Daniel J. Summers » Charter Member of the VRWC

Is it just me, or is college football officiating in general (and SEC officiating in particular) this year just atrocious?  I don’t know if the fact that they can review every play has made them sloppy, but the pitiful calls on the field cost Tennessee dearly in Saturday’s 29-9 loss against Alabama.

As the second quarter came to a close, Tennessee was driving.  They pushed themselves back with an ill-advised holding penalty.  Tennessee runs a play and makes a completion that puts them close to a first down - but out comes the laundry.  They call Tennessee for offensive pass interference, and the replay clearly showed no such interference.  This was an additional 15-yard penalty, and the kicker missed the field goal attempt.  Zebras +3.

Midway through the third quarter, Alabama was getting a drive going.  As one of their players was tackled, the ball came loose, and one of Tennessee’s players picked it up and hustled it back 40+ yards for a touchdown.  As the celebration commenced, the referee came out and said “The ruling on the field is that the player was down when the ball came out.”  The review confirmed the call.  Alabama eventually scored a touchdown on that drive.  Zebras +7.  This drive was also a huge momentum swing for what had been a back-and-forth game up to that point.

And, a note to you EPSN announcers - when Tennessee gets called for phantom pass inteference, don’t keep holding it up as a way that “Tennessee just can’t capitalize on these chances Alabama’s giving them.”  How are you supposed to capitalize when you do nothing wrong and are penalized 15 yards?  (Yes, PK Daniel Lincoln is not having his best year, but still…)

So, what do you fellow college football watchers think - has there been a rash of bad officiating this year?  The Tennessee/Alabama game is not the first time I’ve noticed it - Tennessee had a really bad call in the Georgia game too, and even the people calling the game said “Boy, I think they got away with one there.”  And it’s not just games involving Tennessee (though, of course, those hold a special place in my heart).  And, if you’ve noticed this, what do you think is the cause?  Too many rule changes?  Instant replay?  Aging referees with declining eyesight?

With less than two weeks to Election Day, here’s a mini “Plagiarism Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery” post.

First up is Neal Boortz.  He writes an open letter to the undecided voter.  It’s a long letter - you’ll probably need 10-15 minutes to read it all.  But, I found it very interesting - one of the things I’ve enjoyed this political season is seeing how people interpret what’s going on.  You can see where they’ve been, and how they see the issues based on their experience.

Next is an image blatantly swiped from Morgan Freeberg.  Sums up poor Joe the Plumber’s treatment pretty well, I think…

Morgan also had a good line about Joe.

Joe the Plumber does not make 250,000 dollars a year. He doesn’t even make close to that.

He just wants to.

So, Joe is opposed to taxing people who make more than $250k because he wants to be one of those people in the future.  Could it be that people are engaging their brains, instead of mindlessly buying into the class warfare schtick of the left?

Presbyterians?  Methodists?  Catholics?  Wiccans?  You know the answer to that…

One of the fall’s most anticipated video games for the PlayStation 3, Sony’s “LittleBigPlanet,” had to be yanked from shelves at the last minute Monday because it might accidentally offend Muslims.

You can read the whole article here.  It seems that one of the songs has two lines that also appear in the Koran.  You know, I’d actually be happy if a popular video game had a song with a few lines from the Bible.  But, I guess since Christians don’t handle their offense the same way Muslims do, we just get to get offended.

(Not that I want censure of anything that may offend any religion - most religions can handle it.)