so all he can do is complain.

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Mark, I have to agree wiu others here.

Why does Teblow NEVER get called for excessive celebration?

He’s an insufferable attention hog on and off the field (funny how ESPN’s cameras never find Mark Richt building school houses in Guatamala, but they can find Teblow performing unescessary, religiously motivated surgeries in the Philippines).

He is ALWAYS calling attention to himself after even the most innocuous of plays, yet NEVER gets penalized.

There IS a kind of conspiracy with SEC refs in that Florida and Alabama and LSU will always get the benefit of the doubt, while everyone else is called tighter.

Basically, it’s the NBA star rule of refereeing. Kobe and LeBron get all the calls, Al Horford doesn’t (yet).

There is favoritism at play here, Mark, especially with Teblow. At least acknowledge that.

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I dont have a problem with a ref missing a call. A Call. But for three plus years it seems SEC refs miss the Tebow antics on a 2 yard run for a first down.Time and Time again. Guess he is just passionate, while anyone else doing the same is calling attention to themselves. Care to comment Mark? Guy on CBS sure did.

Actually, I will go so far as to say, I think racism is involved. Yes I said the R word. OOOH.

As to the Florida-Georgia game. Dawgs will have to play the cleanest game of their lives. No turnovers. And I predict—wait for it, wait for it, here it comes ” A questionable call by the Referees.”Against UGA. That will be no factor on the outcome. But fuel the debate.

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Excellent article, Mark. Here’s another thing to think about with regard to the whole conspiracy thing: if you were an official (or an SEC exec), would you willingly subject yourself to the crap they deal with on a blown call so that CBS’ ratings would improve? Would that be enough motivation for you to intentionally make a bad call, knowing that writers and bloggers will vilify you and that hundreds of crazy fans will call you at home and at work, threatening you and your family, saying unbelievably nasty things about you, and sending you hundreds of nasty and threatening emails?

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I agree that conspiracy theories are nuts.

But is it possible that there are individual officials who might carry a grudge or have a favorite? Sure.

Could there be corruption? Of course. There’s too much money involved.

Can the officiating be better? Hell yes.

This debate is healthy, and maybe some of the pathetic officials will be weeded out now where they would have skated by before.

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The issue amongst most isn’t whether SEC refs are fixing games (can anyone link to even one blog alleging the refs are?), but rather whether the refs are competent. SEC football is a multi-billion dollar business, yet the referee system is still managed in the same manner as it was 50 years ago.

There is no place, given the money and stakes involved, for part-timers in today’s game. Like the multi-billion dollar NFL, officiating should be professionalized as a full time occupation.

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The figures behind the wall past the grassy knoll — weren’t they wearing black & white stripes? Hmmm…

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I don’t know about conspiracy theory, but anyone that watches SEC football or basketball can tell that some refs have it in for some teams. And they affect the outcome of games. Florida gets the most help. Why has the last two Head of SEC officials, Rogers Redding and Bobby Gaston been Ga. Tech graduates, . That’s a little too much of a coincidence for me.

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MB: Regarding AJ – in this case, the photo lies, but the video doesn’t. Go back and watch the video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-qccCuL4nQ) and you’ll see that it was his teammates who pushed him backward toward the hedges. He didn’t try to separate himself. The photo doesn’t show the context of the event.

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Bradley, that is absurd and this is the worst article you’ve ever written which is saying a lot. How dare you defend these thug officials? There is a reason they were suspended and should be fired. There is an SEC conspiracy and unless you’re wearing blinders it is obvious. So UGA lost because maybe Green didn’t want to be mauled by his teammates?…Come on , mark and your DB colleague.

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I don’t really know where to start. A lot I want to say but I’ll just start with a couple…may come back later with a few more.

First, LSU was undefeated and right around a top 5 team I believe when they played UGA. The very next week, I think, they were playing Florida. So while now the matchup everyone wants is UF-Ala, back LSU was also one of the blessed SEC undefeateds. And a Florida win over LSU looked much better when LSU was still undefeated at the time.

Second, I’m tired of all this(mainly coming from the “all-knowing” Tony Barnhart) talk about the officials just reacting to a play and that the losing team never should have been in that position…blah, blah, blah. If that’s the case then why have I always heard football is a “game of inches”. The truth is, sometimes games come down to mere inches(see: The greatest show on turf hold on to beat the Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV)

Anyway, I know anyone who speaks up about something where there could be conspiring going on is immediately dubbed a fringe-surfing lunatic, so I won’t go on anymore.

But bottom line is college football is no longer an amatuer sport, while the players aren’t compensated, there is a lot of money to be made in NCAA football. I know at my job I get paid to bring in more money to my company. What does the SEC pay its officials to do? Just saying…

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MB, I agree with Rob (above). What’s with the ACC vs. SEC refs comment at the end? It had nothing to do with your otherwise good article. Besides, what is your argument here? Why make a statement like that without some kind of argument to defend it?

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It is absolutely asinine to even suggest that A.J. Green might have been separating himself. The fact that you bring it here completely blows my mind. His touchdown reception was no different than probably THOUSANDS of others that have occurred with no flag thrown. The SEC admitted his actions didn’t constitute excessive celebration. End of story. But kudos (since that apparently is the word of the blog) on perpetuating the illusion that he was “separating himself from teammates” by using a misleading sequence of photos rather than complete videos from several different angles. Why does it matter how much closer this ref was to A.J. than the camera men (ever heard of the zoom feature?)? It doesn’t change the fact that he wasn’t doing anything wrong. If anything it proves that the call was that much MORE ridiculous since the ref was that close and still threw the flag over nothing. Watch the video, it was good enough for the SEC officials. Or you can just continue to fan the flames because you think it makes for a good read. It’s not like this was an example of where live footage could betray the eye or prove inconclusive (like not being able to tell if a runner beat the throw, or seeing if a ball hit the ground). Heavy analysis is not required here, but thanks anyways.

