Southside & Fayetteville Baseball

[BadDogGHSDogPound]

First off I wasn't at the game, don't have a dog in this hunt, but I do not like reading about what happened in that game to decide a State Championship. Wrong is wrong.

I must applaud the media for not just overlooking the horrible call made by the umpires at the game. The Times Record had a full article on the bad call with even Fayetteville's coach agreeing and they named the umpire by name in the article. James Bryan.

"Bryan, who made no attempt to follow the ball into the outfield, initially made a "safe" signal, indicating the ball hit the ground. But he changed the call when Alan Spencer, who cleanly caught the ball on bounce, came up holding the ball like he had made a diving catch."

I know the AAA won't do anything about it or even comment on it, which I think is wrong. First statement they should issue is that crew will never do a state championship game or playoff game again and admit they screwed up. And is say, "they" because the whole crew is at fault as if both teams fans and both coaches agree it bounced into the glove then the other umps had to have seen it to and should've overruled the reverse on the call.

[Quite Frankly]

The NWA paper practically says the same thing.  Other than the outfielder, there is no one on any side of this that thinks the call was right.

I hate that such a horrific call occurred in such a huge game.  Even the people I know on the winning side are subdued.

It all comes down to the oddness of the overrule.  When someone comes from out of position comes in to make an overrule after a play has run it's course, he dang well better be right.  Of course he couldn't be more wrong with his overturn.

Overrules are a tricky thing.  But what it comes down to in my mind is when you make a call, you trust your judgment.  But if someone comes over the top of you to make an override call on such a big play, I'm going to somewhat I assume I might have missed it.  You want to trust yourself, but when a coworker puts himself out there in such a public way I have to give that some weight.

With that in mind, I put it all on the guy that overturned the call.

Again, what a shame for everyone involved.  Blame falls on one guy.  I say no more for him.  The integrity of the game demands he has to have called his last game even if the mistake was innocent.  Appearances are important, as such you tear up his card.

[Smithian]

All I know is 5 News showed an angle of the play that showed an umpire running full speed not looking at the play as it happened. This one umpire just by chance was one James Bryan who went to FHS and had kids who went there... Take from that what you want.

The further and further I get from this call the more it stinks. So many angles showing it was trapped, the angle showing the first base ump in full sprint not looking as the catch was made, the fact he and his kids went to Fayetteville, the more I feel sick. If it smells like a cat, looks like a cat, sounds like a cat...

[Quite Frankly]

Again.  Put it all you want of the ump and ump alone.  There are only two scenarios.  He believed what he saw and that's why he made the call(even though obviously wrong) or he purposely did it at the risk of being scorned to death.

The first is a judgment error that is beneath the quality of the game.  The second is of course unforgiveable.  Either way, he ruined it for everyone.

[Catlover]

any pics of it???

[BadDogGHSDogPound]

You can see video of it here.

http://nwahomepage.com/content/fulltextsports/?cid=87711

[On the Move]

I just watched that video a little bit ago.  Could not believe it.  I wish it would have showed umps standing so we could see his angle!!!!

[BadDogGHSDogPound]

What gets me is if one ump didn't have a good angle, there was three doing the game. You can't tell me all three didn't have a good angle, but both dugouts agree it bounced and was trapped. After this weekend though, nothing will be said about this again in the media or by the AAA.

[Smithian]

The AAA just has its head down. If someone could produce a phone number, then Southside won't let them forget.

Also, the guy had no angle. That night, 5 News's angle of the play actuaky was inconclusive because there was an umpire running full speed across as the play happened... And that umpire was James Bryan. He was not looking at the play. His angle was the WORST possible.

After a while, the AAA must do something. I complain a lot about officiating, but this is one time where I might scream "conspiracy".

[On the Move]

The AAA just has its head down. If someone could produce a phone number, then Southside won't let them forget.

Also, the guy had no angle. That night, 5 News's angle of the play actuaky was inconclusive because there was an umpire running full speed across as the play happened... And that umpire was James Bryan. He was not looking at the play. His angle was the WORST possible.

After a while, the AAA must do something. I complain a lot about officiating, but this is one time where I might scream "conspiracy".

Ok we all understand about being upset!!  It's easy to find right here on FF

ARKANSAS ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION
3920 RICHARDS ROAD
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, AR  72117
(501) 955-2500
FAX (501) 955-2600

OFFICE HOURS
M-TH: 7:30 - 4:00
F: 7:30 - 3:30

Now please contact them.  I always thought SS had a little more class than you are showing.  I do get why you are upset but enough

[Big Catdaddy]

I've got no dog in this fight,but after having two sons that  played baseball for about the last 12 years, I feel like I have to defend this umpire's integrity. I watched (frequently from the coaching box) hundreds of umpires during my son's playing years. James Bryan may be the most professional of all the umpires I saw. Is he perfect?Of course not! However, I don't believe for one second that Mr. Bryan had any intention of doing anything but calling the best came he could call.

