Moxley said:
The problem with officiating isn't that refs make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, we are all human.
If a coach makes a mistake, everyone talks about it and film gets shown over and over about this play call or that play call or what not. If a quarterback throws an interception or if a defensive back misses an assignment, there's replay over and over again and media outlets talk about it nonstop. This includes official SEC media outlets and social media.
When a ref makes a mistake, crickets. There may be a system in place but the fact that the system isn't public at all, not even a little bit, only leaves the door open for people to completely distrust the system. It opens the door to conspiracy theories and talk of officials being intentionally biased in favor of one team or another.
Not only is the SEC office completely silent on officiating mistakes, coaches and official SEC outlets are not allowed to even mention it. It is a cone of silence.
I don't think it would hurt the officials for the conference to make some of their internal review process public, and perhaps even publicizing the written material given to athletic departments after games. You don't even need to name names or go beyond just saying "this was a mistake, this was why it happened, etc."
Good post...We all want to see the integrity of the game improved and congrats to Georgia for winning a hard fought game.
The players should decide the outcome...not the officials - be it intentional or unintentional. No game can be called perfect with the technology and processes available today, but we have seen marked improvement with adding the replay official. Someday AI will come into play but we are a ways off from that. In the meantime, making
blatant (this will need to be defined carefully) PI or holding subject to review would restore the SEC's image.
The players, coaches, fans and frankly the dollars invested into the game deserve better than what we witnessed Saturday. It's time for better accountability for the sake of the game and all stakeholders.
Texas Aggies