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Hey here is one for you. If the Gator chomp that Tebow and the rest of Florida does on a big play is not a penalty, not drawing attention to one’s self? Is it because that is what Gator’s do in nature? Chomp on things.

Well if that is the reason no penalty on the Gator players for the chomp, I guess the Georgia players could get on all fours after a big player and raise their hind leg, and simulate what a dog does, you know like what that soccer play did a few years back. Do you think the SEC referees would call a penalty and say ” the player was drawing attention to him self, or say ” no he was simulating what a Dog in nature does, you know p&%s on things.

Again, the media, does not want to talk about that. They LOVE Tebow ( and yes, I think he is a great football player and individual)
So the chomp will continue, unabated, and with no penalties on a 2 yard first down.

And another comment. Florida and Alabama are hands down best teams in the nation and in the SEC. But after what I have seen from both teams in the last couple of weeks, that is a sorry statement on this years college football team. Florida looked bad against Ark, Miss State. Alabama looked bad against Tenn.

Just bad football from good teams, that are the best college football has to offer. Reality is I wish this year’s Georgia team was just good enough to be competitive with these ” less than stellar teams”. Unfortunately that is not the case.

But I will drink my liquor and cheer for them just the same.
And thank god I am not a Tech fan.

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Good point Island Dawg!

I’m sure as a kid Green, like many of us with lesser abilities, dreamed of being mauled by his teammates after scoring a big touchdown.

But now, Green scores a lot. And it probably gets old after a while, especially when you have 300 pound linemen trying to jump alll over you.

I would be trying to excape too, or end up like Ted Ginn Jr in the title game a few years back…

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You obviously havn’t seen Teebow acting like a Baboon every time he runs the ball six yards.

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Vince Vance arrested last night but Mark Richt says it will not affect his status for Saturday’s game. Of course it won’t! Richt is such a wuss its not even funny. Way to step up and let all your other players know that you can get arrested and still continue to play! What a role model he is.

“Just don’t let it happen again, Vince. Now get in that locker room and get ready to beat the Gators Saturday.” yep, Slap em on the Wrist Richt strikes again.

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Jim, is that conjecture about UT tripping the circuits and knocking out the headsets, or do you have a source for it? I haven’t seen that anywhere.

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Mark, I may be raising something that’s already been chewed over, but the actual conspiracy theory to check is UGA’s rate of penalization since the Jax endzone dance (following the Nashville stomp). It might be worth checking the numbers when it comes to penalties-per-game since that dance, versus the penalties-per-game in the same number of games before CMR decided to show everyone he had an edge to him. If the numbers do reveal a noticeable uptick — particularly in unnecessary roughness or unsportsmanlike infractions — it still is not likely to be the product of a conspiracy. Instead, it’s probably the collective result of individual refs making calls with one thing in the back of their minds — the Dawgs and their coach not afraid to blatantly violate the rules, and need to be kept in check.

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To the conspiracy theory crackpots, could you explain the mechanics of how it would work, i.e. who initiates it, how many officials are brought into the loop, how the officials can react fast enough to make the right bad call at the right time, what happens if the officials miss an opportunity to make a bad call and the wrong team wins, how no official approached to participate in the conspiracy ever says no and talks to the press, etc.?

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Wow, this is great. I want have to watch any comedy on TV tonight. This is hilarious. By the way, I think I saw a flag thrown from the grassy knoll. Why don’t you mistreated SEC schools leave the conference and form your own conference?

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You’re saying they should have called a penalty after the game was over? It’s not as though there were another play forthcoming on which it could be assessed. I think you’re playing with semantics to avoid answering for a misleading article.

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It’s easy DP. Call more penalties on one team rather than the other. i.e. Tennessee Bama

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Bad calls? yes. Conspiracy Theory? No. Let’s see. There are approximately 6 officials on the field for each game. The GA-LSU and FL-ARK crew was suspended. We know that the FL-MS ST crew was different than the AL-UT crew. Who knows who the crews were for the other games that you all are crying about? I understand that there is a lot of money in football and the SEC would financially benefit from a UF-AL championship game but if you actually believe that the SEC told at least 18 guys to favor these two teams your an idiot. The official who outed this scheme (even if it was subtly implied) could write a book and make millions.

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V. VANCE can’t you get a driver license? STUPID DAWG brakes the law a few days before the Gator game. HAHAHAHAH. CMR it will be handled internally. Of course he will play it is UGA/ Clarke County Jail vs the Gators. Marke grow a PAIR. Fire BOBO, Willie, and Kick players of the team. Vince get out of the Rose garden and voice your discust with the State of UGA FOOTBALL.

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I agree with BugKiller.
Not only does Tebow not get called for excessive celebration, he’s also immune to personal fouls.
He stiff armed the Miss. State defender in the face mask on his TD run in a picture shown round the nation, but didn’t get called for it. It should have negated the TD with a 15-yard penalty from the spot of the foul.