[Smithian]

I'm not saying the game should replayed, but just something needs to those umpires. Not fair to Southside for obvious reasons and, heck, it isn't fair to Fayetteville to win a state championship fairly on their part and have to deal with this controversy.

Yes, I have no class...

I haven't insulted Fayetteville yet and I'll say right now they probably are the best team in the state and they. It is not low class to insult officiating when they screw up a game for both teams. People right now should either be saying, "Dear Lord, Fayetteville, that is a dynasty." or "Wow, huge upset... Southside." We shouldn't be sitting here debating a call.

I'm just upset to know that I umpire younger kids and it is a very lax job, and I would never be scheduled again if I did that. if an umpire at the college or MLB level did that, all heck would be loose. What upsess me the most is to know the AAA probably won't apologize for the incident nor penalize any of the umpires involved. If appropriate action was taken for the incident, I'd probably still be angry, but it would be a situation where everything would run its course and I could think, "Well, yeah, the AAA maybe is more worried about having a fair game for the KIDS instead of protecting the image of their employees" and I would gain respect for the AAA.

When the AAA takes some action, I'll stop whining on these boards. Until then, best to read over my posts.

[parpar]

I am not making any judgement on the call, as my computer bandwidth is so small the picture is not good.  But let me add this.

In a three-man crew, what occurred was the worst nightmare.  You had umpires in position A and C, with runners in scoring position.  In most case (99%) of the time they are going to cover it just like it happened - the first base umpire does a j turn at first to follow the batter runner into second and never really follows the ball's flight into the outfield, instead depending on verbal help from his partner to know about a catch/no-catch, and the 3rd base umpire turns, stays in the infield,  and follows the ball, then is responsible for the other runners at 2nd and 3rd, which includes the catch/no-catch, the runner tagging up at 2nd base and then the subsequent plays.  The home plate umpire has the runner tagging at 3rd, then any plays at the plate.

That being said, what appears to have happened (once again, I have a bad picture) is that the 3rd base umpire in C position got straight lined, really through no fault of his own. Now, some collegiate crews will actually have the umpire in C leave and go to the outfield to follow the ball, but when he does, it then limits all of the action in the infield to be covered by two men.

A four man crew could have allowed the umpire in C to go cover, then either covered the bases with umpires in A and D or rotate the home plate umpire to 3rd, the 3rd base umpire to C/B and the first base umpire to cover home.

One of the problems with high school sports is that crews work 80% of the time in two man crews, 20% in three-man, so to switch to a four man crew (believe me, a different animal completely) to get optimium coverage is not practical, since the crews member have not worked it all year.

I have a question, after the play, how did the discussions take part?  And who (which position) actually signaled the final decison?  I know it's hard, but try and keep emotion out of it.

[arreferee]

Just a question and a few thoughts...

I'm a little confused by a couple of posts.  BadDogGHSDogPound says the umpire made one call and then changed it.  QF says that a different umpire overruled the call.  Which one is correct?

I'm not a baseball umpire, don't pretend to be, and don't have any idea who the umpires were in the game other than the one who was named in this thread.  But I assume that each umpire has different duties on each play.  I think it would be very bad mechanics if all three umpires were looking at the catch in the outfield.  For those of you who say any other umpire could have made that call, I think you might be wrong.  They probably weren't looking at the catch because they had other duties. (parpar answered this in his post above)

Also, for those of you who say this umpire should never be able to work another baseball game, I think you are going a little too far.  Did he miss the call?  Yes.  Should he be punished for a call such as this?  Yes, of course there should be ramifications.  Shoud he be banned from baseball for life?  Absolutely not.  I think "tearing up his card" is a little extreme.  If he was good enough to make it to the title game (you must have a history of quality work to get there), I think it would be a disservice to the players and coaches to remove someone like him from the game. 

I assume the situation in baseball is similar to that of football in that we have a shortage of officials statewide (and nationwide).  To remove a quality official from the game for one bad call is rediculous.  All officials miss calls from time to time.  If you remove all of them that miss a call, you will have no officials left.  You also make it more difficult to get new officials started.  If they know they are going to be crucified for one bad call, some officials might decide to not get started in the first place.

[parpar]

I would think the call belongs to the 3rd base umpire, and his only help comes from the plate umpire.  The plate umpire has to position himself to see the tag up at 3rd and see the first touch of the ball by the ooutfielder.  He really isn't concerned with a catch of an outfielder moving toward the middle of the field, but may have had a view of it.  The 1st base umpire would not be looking at it until he is following the runner into second and the 3rd base umpire has rotated from the middle down to third.

