Gator Country

Is Mike Slive listening? You never know for sure. Just want to make sure he doesn’t fine me for what I’m about to say. Or, at least if he does, please take into consideration that whereas Urban Meyer can afford $30,000, I can only afford about 30 cents.

Oh, wait a minute, I don’t coach in the SEC, so why don’t I fire away?

C’mon, commissioner, have a little backbone and stop letting the court of public opinion run your league.

Urban Meyer’s wallet is $30K lighter today because he answered a reporter’s question honestly about a call the refs totally missed. This all the same week when Brandon Spikes was suspended for committing an act that was so heinous that the officials didn’t even see it.

Apparently the commissioner of the most powerful league in college athletics does read the papers, listen to talk radio in Birmingham, watch ESPN and, maybe, even has his people monitoring the Internet.

What does it say about the quality of the officiating in the conference that two non-calls in last week’s Florida-Georgia game proved to be so costly to the Gators?

It wasn’t until sports writers and TV commentators started whining about some of these indiscretions that Slive decided it was a good idea to levy fines and suggest punishment, even though he had been threatening to do so. And had it not been for U-Tube, he’d have never known about Spikes.

If they’d have called the Spikes penalty for “gouging,” then he would have probably been suspended for a half the next game, and we’d have moved on, which is about as stringent as penalty as is levied for onfield misbehavior. You can throw a punch and not have to sit out an entire a game.

Instead, because there was such an outcry by the talking heads and the screaming bloggers/columnists that Slive felt compelled to do something.

And as much as I respect Spikes’ decision to sit out the whole game against Vandy, I think both he and Meyer knew what was coming from the SEC if they didn’t do something.

Then came the comment by Meyer, who was certainly not disrespectful to anyone in answering a question about the video he had sent to the SEC showing Georgia’s cheap shot on Tim Tebow. That’s inflammatory?

If Lane Kiffin or Nick Saban had said it, maybe Slive would have let it pass. But Slive had to prove he wasn’t showing Florida “favoritism” and that he had “control” of the league. Of course, we all know that the SEC loves the Florida Gators and gives them all the breaks --- yada, yada, yada. At least that’s what all the haters are saying out there.

Slive needed an example. He found it with the SEC Poster Boy Coach for Success, who was only sticking up for his player.  But I forgot --- all the officials and the SEC office love Tim Tebow and give him all the breaks, too.

Meyer and his players might as well get used to the Gator backlash, because it’s out there. People are sick of seeing them winning everything, sick of seeing Tim Tebow all over Sports Center, Game Day, etc. And since they are all certain that Meyer can’t really be that good a coach, that Spikes is Bernie Madoff in a football uniform or Tebow really can’t be that good a person, they are hoping and praying they get caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

Or, as the case may be, their hand in the face mask.

What this really speaks to, Commissioner, is the inept officiating that’s goes on in your league these days. I’m not a zebra hater, but it seems like every week somebody is upset about a game-changing call --- or lack of --- that was made in error, despite the use of replay. If the poor officiating wasn’t prompting it, there wouldn’t be nearly the outcry.

Besides, Mike, you were a little slow up on uptake. Where were these heavy fines when Lane Kiffin was running his mouth and making libelous statements about his peers? How about two years ago when Mark Richt sent almost his whole team on the field to celebrate after a score?

My grandmother called this wonderful hindsight “closing the barn door after the horse is gone.”

It’s admirable for a commissioner to try and keep decorum in his league or sport and there is no doubt that was the purpose here, but, honestly, this disciplining of coaches has got to be meted out on a more equitable basis.

There is a difference in a guy saying he sent a film clip of a non-call to of the league office because he thought it was missed and somebody almost causing a riot in a game by allowing his team to charge the field. Or making comments about another coach that could, in a civil trial, cost the guy hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The pressure’s on everybody because there is so much more money involved in college football today. The almost ludicrous $17 million per team ESPN is paying each SEC team has stoked the fires. Could it possibly be true that Vanderbilt will make more money in SEC revenue this year that Notre Dame does for its NBC contract?

Well, that is the upside down world of college football today. More money, brighter spotlight, more intense pressure, higher expectations and well-paid executives who feel they need to justify their position.

Stop feeling like you have to respond to every whiner, Mr. Commissioner, including the comments from out of Florida if they are made. And let’s not change the acronym form the SEC (Southeastern Conference) to the PCC (Politically Correct Conference).

It’s football. There is passion. Embrace it.

About the author

BuddyShow

Buddy Martin is the author of seven books, including Urban Meyer's authorized biography, and was a recipient of an Emmy while working for CBS Sports on "The NFL Today." The native son of Ocala and Florida-educated journalist is the former sports editor of the New York Daily News, Denver Post, St. Petersburg Times and Florida Today. He has won more than 165 state and national awards for writing and editing. "Urban's Way" (St. Martin's Press) is now out in paperback. It can be purchased at all major book stores or by writing Buddy at buddyshow@aol.com.

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