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And to the best of my knowledge Donaghy (NBA ref) fixed a variety of games not just for one team. Attention is the last thing that the mob wants. By the way, if the mob paid off the refs in the last couple of Florida and Alabama games, you may find those refs in concrete as they haven’t come close to beating the spread.

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Actually, Mark according to Tony Barnhart and the SEC you’re wrong on the following point…

You said: “About Kiffin’s beef: He has one. Alabama’s Terrence Cody blocked what would have been the game-winning field as time expired and tore off his helmet while the ball was still loose. Should have been a penalty. But would refs in the conference that chastised its men for penalizing Green dare to assess another excessive celebration in another high-profile game?”

Tony’s article from yesterday: “The other call came at the end of the Tennessee-Alabama game. Alabama’s Terrence Cody blocked a Tennessee field goal as time expired and in the wild celebration that followed the big guy took off his helmet. Gary Danielson, who covered the game for CBS, wondered if it should have been an unsportsmanlike violation because it happened while the ball was still live. Kiffin was convinced that it was and said publicly that the refs had missed it.

Well, the refs didn’t miss it. The way the rule is written, even if a penalty had been called (which it shouldn’t be in that situation), it would have been marked off on the next play and not the previous play. The ball belonged to Alabama after the blocked kick.

“That’s a case where the rule is pretty clear,” said Redding. “Even if there had been time left on the clock, the ball would have belonged to Alabama. And if a penalty had been called, it would still be Alabama’s ball after the penalty was enforced.”’

Look at that the AJC is about as consistent as our (UGA) defense has been this year.

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The call on Mt Cody would have been after the game was over and would not have resulted in an additonal attempt.

The call on MSU made a difference in the game
The call on Arkansas made a difference in the game

The call on AJ Green made a dfifference in a game.

That is why they were suspended.

After watching the Rogers Redding on Tony Barnhardts show, It is apparent why the SEC ref’s are under such fire. If you want to see incompetence, just keep watching the SEC refs.

My father now deceased was an SEC ref, and thye had one rule back then that should go into play now. Unless it is pesonal foul, and it is not in the play and does not affect the play, don’t call it. Maybe we should go towards that now.

The SEC refs’ have lowered themselves to below big East refs. If a replay official can’t turn over an obvious replay call, then there is a problem, and there is something to this”conspiracy”. It has seemed obvious for years to most of us, and at least for four years one player has gotten away with excessive celebrations, and I’m sure he will again on Saturday.

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Saint Richt,

Did I miss something…was Vince Vance wielding a fire arm or abusing his girlfriend? No…he had a suspended license. Get real, in Knoxville Eric Barry could drive a Bull Dozzer down main street without a license anywhere on him and the local law enforcement would be blocking off intersections for him.

This whole thing is a joke, and it only happens in Athens.

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Why would you expect Vince to be suspended from the game? He ran a red light, so what? Would you be suspended or fired from your job for that?

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I wear no tin foil hat, therefore I do not believe the conspiracy theory stated. Bama won fair and square and I am proud of my Vols for giving Bama hell right to the end. With a depleted, less talented roster, I think they did quite well for themselves.
One question: Could we start a fundraiser so that Bama could afford a groundskeeper or at least some green paint? Your field looked like an overused urban high school football field. You are Division IA, right?

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Does anybody on our football team have a valid drivers license?

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Mark thank you for being the only voice of reason on this Newspaper.

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Mark,

You fail to mention that Alabama recovered the ball, so even if a flag is thrown, it only moves Alabama back 15 yards and there was not even any time for another play. Also, I believe that the ball crossed the line of scrimmage, so Tennessee cannot advance the ball. Also, there are pictures that show that Cody had his helmet on when the clock hit zero.

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Mark, you pick UGA to lose Saturday, which I agree with. However, does Florida cover the 16 1/2 point spread or does UGA keep it close?

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Enter your comments here
Mark,

Your response to Jennifer would make Bill Clinton proud. Can’t you man-up and admit you were wrong??

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Incompetent conpirators! In the LSU-Georgia game those boobs waited to call a game-winning penalty (for themselves) that resulted in a kickoff from the 15 yard line? That’s cutting it a bit close, don’t you think? There would have been a mob shootout in the refs’ motel rooms after the game.

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If you run a red light in athens you get arrested. You get a ticket anywhere else. You get arrested for possession of alcohol by minor in athens. You get your parents called or a ticket anywhere else. The Athens police(in general) are the worse I have ever seen anywhere in the US. There are some that are good guys just trying to do their jobs, but the majority are looking to arrest you for anything

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The big problem, if there is no conspiracy going on, is that the refs are absolutely incompetent.

Which is worse?

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oops, meant “head of ACC officiating” (Doug Rhoads)

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Mark,… it doesn’t take all the referees to be involved to affect the outcome of a game. there can be as few as one or two, calling penalties at opportune moments of the game. and, as you know from history, this has happened more than a few times. and it’s not necessarily a league thing, but a school thing! it doesn’t take a great leap, for example, to find alabama or florida boosters paying off officials, because it’s extremely important for them to consider themselves the best in the sec. we know what alabama boosters are capable of doing, it’s been proven in the past! i hope that it’s not true, but only a fool could think it’s not possible!

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Joe – Interesting question…which is worse, an incompetent official, or an official who is incompetent as a conspirator?

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Tom, the ref who threw the flag on Green was not a Gtu grad, however, the head of the crew, Quarles(sp?) is a Gtu grad. Therefore, the final say in a judgement call belongs to him.

