Ah ha!......I knew there was something going on with that strange strategy. On Doe's replay....nothing I saw was absolutely irrefutable and they will not overturn field decisions without that kind of proof.....but between you and me it looked like he began to lose it before the goal line.
It is sad when the refs are set on pedestals and are off limits to criticism. Especially the Mullin criticism. As I recall, the SEC office said he was right.
Tom, I'm going to differ with you here. The refs are not off limits to criticism as witnessed by the suspension. However I think the league office is the proper place to handle things. Almost every sport, pros or otherwise, do not allow public criticism of officials. I remember in Major League Baseball, the NFL and the NBA all taking similar actions and even fining people. Kiffin was wrong, as I showed you the article, about the helmet coming off and what would have been the penalty. I also watched that game and if the officials were really favoring Bama as he said then Tennessee would have likely never been in position to attempt that field goal. These guys are human and make mistakes, I didn't see any mistake in the Alabama - Tennessee game that changed the game, and if Kiffin was afraid to run a play because of the officials then that was not to bright. Anyway I agree with holding officials responsible but don't believe in coaches making those kind of comments, including my own coach.
If more coaches said publically what they need to say it might force the issue regarding the officals. They do have to walk a line though and I wouldn't recommend they do something that would get them suspended for a game.
Maybe you need to spend some time with Dan Mullen, as a former Gator you know he wouldn't lie about something like that!
Terry, I don't think Mullen lied. I think that call was borderline at best and probably should not have been a touchdown. I don't blame him for being upset, however as you say there is a fine line to be walked where it comes to public criticism of officials.
Bill, Yes, they are human. But replay was supposed to take the human factor out of it. I saw things last week, not in the Tennessee game, that I was totally shocked, as were the announcers, that the replay did not overturn a call on the field... obvious mistakes that were not overturned. Why can't a coach speak out against an obvious miscarriage of justice? You will not hear me blaming a loss on officiating. You will hear me speak out against obvious blown calls that are not overturned by replay.
And you have that right Tom, however the league rules do not allow the coaches criticism of officials. Think of the chaos if coaches were allowed to go public every week with criticism. The worst I ever saw, in my opinion, was the fumble called against Chris Leak at Auburn in 2006. The rule says when the arm is moving forward it is an incomplete pass not a fumble. Leak's arm was clearly moving forward and it was called a fumble. It was not overturned in the booth. Stuff happens and chaos would reign if Coaches were allowed to have press conferences to air their dirty laundry with officials. I support that rule and I support your right to complain. But you are not a coach.
Right now he's on the edge of being suspended so I imagine he'll be a lot more careful from here on out.
Whining about offficiating will only get you ulcers and diminish your appreciation of the game itself. I was always coached, and in turn coached my players for 15 years, that if you execute your game plan to the best of your ability both as a team and individually then officiating will not affect the output of the game. On the ND BB I frequent there are a group of fans who actually believe that conference officials have formed some kind of unholy pact to screw the Irish as punishment for not joining a conference. Can you imagine?
PJ, I know, right!? I absolutely love watching Kiffin. There is a lot of 'kiss the ring, pay your dues' kinda thing going on here in the South. Kiffin walked in the door with a middle finger flying. He has clearly gotten under the skin of UF and Bama fans, which to any UT fan must be a treat to watch. (as a non-UT fan, I enjoy watching it). The best part is to watch them deny that he's pissing them off. I agree with Finebaum. Slive can threaten additional punishment all he wants but the precedent has been set with Spurrier long ago. They won't do a thing to him except fine him and tell him to stop making fun of them.
Bill you probably don't remember but Texas has a big comeback win at Kansas in 2004 and Mangino complained vociferously that the B12 officals were protecting Texas because of the BCS. Mangino Fined
Pretty funny. I like this guy's writing style. No egotistic rants. A lot of substance. Even though he's writing about topics I don't follow, I read the entire column.
If true, that is a screaming indictment of the SEC's hypocrisy. I know he has been reprimanded before though.