NASHVILLE, Tenn. — For the record, the area surrounding the Southeastern Conference headquarters in Birmingham, Ala., is mainly composed of brick and concrete — not much room for grassy knolls.
The adjacent parking garage is not equipped with a heliport — no place for black helicopters.
And the last I checked, Oliver Stone is not on the payroll as a consultant.
But who is interested in harsh reality when there is so much delicious conjecture to fuel theories of conspiracy? In our smoke-and-mirrors world, SEC refs are supposedly doing whatever is necessary to keep Florida and Alabama undefeated and on track for a showdown in the SEC Championship game.
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Comments » 24
volsfannsc writes:
Slive and company should be held acountable to the NCAA. There is too much controversy here for this to be swept under the rug or to pretend that nothing has happened. The gag rule for coaches is like placing a car air freshener near a pile of rotting fish, The smell just isn't going to go away until the problem is dealt with to eliminate the root cause. I feel sorry for the coaches in our conference who work as hard as they do to make the SEC the strongest conference in college football. There is no justification for accepting that the officiating in this conference is the worst in college football.
CoverOrange writes:
Did you respect your parents, even when you knew they were wrong? Did you respect the police officer that pulled you over even when you knew you weren't speeding? If you didn't, what was the result? Anarchy? Same thing here. Players and coaches must respect the officials or games will get out of control.
If they are going to use instant replay they need to plant permanently mounted cameras on the sidelines and goal lines and give the replay official authority to reverse rulings. I don't blame the on-the-field officials for the LSU case but the replay official was gutless.
vol98champ writes:
I have read this letter several times and each time I am more surprised at the arrogance and control freak attitude displayed by Slive. This man is making the SEC a laughing stock nationwide by his uncompromising attitude toward our officiating. Suspending a crew is only a small patch on the dam. Suspending Slive would be more appropriate.
surfmaster writes:
Slive is as stupid as he is arrogant. If you go back and look at Kiffin's comments following the AL game. Here is a link ...
http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2009/o...
The article states: "I'm sure we'll get one of those letters that mean nothing, that Bobby (Petrino) got last week, but Florida and Alabama live on,'' he said.
He referred to the league office acknowledging a blown call that was to Florida's advantage in a last-second 23-20 win over Arkansas on Oct. 17. The officiating crew was suspended from working this past weekend.
Hey Slive, the letter that Kiffin said "means nothing" was the letter of explanation for the missed calls against Ark., and NOT a letter of admonishment you stupid, arrogant azz.
Slive is not God. I am sick of the blatant bias against out university coming out of the SEC office. He got his feelings hurt when he was the C-USA commish and Tennessee has the gall to enforce the home and home contract with Memphis in roundball. He has leveled his sights on UT ever since. His support for the outback bowl after they shafted us, his "fine" on fulmer for skipping media days, and has zeroed in on Kiffin, unjustly, time and time again.
Do our boosters have no influence in silencing this jackazz? I never thought I would say this, but if this bias against UT continues, I would be for pulling out of the SEC altogether and go the independent route, then Slive can go to h#ll. It will be a GREAT day in Vol country, when that rat b@st@rd is gone.
TommyJack writes:
Agree with your post, Marcus.
I don't see any conspiracy. Just incompetence. While Slive may PREFER an AL/fl match-up, there's no way he could contain any conspiracy involving the officials. Too many officials from too many places. OTOH, it's tuff to win on the road in Tuscaloosa. Peace.
TheFuj writes:
Not surprising of the call in the LSU/AL game. Clearly the LSU player had not only 1 foot in bounds but both feet. The replay official also should have known when the on field refs did not see it, that overturning the call on the field was the right call. Also, note that LSU had twice the number of penalties called on them than AL. In all big AL games AL has committed much less penalties than they do in other games. Just seems funny.
the10sevol writes:
criticizing the officials, so easy even an "urbie" can do it.
GBO
TommyJack writes:
good point
richvol writes:
Slive is a putz that has NEVER played football nor does he understand it. He only views things from a lawyer perspective. A former athlete would be much more motivated to get the officiating right and still would have been able to negotiate the TV package to it's present level. That was no big accomplishment for Slime as it's the product that sells...not him.
The terrible call in the LSU game was so obvious that Gary Danielson kept commenting on it. So is Slime's next action to be banning,or threatening,the commentators? Don't put it past him to try.
This double standard that Slime has created is ridiculous and would be laughable but in today's world of huge coaching contracts and national championships at stake the consequences of bias in the commissioner's office is serious. Can it really be defensible to fine and suspend a coach for pointing out an injustice when Slime allows criminal activity to be practiced on the field by a favorite coach's star linebacker?
The league needs to rid themselves of this kind of bias and idiotic leadership...IMPEACH SLIVE! The job is too big for this little man.
RoadTrip writes:
Just another brick in the wall. As long as the rest of the SEC puts up with it, nothing will change. It is as simple as a "no confidence" vote in league meetings. Adios Slive at that point. League officiating is an embarrassment and it is beginning to hurt us in the eyes of the national press/coaches that vote in the rankings, which is a shame since the SEC is by far the most competitve conference. I agree it is not a conspiracy, however, it is extremely naive to believe that specific officials are not partial to specific teams. Having known a couple, they are fans of the game with teams they pull for just like the rest of us. Most want to get the call right regardless, however, there are plenty with personal agendas.