Al Ford was the instant replay guy that day. Seriously? Al friggin Ford? The guy who made one of the worst missed calls in recent CFB memory?

And, if true about the head of ACC refs being a UF grad, I am sure that the FSU fans who know that grumble about it every time a disputable call goes against them.

That brings up another point about the refs-transparency. Try finding out who the refs for an SEC game will be this weekend. Go ahead, and I will wait here until someone comes back with the answer.

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Conspiracy theories are the hobgoblins of little minds.

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You know – you DAWG fans are almost too pathetic to warrant a comment on your continual whining about the officiating – particularly the call against Green. Did it ever occur to you pathetic losers that if you had COVERED the freak’n kickoff and then not allowed the RB for LSU to run 37 yards for a TD (of which he would have scored had they been on their own 20) that GA would have won?? Besides – GA still got the ball back (on an excessive celebration pay back call against LSU) with 58 seconds left. What happened to your glorious kick return guys that you couldn’t even advance it beyond the 35 – even with the 15 yard pay-back penalty. Just quit crying and win a game against a decent team (not talking about Vandy or UL-F).

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Oh noes, Vance failed to yield with an expired license, let’s just give him the chair. Ugh, only pathetic life-losers like POAD would even think of kicking a player off the team for something like this.

But seriously, do we need a drivers license renewal coach at UGA? Come to think of it, that sounds like a position that Willie might, MIGHT be able to handle without screwing up.

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Hey Mark Bradley – You just showed your true colors when you had to take a swipe at the ACC on your last comment. Are you becoming obnoxious like most UGA fans – where to make your self and your team look better (from your own pathetic perspective) you have to put down the ACC? Well, I hope you feel better. But I do know that I will always from here on out view your comments as biased against Tech and the ACC. Sorry – you blew your hand.

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[...] Mark Bradley of The AJC doesn’t understand that the a flag against Terrence Cody would not have made any difference in Saturday’s Tennessee-Alabama game.  (But he goes on to make a good point that officials [...]

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Maybe with all this attention with the refs, the Gators might not get their obligatory free touchdown from the refs this weekend. A rare evenly called game could be interesting.

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Good Luck moving the ball against the Flolida D. 7 Games = 4 Touchdowns Allowed, 58 Points Surrendered…………..by the defense. UGA can thank the refs for Florida’s domination this year as a defensive unit.

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It’s not the refs who do it. They are told to do it by someone or some group. You don’t have so many bad calls go the same way for the same team without some kind of shady operation. With all the inethical behavior we see today and the rise in crime, why would anyone think this wouldn’t happen. There are tens of millions of dollars at stake.

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I saw a documentary some years ago about refs getting ready to officiate a game. They did conspire. They talked about what to watch for “that” game. They talked about instructions about how tight or not tight to call certain things. I was astonished. Sure enough in the game, those calls were made. That seems like mild conspiracy to me.

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“One is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.”
Ian Fleming, “Goldfinger”

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It was pretty clear to me on both the UF/AR and UGA/LSU games that both calls were complete BS – before the SEC came out and said I was right.

For the record, I wanted to UT to win against BAMA. However, the game was effing over. I’m glad that call wasn’t made. Kiffin needs to worry about his kicking squad who went 1 for 4, not the refs calling a stupid penalty that would have been unfounded and would have decided the game.

Not sure about the Miss State UF scenario. I guess I wasn’t paying attention on that one…

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No GeoffDawg – you are just like most other UGA fans, pathetic whiners, who – because of the logic you lack and your pure obsession with your beloved Dawgs causes you to lose complete objectivity – feel like you have to belittle someone else who may make a objective (yes, you are fee to look that word up in the dictionary) comment that may go contrary to your liking concerning the dawgs. I sure hope that made you feel better – but since I understand where it is coming from I just have to laugh. Now – talk about IQ?

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You’re an idiot. They should put your mom and uncle in jail!

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i likes men, i likes football players, i likes hairy men

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Mark, you are educating us with Wiki definitions?? I now know the definition and origin of “kudos”. I feel….dirty. This blog is supposed to be a haven for the unwashed and uneducated.

Must wash knowledge off immediately!!

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I agree and disagree with your reasoning. No I don’t think there is a mass conspiracy, but I do thing individuals and certain groups of refs show they are leaning one way or the other during certain games. EX: How many times have you seen refs give bad spots for one team and liberal spots for the other. One team constantly holds, but the other doesn’t (even though you see them obviously holding on many plays). There is already proof that refs are caught or under suspension of throwing games. The problem is that no League wants that kind of bad publicity and ignore or even hide the evidence that it is going on. Teams that continually get home cooking refs (my short list): Notre Dame, Florida, Alabama, Texas, Ohio State and Southern Cal. If you go back through their seasons and weigh bad calls versus favorable, these teams always come out in the plus.

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If you want to see a major ref screw up, turn on espn classic for the Co Mi game from 1990. The 5th down on the final drive of the game. Them refs sure do a good job!

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Mark — If you had any doubts about how off base you are with your analysis, you should stop pondering this any further — you and Ramble On!!! are in complete agreement. Well done sir, well done.
Conspiracy? No. Favoritism? Certainly. Incompetence? Without question.

Was it a “conspiracy” that got MJ every call? Was it a conspiracy that led to his never being called for traveling? No, on either question. However, it was clearly favoritism or whatever you want to call it. It was an inconsistent and unfair application of the rules, which has clearly been the case with Tebow. As David Hale of the Macon Telegraph correctly stated on his blog, Tebow can “launch bottle rockets from the 50 yard line and do Irish step dances” after every inconsequential 2 yd pickup and you get crickets from the SEC refs. So, what do you call that Mark? Good and fair officiating?

