As Sun Tzu said, when your enemies are making a mistake, do not interrupt them.”
So I’m just going to reprint the SEC’s statement regarding tonight’s controversial reversed pass interference call verbatim for your comedic enjoyment. Then we’ll take a moment to talk about before fully and finally moving on (perhaps).
Everybody ready to laugh? Here goes:
“With 3:12 to play in the third quarter of the Georgia at Texas game, Texas intercepted a pass at the Texas 46-yard line and returned it to the Texas 9 yard line. Texas was flagged for committing defensive pass interference on the play which resulted in Georgia maintaining the ball with a first down. The game officials gathered to discuss the play, which is permitted to ensure the proper penalty is enforced, at which time the calling official reported that he erred, and a foul should not have been called for defensive pass interference. Consequently, Texas was awarded the ball at the Texas 9 yard line. While the original evaluation and assessment of the penalty was not properly executed, it is unacceptable to have debris thrown on the field at any time. The disruption of the game due to debris being thrown onto the field will be reviewed by the Conference office related to SEC sportsmanship policies and procedures.”
The thing that gets me about this statement is this: it is a fundamentally dishonest reading of what we all saw with our own eyes. The officials gathered to discuss the call only after the debris started hitting the field, not immediately after the call as is implied in the statement. The tumult at DKR was the entire reason play was stopped. And it was only during the tumult that the officials gathered. It is certainly possible that the official who made the call had immediate misgivings, but the video doesn’t lie. He did not as this statement implies immediately seek out his colleagues to sort out the issue.
Pass interference simply is not a reviewable penalty. Even if a few moments after calling it you have some misgivings. Even if a bunch of teenagers pitch a temper tantrum over it. Even if you watch it over and over again on the Jumbotron while said teenagers are pitching their temper tantrum and realize your mistake. This penalty was not reviewable, but that did not stop these officials from conducting an informal review of it anyway. If the league is implying otherwise, I am implying in turn that they are being dishonest.
Let us also be crystal clear about what the SEC intends to do here. The league intends to look out for its officials, and immediately shift the focus to the bad behavior in the Texas student section. And make no mistake, bad behavior it was. Texas should be fined for what happened just as other SEC programs have been fined in the past under identical circumstances.
if not, the league will have set a dangerous precedent and will have made clear from the word go that we can expect the University of Texas to get the kind of preferential treatment in the SEC that they counted on in the Bog XII. Your move, Commissioner Sankey.
Go ‘Dawgs!!!