The last thing the SEC wanted or needed was a weekend where there was more controversy with the officiating. The two main issues involved the Alabama and Florida games two weeks ago. Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin and Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen were both reprimanded by the league for comments they made about the officiating. It’s the kind of thing that only fosters the perception out there that the SEC is somehow brokering to have Alabama and Florida both stay unbeaten so the SEC Championship Game will be a bigger deal. It’s like SEC commissioner Mike Slive has a magic button he pushes if Alabama or Florida needs a call. It’s silly to even be taking about it, but it’s out there everywhere, especially after this latest round of reprimands. But it’s just as silly to think that it’s all just going to go away unless the SEC puts some real teeth in its punishment for coaches who take on the officiating publicly. Of course, it would also be nice if the officials would start getting it right in the first place.
This week it wasn't coaches but players acting up. But who got the bigger reprimand???
It was good of Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes to apologize, and I’m sure he’s telling the truth when he says he was merely retaliating for something that happened to him earlier in the game. But the only thing worse than his trying to gouge the eyes of Georgia running back Washaun Ealey in a pile last Saturday was the so-called punishment Spikes received from Florida coach Urban Meyer for this weekend’s game against Vanderbilt. Spikes was suspended for a half. That’s right, an entire half. Good thing he didn’t sucker punch Ealey. He might have gotten another half against Florida International in two weeks. What a farce, and better yet, where’s SEC commissioner Mike Slive? It’s good to see the league taking such a hard-line stance on dirty play. Just imagine if Spikes would have said something about the officiating. He might have gotten a public reprimand, too. Yikes!
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