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Vince Vance – The latest UGA criminal, congrats.

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I dont think its a conspiracy at all but definately there are bias’ against teams not named Florida. People are complaining bout the fumble by Fl at the goal line but to me the real issue was he didnt get flagged for showboating by highstepping his way to the endzone. WHY???How about when Fl played LSU, Fl’s one td came after the reciever held the LSU db and pulled away from him. Another no call against Fl. WHY?? UGA getting the unsportsman calls wouldnt bother me as much if the same calls were levied against Fl. To the person who says about the LSU game their rb ran for that 30yd td to win the game, did you even see the game? On that play Rennie Curran was tackled from behind while Scott was at the line of scrimmage or else he may have made the tackle. On that play LSU should have been flagged for holding or least block in the back, but nothing was called. They should have backed LSU up and made em do it again, but they didn’t. WHY?? There was another game where AJ Green scored a td by dragging his toe in the endzone as he caught the ball, refs on the field called it out of bounds no td. The replays CLEARLY showed from several angles that it was a td but the replay official did not overturn it. WHY??? Against Vandy, Smith was flagged for throwing the ball down from about his waisteline and was flagged but when Vandy ripped Joe Cox’s towel from him and threw it in the air there was no flag. WHY??? There is no way refs are not still holding a grudge on UGA for the dance incident two years ago. I dont think its a conspiracy at all but we do get the worst end of all the calls even when they are clearly wrong. I think on our first td this Sat against Fl the whole team should go on the field again and dance their butts off. Yeah we’ll get flagged but who cares at this point, we are probably going to get flagged if we get anywhere colse to Teblow anyway, might as well make it worth it.

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Hold on GeoffDawg – while I get my dentures back out – them are fight’n words. LOL

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Hello Marky boy. Thanks for the “food for thought” article. I don’t believe there is a conspiracy among zebras but I am very certain of an INTIMIDATION FACTOR by which especially Florida and now Bama benefit. Can you just imagine if Fla. got a celebration call at the end of a game thus costing them a win and a championship ??? Will not happen.

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There is manipulation in everything. Stocks, where you work, your credit card. Your wife or girlfriend. Why would someone think it doesn’t happen in a sport of all places? The refs and their bosses have clearly shown they want uf and bama 1 and 2 when they meet. Since the refs have been busted, it will be harder for them though. So look for lots of calls that aren’t as obvious. Like holding, shifts, delay of game with 1-2 sec left etc.

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Mark, a big, fat, Greek kudos to you for that insightful article. My theory is that the original Grand Conspiracy was organized by the Devil (Satan, Old Scratch, Old Harry, Old Splitfoot), and all others are spin-offs, pikers, or non-existent.

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Tide Fan has it right. The foul that should have been called on Cody, would not have impacted the game. It would have placed a 15 yard penalty on Alabama’s subsequent possession (as they downed the blocked kic)of the ball, but with no time left, there was no subsequent possession. This “conspiracy theory” is crazy when you look at the insane number of penalties Alabama has had in prior games this season. I saw a cleaner game Saturday, not because of conspiracy, but more likely because of the running imposed by Saban after the SC game.

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Navigator,

I can’t argue the other teams but in Alabama’s case the homecooking argument pertaining to the refs doesn’t hold water if you look at the facts. The same crew that officiated Bama-Ut officiated Bama’s home game with Carolina a week earlier. In that game we had 10 penalties for 113 yds compared to 5 for 60 against Carolina. Refs helping bama? I think not.

On the season in the SEC only 5 of the 12 SEC teams have been penalized more than Bama so if the refs are helping Bama they sure seem to be doing a poor job of it according to the facts.

A handful of people have pointed out that in the Bama-UT game that UT had 8 penalties to Bama’s 1 and so this disparity must mean the refs benefitted Bama. Not so fast my friend.

Of UTs 8 penalties 7 of them were so obvious and so cut and dried that they can’t not be called. Delay of game, false start, illegal procedure, there is nothing subjective about these calls. They were obvious, everyone could see them, and the ref has to call them.

Holding calls are more subjective.UT got called for one holding call and this was blatant. They also got called for a block into the knees on a kick return that the entire audience and several refs saw. It couldn’t not be called.

In terms of officiating replays show UT got away with several noncalls. On the last drive there was a blatant non call holding where our rush lb Chavis WIlliams was held.

Pass interference also should have been called against UT when the db clearly stopped Julio Jones from pursuing his route for the ball in the end zone. The rule states you cannot inhibit a receiver from running his route. Plain and simple but the refs didn’t call it because they wanted to let the teams play.

Last the refs missed a wide open pick play that was obvious to all watching where one wr picked our db to allow the other wr to pick up a 7-8 yard pass on the way to a 1st down. The commentators both noted this and wondered how the ref could miss this.

On the Terrance Cody play there is much ado about nothing. If the official had thrown the flag on Cody then Alabama still would have received the play regardless of whether the unsportsmanlike happened during the live kick play or after it. It would have been Bama’s ball regardless. Game over.

Going by the facts if anything the officiating very clearly helped UT with the several blatant non calls that should have been called against UT. But again, the refs wanted to let the teams play, keep the subjective calls to a minimum, and only call the obvious cut and dried calls that have to be called.

