The best way to change the SEC referee issues...

Could always throw the ball at the ref. Hey it worked in Longest Yard haha.

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The best way to change the SEC referee issues...
Is to move the SEC Headquarters from the state of Alabama. And we all know that will never happen.

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No...this is not the way.

The best way to ensure fairness (I use that term even though it's become to sound whiny though in this case it simply means ensuring a level playing field for all programs involved) is to get the conferences themselves OUT of handling scheduling and officiating and turn it over to the NCAA.

By allowing the conference to run this stuff almost guarantees home cooking for one program or another. That's not a shot at Alabama or Auburn. But can we be honest enough to admit that ANY program that could have the #3 guy at the conference (Mark Womack in this case) and the head of officials (Steve Shaw in this case) be alumni of that university plus a huge percentage of the varying support staff that are needed at every level of the conference office be affiliated due to location with a school or schools (in this case BAMA and AU) would wield a potential undue amount of influence at the conference level?

This isn't even about BAMA or AU specifically. If the offices were in Orlando, and the #3 and the Head of Officials were UF alumni and the support staf was largely made up of UF fans that the SEC would lean towards Gainseville. If the offices were in Atlanta, and those guys were alumni of UGA, I'd expect there to be a UGA lean...though there would be significantly less homerism in the support eara due to the much more centrally located make-up of Atlanta.

How would the rest of the SEC feel about having the #3 guy and the head of officiating be LSU alumni and the office be located in New Orleans? Would BAMA fans feel as though their concerns were being met fairly if the schedule always seemed to look wonky in favor of LSU and to the detriment of BAMA and when there was an officiating issue when playing LSU they needed to take them to LSU alumni and living in NOLA? Give me a fricking break.

So long as conferences do this themselves and feel no obligation to rid themselves of bias, we will never rid ourselves of this issue...regardless of where the offices move.

It actually goes back to the Bear Bryant days. Refs were intimidated by "The Bear".

Not the case, I promise you. I umpire baseball and ref soccer. In some cases the refs screw games unintentionally, and we genuinely feel bad. BUT the lopsidedness has gotten incredible for the Bama teams. It's been that way as long as I have been old enough to watch football intelligently.

it's so childish to blame referees. There was a bad personal foul called against Bama on the two yard line in overtime that backed them up, but I don't hear Tiger fans complaining about that one.

Sure there are calls that we think are bad, but every team in the SEC can say the same thing every week.

There's no conspiracy here.

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The best way to change the referee perspective is to switch teams. You will quickly discover that no matter which team you root for the refs will always screw that team.

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No doubt and I am cognizant of the fact that fans of teams that have lost are always sensitive to "bad calls." You'll have to take my word for the fact that I'm not one of those guys. I don;t holler at officials that throw a lag on my team when it's obvious they were correct. I'm not complaining because of the loss. I was making this exact case last week prior to the game. The only thing the loss did, and specifically some of he calls which had an undue influence in my opinion on the outcome of the game, was make it a bit more pressing to continue to discuss this and use this most recent example as being part of a problem with the conference.

That being said, when is it ok to call a spade a spade? If if it is a spade, to whom in the SEC offices can you bring that revelation at this point?

That's really my point. How can even a charter member of the conference feel their concerns are being met when they have to address them to alumni of the program about whom the concerns revolve?

Pointing out that, at best, there is a conflict of interest in having two of the most influential positions within the SEC held by BAMA alumni, does not make one whiny. It makes one informed.

Does that conflict of interest result in home cooking for the Tide? That's a matter for debate, though I'd say a pretty strong case can and should be made. but so long as there is this very open conflict of interest we, as other members of the conference, will ALWAYS have a reason to wonder if we're getting screwed.

the SEC HQ should be in the capital of the southeast; Atlanta, Georgia.

and, imo, ref's should not have college affiliations. ie, no bama grads, no LSU grads, etc.

The Bear DID NOT intimidate the officials.

However, the Bear did hire the head of SEC Officials yearly to provide a lecture on campus to the Alabama team and coaching staff regarding the Rules of football. In addition, bama would hire SEC officials to officiate the spring football practice.

Just saying...

When you see Saban yell at the ref's and 2 flags get picked up. I'd say someone should look into that.

Since when is a low block in the back after the whistle a bad call?

the purpose of most penalties are to prevent one team from gaining an unfair advantage and/or to promote player safety by minimizing unnecessary injuries.