To say it was a disappointing loss would be an understatement–but it was a disappointing loss. The Bulldogs are not the best they’ve been and we all know that. The team has declined over the last several years and it will take some time to buld it back. There are some very good players on the field, the discipline is much better than it has been (witness the few number of panalties), and the coach, Sylvester Croom, holds a lot of prgress.

The bright spot of yesterday’s game was that the team did not give up. For too many years the Bulldogs have been playing thirty minutes of a sixty minute game. Now they are playing the full sixty minutes and need only get better to win some games. During the recruiting season, Coach Croom said that the new recruits would have the opportunity to play for an SEC championship while they were here. I still belive him and am ready to buy my tickets.

What disturbed me yesterday was the poor officiating. I, and many others, have long said that the SEC has the best football teams and the worst officials in the nation, and I still believe that. You have question any organization in America that prohibits those most affected by something from talking about it yet that is excatly what the NCAA does. Why are they worried about coaches complaining about officials? Most every game is televised it seems so if a coach gets out of line and unduly accuses an official of a bad call, a simple replay of the tape will show the truth.

Now don’t get me wrong. referees are human and will make mistakes. No matter what we do there will still the ocassional bad or missed call. It just seems to he be happening more often than not of late.

One call that bothers me from yesterday is the incomlete pass call. One official ruled it complete and another ruled it incomplete. The replay showed it was complete. But why did the two differ? Obviously one saw it better than the other and the one on the oppostie side of the play ruled it compelte. Oficials have to learn that you do not make a call unless you are sure you saw what you are calling.

Look at the increasing number of “conferences” on the field with officials these days. Yestraday’s game had several flags waved off because a hasty official had to toss his yellow hanky before he was sure of what he saw. After they meet on the field, they take bakc the flag and play on.

Nothing wrong with conferecnes and reviewing calls except the number of flags thrown only to be recalled are growing. The oficials are, wuite simply, not as good as they should be. And the world of collegiate athletics, where there is a lot of money involved, not to mention careers of coaches and their staffs, a bad official has an impact that extends far from the playing field.

The wrst officiating I have ever seen however reamins that of the MSU BYU game a few years ago. That was just blatant bad officiating and everyone of those refs should have been fired. That was also the first and last year that BYU was really a ranked team. Did the officials have something to do with that?