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Does anyone really think the BCS wants fla bama texas to lose before their conf champs? Do they want usc, tex, fla, bama to all have 1 loss and iowa and tcu 12-0 and they vote in fla tex or fla usc? Do you really think they want that scenario?

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For you conspiracy theorists…..dont forget that CBS was advertising the #1GAtors vs the #4Tigers long before LSU and UGa played….wow, what a shock to the ratings if LSu to UGa looses…….oh yeh, doesnt the SEC and CBS sports have some television contractual agreements… things that make you say uhmmmm

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Hdawg09,

Cody got back in his stance before the ball snapped and it did not draw the o-lineman offsides so no penalty is warranted. You say that not one but several of the calls against UT was iffy. I’m calling boolsheet on that statement. All but possibly one were cut and dried with no subjectivity. Here is a rundown on them for you and navigator on these “imaginary penalties” as Lame kiffin calls em.

Lane Kiffin, let’s look at the eight penalties that you believe were unfairly called on your team:

Penalty number 1 — 620 to go in the 1Q

False start – five yards — yep, I’m sure that call was imaginary.

Penalty number 2 — Alabama’s ball with 448 to go in the 1Q

Pass interference – 8 yards — yep, I’m sure that call was completely imaginary as well

Penalty number 3 early 3Q on punt to Alabama

Illegal block below the waist when the TN player took out our blocking wedge on Javy’s return — right out in the open — I’m sure that Kiffin will send that video to the SEC as evidence of an imaginary call.

Penalty number 4 — mid 3Q

Delay of game — My God — this was obviously a made-up, favor Alabama call that no reasonable person would have called on TN

Penalty number 5 — early 4Q

False start — I mean, I’m sure you could look at that play over and over again and not find a single flinch by UT — an obviously biased call by the pro-Alabama crew.

Penalty number 6 – early 4Q

Holding — interestingly, the only holding call on UT all day long — if you had a biased crew — holding would be the one call you would call all day long – and yet, only one holding all day long.

Penalty number 7 — late 4Q

Roughing the kicker — I’m surprised that Kiffen didn’t pull his team off the field when this was called — obviously his man never even touched PJ Fitzgerald.

Penalty number 8 — last 4Q

False start — the last straw I’m sure in Kiffin’s mind, and the smoking gun that just proves the refs were biased — another magical flag.

In summary, Kiffin essentially accused the crew of being biased for calling eight penalties on his team — and at least seven of the eight were obvious, out in the open calls — and only one of them was a holding call.

After reviewing this list, Slive should have suspended Kiffin this time — because Kiffin had zero basis to question any of the calls on his team – there was nothing questionable about any of these calls — unlike Mullen’s or Petrino’s complaints.

Someone in the media should call Kiffin out, and ask him specifically about what calls he questioned — the false starts? the delay of game? the roughing the kicker?

He isn’t just being obnoxious — he’s being flat out dishonest.

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neat comment mark- the officials are not smart enough??? Geez- what cant you get a spine and call out what is clear to everyone. Like above- replays do not lie.

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Half-time in JAX FL 36 UGA 10

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Mark Bradley is full of baloney. If it look like a duck, and quack like a duck and walk like a duck it is duck! The Refs have screwed up four ga,es at least this season in 2009 and we have another month to go and ths SEC championship Game. There is no excuse for screw up at this level. If etheir is bad call then the refs need to be overruled and not let a bad call stand. People’s money, reputations, and jobs are at stke.
The NBA said no one was cheating and theu lied. I would not trust anyone after the Gren call in the LSU game. Trust in God/Allah; everyone elso must be verufied and rechecked. By the way lets look at the officials Income Tax returns for the last foru years to see if anything is untoward!Kiffin, Muellen, Petrino, and the Bulldogs fans are right and Mark Bradley is totally wrong!!!!!

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In the Big 10, we’ve had the problem for years with Michigan getting all of the calls, ranging from completions ruled incomplete, the clock getting reset in Michigan’s favor, thankfully my Penn State team blew them out badly enough this year so as to remove the refs from the equation.

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Mark Bradley is totally wrong. in at least four games this year in the SEC the refs have totally blown it. The SEC plays us as fools. They know the refs blew it at least four times. They know something smells to High Heaven. While Bradley puts his trust in the stupid refs, Kiffin, Petrino, Mullen, and the Bulldog fans can see with their own eyes that the refs blew.
I want to suggest that the SEC be investigated on the ref issue and that all the refs’ Federal and State Income Tax Reurns be publicized. Something is seriously wrong here and Bradley knows it.

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Why is it SO hard to fathom that with MILLIONS of dollars at stake and just after a BILLION dollars worth of deals with CBS and ESPN were made, that the SEC powers that be wouldn’t protect their own interests?

Let’s see what do the refs have to lose if they don’t play ball:

1. a six figure a year partime job
2. a chance to go to a nice vaccation spot in the winter for a bowl assignment.
3. a boat load of under the table cash for just simply doing their job with a slightly tilted perspective.

Penalities in the two most controversial games:
Bama 1-10yds
Tenn 8-68yds

Florida 3-16yds
Arkansas 10- 97yds

But again you people with your heads buried in the sand are probably right, everything is on the up and up!

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GoVols – I can buy the Tebow omission because as I understand it, it’s pretty common for headcoaches to delegate things like voting in polls to people on staff and then sign off on it with only a cursory glance. I also agree that South Carolina has taken some of the smirk out of him and he’s recently coming across as more bitter than before.