Again, SEC, take some of the TV money and put it into beefing up the officiating and review process. You can do this. Please do it before it is too late.
AFVol423 writes:
While it appears that any questionable call will go to Alabama or Florida, the officials have missed calls in other games this year. The concerning thing to me is that even with replay, they still get the wrong answer. Then the SEC instead of correcting the issue, try to hide it by increasing penalties paid by anyone that points out the problem.
CrankE writes:
One can learn much about the SEC Building simply by checking Googly-eyes street view. Just saying...
Here's the dilemma; The SEC has been rationalizing or apologizing for questionable calls in Florida and/or Alabama games every one of the last 6 weeks. So what kind of officiating will we get in the SEC Championship game? Replay booth with no power? Bad calls going for Florida and for Alabama? Headset malfunctions (cough cough)?
And say...I wonder what happens to these two teams when they go to bowls and have to deal with refs from other conferences? Will those refs try to "compensate" for the SEC bias? Anything's possible.
And which bowl games will the SEC refs call? If I'm a TCU on the outside looking in-with a chance at picking up an AP national championship, do I make the pre-emptive complaint of bias when they assign an SEC crew to my bowl game?
Slive has apparently done nothing to address the concerns being raised (whether appropriate or not) by the coaches of this league. He's done a terrible job of handling the spotlight that comes with having the #1 and #2 BCS teams.
Vol_in_Mich writes:
"nice win by the Vols Saturday night. just curious where was the crew from that called the game and how do you all feel about how they did."
The crew was from C-USA. I guess they did OK.
Right or wrong the integerty of the SEC has been brought into question. This needs to be fixed now.
GO VOLS!!! Beat Ole Miss
VOL03_NC writes:
Don’t you guys see!
The SEC “officials” are only a victim of having a big hart! They are simply responding to the c-ryes of a helpless coach…
dvols writes:
roll tide.....go gators....
allvol32 writes:
Looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck...Slive says it's not a duck.
Thanks for straightening us all out on that one Mr. Slive!
What would us mere mortals do without your undeniably superior intellect to help keep our heads screwed on right?
roloyo writes:
Slive is a control and would probably fit in well with the Bud Adams organization. Maybe by invoking the gag order, he thinks no one else will notice there's a problem.
OrangePride writes:
I had no idea the letter was this terse and, in my opinion, over the top. Instead of concerning himself with the poor work of the officials, he focuses on enforcing his own gag rules. It is pretty clear that Slive has a personal issue with Kiffen and has totally mismanaged the officiating problem from beginning to end. Someone should be looking at suspending HIM........indefinitely! Or maybe even permanently. GO VOLS! WE STAND WITH THE KIFF!!!!
jumby92 writes:
If I were Kiffin, rather than point out the missed calls, say something like "the officiating crew did an awesome job today on half of the calls."
GreatPumpkin writes:
On a serious note, the interception is only a bad call if Ray Charles is the replay official. Otherwise, the fix is on.
FatherVol writes:
No conference can have more than two teams in the BCS games.
ProwlinAndGrowlinSmokeyDog writes:
Hey Everyone..This is my first comment and I am so excited to be a part of the action.....I have read a lot of comments on a lot of different articles...This one has caught my attention because it seems like there has been one or more obvious bad calls in a big game....In my opinion, this is just one big conspriacy to get FLA AND BAMA, two undefeated teams to play for the SEC championship..AND that would guarantee one of them play for the BCS championship....It's all about money....To me that's not how it should be...Every team should have a fair chance in every game, but it's just not like that any more...Something has to be done!!!
OrangePride writes:
Welcome aboard then, LaneTR. And if Slive has ANYTHING to do with it, Tennessee will NOT be in any BCS bowl while the Kiff is here......and that should be a good long time! Slive REALLY hates us and our coach, so methinks the thing that has to be done is to replace Slive! I think most posts (except for Saban) would probably agree.
jet writes:
Who hires and fires the SEC commissioner? Who will handle the compliants from the commissioners of the other conferences? They will be the problem. It is the other undefeated or one loss teams in the country that get knocked out of the national championship picture because the officiating in the SEC puts two undefeated teams into the SEC championship game. It puts a lock on the NC for the SEC.
Will Slive reprimand the whole country, when the rest of the country begins to speak out? It is going to happen. Regardless, the SEC is tainted for the year.
One significant call in a big game at a critical moment becomes a focus when the Bowl season starts shaping up and the NC game is lined up. Can you imagine what the chatter will be this year? It has been numerous obviously bad calls (or non-calls) at critical moments in citical games...every dam week-end..and they all involved FL and-or AL.
Slive is looking like a big over-bearing fool. If the coaches or AD directors are the ones with the power to fire, I say he will be gone after this season. He must have many enemies in the SEC and pressure will start coming from other conferences. Satin and crybaby can't save him.
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