[BadDogGHSDogPound]

I was only going by what the account was in the newspaper and it said the third base umpire first signaled safe then changed it to out.

The entire article can be read here.
http://www.swtimes.com/articles/2009/05/09/sports/sports050909_05.txt

[parpar]

I feel better then about it.  Some of the posts had indicated another umpire changed the call.  The procedure should have been for the defensive coach to request an appeal from the third base umpire, then he could, if he chose to, go talk to his partners, get their input, then he and he alone could change his call.  And, I would suspect, based on what I saw on tape and what Smithian said, the home plate umpire may have actually had the best view of it and opined that is was in fact caught.  It wasn't hit that deep and the times I have worked Baum Stadium the sight lines are very good.

However, that is pure speculation on my part, just based on the tape, the posts here and the standard operating mechanics.  That doesn't mean it was right, just it sounds like the right procedure was followed.

Added after reading the article:

Now, I can't really tell if he changed his call prior to the conference or during the play.  Someone that was there please help.

And obviously, the view point of the writer was perhaps tainted.

[Quite Frankly]

Arreferee, I realize the nature to defend and not punish is a natural instinct for one within the same general profession.  But I have to go with the big picture here.  Rarely do you see such a critical call that was so wrong.  The Average Joe in the bleachers knew it was wrong.  Coaches on both teams knew it.  Members of the press knew it.

His name has stigma attached to it and every single time he steps on the field in the future his judgment will come into question by every coach(and more).  His ability to make correct calls will be scrutinized like never before.  A high school game doesn't need that baggage.

He stepped out there in a situation he shouldn't have and was wrong.  Think Southside will ever let him live it down or much less let him ump one of their games?  Even Fayetteville has to be politically conscious of having him on the field for their games.

Who needs or wants that?

[Billyo62]

Arreferee, I realize the nature to defend and not punish is a natural instinct for one within the same general profession.  But I have to go with the big picture here.  Rarely do you see such a critical call that was so wrong.  The Average Joe in the bleachers knew it was wrong.  Coaches on both teams knew it.  Members of the press knew it.

His name has stigma attached to it and every single time he steps on the field in the future his judgment will come into question by every coach(and more).  His ability to make correct calls will be scrutinized like never before.  A high school game doesn't need that baggage.

He stepped out there in a situation he shouldn't have and was wrong.  Think Southside will ever let him live it down or much less let him ump one of their games?  Even Fayetteville has to be politically conscious of having him on the field for their games.

Who needs or wants that?

The umpires involved already feel the heat, They didn't make a bad call on purpose, It's over, can't change that game, no rule you can change to fix it in the future ( Maybe a 4-Man Crew ), get over it and move on... Fayetteville wins ( Southside Could have scored some runs earlier or the next inning and this wouldn't be an issue )... boo hoo let's move on...no way to fix a bad call!

[Quite Frankly]

? ? ?  I personally am not moaning over anything other than the travesty of it.  Rarely does a team win a game and have to feel a little less elation due to the circumstances being so odd.

It's definitely worth discussing what led up to it and to put in perimeters that would help stop it from happening again. 

[ppop]

( Southside Could have scored some runs earlier or the next inning and this wouldn't be an issue )

Assuming they wouldn't have been wiped out by another bad call.... I'm just sayin'..........

[Billyo62]

( Southside Could have scored some runs earlier or the next inning and this wouldn't be an issue )

Assuming they wouldn't have been wiped out by another bad call.... I'm just sayin'..........

I understand your frustration but coaches will tell you hit the ball and run around the bases , that will take " BLUE" out of the game.

Was that the only bad call in the game?

Why do you think the next bad call would go against SS.

[Quite Frankly]

This is not your everyday bad call.  From the choice of alumni calling Championship games(why would you want too?), an out of position umpire making a call to overrule and the sheer magnitude of how wrong the call actually was...some of these things are legitimate issues.

All professions should strive to improve and address issues.  There is certainly some room for that here.

[ppop]

I don't have any frustration about this issue. I'm from Magnolia!
I was just responding to the point that they could've scored runs elsewhere. It's likely they would not have been victims of another bad call - - but it's not guaranteed.  All we can address is what did happen, not what could have, should have happened.

[parpar]

What's this out of position umpire stuff?  The tape looks like all were in their right position.

[Billyo62]

What's this out of position umpire stuff?  The tape looks like all were in their right position.

Parpar- It's whining... it was obviously a bad call, people read into all they want, it was just a bad call, fire the guy involved ---how silly...my boys both umpire... they already know how these situations play out after games when coaches, mommies and daddies are upset...  it was a bad call... no conspiracy , we don't need a lynching.... move on!

[Baitshop]

I have a question.......who asked the ump that made the original "safe" call to change it to a catch..??..??

Was it Vance Arnold? He stated in the newspaper that it was a bad call......