However, with the absolute media deluge of attention that Kiffin’s received over every last public statement since starting at UT, it’s hard to believe that he’s still not enlightened to the impact that his words have. I think you’re right though that it could be partly due to immaturity or it could just be his personality. Kiffin and I are about the same age, and while I don’t pretend to understand what it’s like to have that much publicity, I’m fairly confident that most people our age know how their words reflect on them.

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Jaxdawg,Thomas Anthony Jones,

You guys need to read my comments from 3:34 and 3:41. As I clearly point out with FACTS please do not include your idea that the UT/Bama game was poorly officiated in Bama’s favor. A review of each of UTs penalties shows very clearly that they were all clear cut, obvious penalties that can’t not be called. The video replays and the facts show that the officiating in fact hurt Bama more.

Also, you fail to explain why the same refs that worked the UT/Bama game also worked the Bama/SC game a week earlier and assessed 10 penalties against Bama for 113 yds, twice as much as against SC in a very close game.

Last, if the refs are cheating for Bama then why is it of 12 sec teams only 5 teams have more penalties than Bama. Seems the refs are doing a poor job of cheating if they’re helping Bama.

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Hey Mark- Sounds like you are as stupid as slime..I mean slive. You actually think this crap of an article makes sense????

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Lenny, I think the only bar you’ve passed has a neon sign in the window.

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I agree that the refs have made some terrible calls, but I can understand how most of them – most of them – could be made in haste. Doesn’t mean it was the right call.

And why would the refs be conspiring to have a Florida/Bama title game? What do they have to gain from this?

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Mark I doubt you’ll ever read this far down, but all it takes is one bad official per crew to work on point spreads and the Back Judges are in perfect position to make those calls. There is always contact on pass plays, but those guys get to play GOD and determine what is interference and what isn’t. During the Ark-Fla game you could see the difference between how the game was called on just two plays where offensive interference was called against the Ark player and not called on a much clearer offensive interference against the Fla receiver. It only takes one bad apple, check the NBA if you doubt that.

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To Saint Richt, What Vance was arrested for should have never hit the news, I mean lets get real here, Misdemeanor Traffic Violations, is there not more important news out there than to worry about traffic violations by a 19 or 20 year old kid? So Saint Richt grow up and quit crying I mean if you do all the crying what is the baby gonna do?

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Area 51…..now THAT’S funny!!!

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A 22 year old College Football player…with a learner’s permit?!

Can he read?

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1dawg fan you do know that dui, possession and battery are also misdeamnors too right?

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Larry Munson,

Quit stealing our Bama quotes like stupid is as stupid does! And thats all I got to say about that.

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Why was there no flag on Cody? because a game can’t end on a defensive penalty. If they throw the flag, tenn gets another kick.

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A couple of years ago (I believe 2006), Mississippi State had Georgia on the ropes. I forget the details of the play, but Miss. St. made a very long play that was going to go for a touchdown. Almost after the fact, an official who was more than 20 yards from the closest player through a flag that nullified the touchdown (I believe offensive pass interference). Replays could not find any foul, in fact they couldn’t find that the player in question came anywhere close to a Georgia player. They showed the official and where he was looking. It sure looked like he saw what was happening and through a flag. Now, I was watching that game and pulling for Georgia, but it was the most blatant call of a penalty just for the sake of protecting the highly ranked SEC team and its bowl considerations that I had ever seen. Who’s to say that the same thing didn’t happen in Georgia_LSU or Arkansas-Florida? But it’s not just an SEC problem. It’s not just a college problem. With all of the resources available, and the fact that penalties are often of great consequence to the outcome of games, there is really no good reason that these sould not be reviewable.

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Teague “1dawg fan you do know that dui, possession and battery are also misdeamnors too right?”

dui – serious
battery – serious

possession (of beer) – who cares? The only way you should get in trouble for this is if you do other crimes such as dui or battery.

Running a red light – not something good, but absolutely a misdemeanor that deserves a small fine. There is no way my tax dollars should pay to have someone arrested for this. This is a gross abuse of power by the Athens cops.

having a valid license – I don’t understand this, but it apparently is part of the culture. For whatever reason, every single uga news story that has broken on misdemeanor traffic violations has also failed to have a valid license. I don’t give a rip about this either, because it is nothing but a $20 tax. Anybody who can pass the vision test can get a license so whatever.

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Does anyone know if the officials are being paid during their “suspension”? If they are getting paid, it is not a supension; it is a paid vacation which smacks of cover-up rather than discipline.

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My prediction for Jacksonville.
Game ends on a controversial call involving Tebow.
uga loses by 21.
But the difference is really the no call involving Tebow according to the dog fans.

PLEASE!
THWg!

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the websites that have the bowl projections should just state due to big money and tv contracts, the bcs has decided to make sure the NC game involves either fla or bama from the sec against either texas or usc. sorry iowa and tcu. there is too much $ involved for you to meddle in our affairs. have fun playing though in our other bcs bowls.

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Martinez is No 1 Defensvie Coordinator in the Nation! The Ref’s have stolen every game from us. Look for the “MARTINEZ WIZARDARY” to be on display in Jax this Saturday. His GREATNESS as a DC will lift the dogs to a shutout of the OVERRATED GATORS.

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I look for a cheap shot on T-Bowe this Sat.

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The rest of the country is corrupt, why couldn’t the SEC officials be just as corrupt. I think they are on the take.

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If them referees cost us this game, too. Me and my brother’ll be up there soon as he gets off work. When we get there somebody’s @$$’ll be whupped.

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SEC refs faked the lunar landing too. Dan Brown is working on a new book right now about how SEC refs secretly run the planet through their control of the U.N.

The sad part is that you backwoods imbeciles actually believe this junk.

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The lunar landing was faked?

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If there is a conspiracy to help FLA and Bama it’s all for naught..neither team is a good as they were last year and both will probably end up with two losses.One thing about the refs I don’t like though is ..IMO they should not be making spur of the moment type calls at critical junctures of ballgames.The ARK and Green call were the.. at 1st glance something didn’t look right type of flags that should have been waved off.Refs are human they can get caught up in the moment like everyone else.. but AFTER the flag has been thrown there should be at least a discussion amongst the officials to ensure they are not about to make a call that can impact the outcome of a game over some borderline judgment of a players intent.

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Mark, I dont feel like the refs are trying to set up games but I do feel like reputation comes into play. We all know that UGA has a bad rep. for penalties, so I feel like we are under a microscope. Take the Gators on the other hand, the top teams seem to have the calls go there way, in any sport for that matter, that’s just the way it is. I think the rankings play into the refs heads sometimes. Like if a team is ranked highly, they must have gotten there without making mistakes. Again, reputation. One expample, watching the Braves over the years I’ve seen Bobby Cox get tossed for barking at a call from the dugout while other managers would run onto the field get in the umps face and argue about it for however long and return to the dugout. I always felt the umps were biased toward Bobby because he was known to argue calls.

To me this explains why Tim Tebow can flap his arms drawing attention to him self without penalty but when any of our players do the least little thing there are yellow hankies all over the field. We all know Tim is the perfect christian boy and could do no wrong…………….

As far as the Terrance Cody fowl, that’s a tough one. That wasn’t a judgment call, he did remove the helmet but on the other hand I guess they didn’t want to change the outcome with a flag for once?

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Sorry for the double posting, it didn’t show up the first time……….?

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i wants me a football man now…

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For anyone saying but bama had 10 penalities for 113 yards…bla bla bla. They could have had 300 yards in penalities and the other team 400, it is one particular call near the end of the game that can change the outcome of a close game. In reality, did Tenn. kick the ball on 3rd or 4th down? That would make a difference or else if it were fourth down, the call or non call makes no difference as it would have been a dead ball foul.

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mark ,,, i agree about pulling away ddrom everyone with that chin in the air

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Tebow’s “showmanship” is a tired act.

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Good one jerry.

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Mark – If you don’t like my analysis, I refer you to Jerry’s at 7:06. His reasoning is impeccable! He gets an “A.” (I assume you “get” his reasoning).

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UT Vol fans are the whiniest in the SEC or the entire south for that matter. When Cody removed his helmet the game was over you stupid silly inbred hillbilly Tennessee fans! Now shut up Vols and go rinse your dentures, then sit back and relax in your trailer!

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I think a lot of people are missing the point as to how the cheating could work.
Obviously the refs can’t completely control the outcome of any game, however if it’s a tight game and the other team is looking as though they are about to take control of the game or get back into a game, it only takes one well timed flag to change the course of the game.

Just think about WHEN some of the flags occured and the influence each had on it’s respective game. Again the teams have to do their part, but they seem to get a boost when needed.

Again amazing people don’t think there’s any possiblity of anything shady happening even with Millions and Millions of $$$$ at stake.

Suppose the “Black Sox Scandal”, Tim Donaghy, Pete Rose, the Arizona St point shaving scandal, are all just imaginary “grassy knoll” incidents too. These people cheated and during the time before they were exposed everything appeared to be on the up and up, and the money involved was a FRACTION of the money we’re talking about now.
You don’t think there’s pressure on the SEC powers that be to insure top ranked teams for big time exposure and ratings now that they’ve signed over a BILLION DOLLARS worth of contracts with CBS & ESPN??!

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FYI, there is ONLY ONE referee in a game, count them, 1. He is the one wearing the white hat. We each have different positions on the field and only one of us is a referee. We are all football officials.

thank you

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Biff Dawg, I believe the requirement is for 4 players on each side of the kicker in college.

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Actually this goes on all the time. Usually as the season nears the end the teams in contention are given every chance to succeed. I have seen this happen many times in the big 12. A few years ago Missourri lost to Nebraska in one of the worst one sided called games I have ever seen. Nebraska was in national championship contention and Missouri was an up and comer. Nebraska was given that game which should have been won by Missourri by a touchdown. I am not a supporter of either of these teams but the bias was obvious. This pictured sequence was a terrible call and once again will have national championship consequences. Just like the fantom Notre Dame clip and 5th down that lead to Colorado’s sharing the national championship with Georgia Tech.
Officilas cannot save a team that is getting trounced like Oregon over USC but let that score be a three point game in LA and watch USC win every time. Remember noone gets too bent out of shape when the favorite wins. Only the fans get bent out of shape and they eventually go to some second rate bowl game and everyone in the conference shares the bowl money anyway so if Missouri loses and Nebraska plays in the Rose Bowl Missouri gets at least an extra million dollars to play with.

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Is it really that hard to say “lets throw the game for florida” or “lets throw it for alabama”???? are you kidding me? my 7 yr old nephew could come up with that “master plan”
how about the lsu interception against alabama with time running down where the defender had not one, but TWO feet in-bounds, how the heck could somebody miss that? that was outrageous

Just remember, if it wasn’t for 4 error thrown flags, UF and Bama would be two loss teams…

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