Was it Craig Jones? NOPE!!.....

Did another umpire, unrequested, come to the ump that made the initial call and tell him that he had a different view..??......If so, why would he choose to interject himself when he wasn't asked to..??.....

Anyone that was there have concrete answers for me??......

[Smithian]

Here is a timeline of events...

-Runners on first and second.
-Southside batter hits ball to midfield.
-Fayetteville player dives for ball... Every single FHS player runs to spots as if he doesn't catch and and are looking for the throw. No FHS player makes any move suggesting they think it was caught. The outfielder did try(successfully)to sell the catch for an instant before throwing it. I am not sure exactly what the third base umpire does, but he signaled or something it was a no catch.
     -As a side note, 5 News's image of the catch is partly obscured by an umpire running full speed through the image... An umpire not looking directly at the play to begin with.
-Complete pandemonium on the Southside side in celebration after the second run crosses.
-First base umpire walks up to third base umpire... Noone knows exactly what is happening. Atleast Southside fans though someone missed a base or something.

This is where it gets hazy to me as all I remember is disbelief as I realize what is about to happen. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

-They are standing there talking... And all of a sudden the short fat(I am short and fat as well, so I can call it when I see it.) umpire photo'd in the paper signals out to noone in particular.
-All heck breaks loose.
-After clearing the field of Southside coaches and players, all three umpires come back for one more meeting.... More arguing by Southside coaching staff, but they ended up going back to the dugout as Southside finished the game down 2-0 officially.

It was a very surreal moment as the umpires got together talked. Noone really knew what was going on at first. I only knew what was going on because I heard other people start talking about the catch. Imagine if that stands... Fayetteville's pitcher is losing it in the inning, Southside has a guy on second, we have a hot hitter coming up, and right behind him or one more down the line, you Southside's leadoff .600+ hitter coming up.

All you AAA defenders know in your hearts that Southside did not lose that game.

[arreferee]

Arreferee, I realize the nature to defend and not punish is a natural instinct for one within the same general profession.  But I have to go with the big picture here.  Rarely do you see such a critical call that was so wrong.  The Average Joe in the bleachers knew it was wrong.  Coaches on both teams knew it.  Members of the press knew it.

His name has stigma attached to it and every single time he steps on the field in the future his judgment will come into question by every coach(and more).  His ability to make correct calls will be scrutinized like never before.  A high school game doesn't need that baggage.

He stepped out there in a situation he shouldn't have and was wrong.  Think Southside will ever let him live it down or much less let him ump one of their games?  Even Fayetteville has to be politically conscious of having him on the field for their games.

Who needs or wants that?

QF, I never defended the call or said there should be no punishment.  If he is half as good of an umpire as Big CatDaddy says he is, he will be punishing himself for a long time over the missed call along with whatever punishment is handed down from the AAA/AOA (yes, they punish officials but don't buy a full-page ad in the paper telling what the punishment was).  I'm sure he will probably never work another state championship game or as many playoff games as he has in the past.  That's a pretty big punishment at the high school level.  I think banning the person from the game for life is similar to giving the death penalty to a car theif.  In my eyes, it's overboard.

Also, the magnitude of the mistake is huge right now, but it will be much less next season.  There will still be some who remember his name, but 99% won't.  The coaches in those schools (and maybe the entire conference) might remember his name and decide not to have him back at their schools.  But, in a couple of years, the vast majority of coaches, players, administrators, and fans will have no idea the umpire in their game made a mistake during a championship game a couple of years ago.

The coaches who know him and have had him work their games in the past may realize this was a mistake and worth having him back because of the quality of work he did in the past.  Then again, they may not.  That's a decision they will have to make and I doubt anyone will argue with them over their decision.  Just because one official makes an egregious mistake doesn't mean he/she should never be allowed to step on the field again.  That one mistake could light a fire under them and cause them to work that much harder to ensure it doesn't happen again.

[Quite Frankly]

QF, I never defended the call or said there should be no punishment. 

I didn't mean to imply that towards your viewpoint.  My error for not clarifying more clearly.

As to the rest, I understand the forgive mentality.  But as has been said so many times on here before, this is not the primary income or way to make a living for high school officials.  I just don't see the personal tragedy to an ump in not letting them do anymore AAA sanctioned games.

I was not cheering for SS in that game.  For me personally it's not vindictive in nature.  I realize there are internal controls for such situations.  But this is as a mammoth an error as possible.  The sport itself can't afford these errors repeated and appearances are important.

I personally do not think he made the call to 'throw the game'.  But it looks bad. 

[Smithian]

I don't think he intentionally screwed it up, but my God... What was he thinking? Horrible, just horrible. Steal a shot at a championship from one team and steals the full credit of a 4th consecutive championship from another.

[Baitshop]

Here is a little something new for the conversation.........spoke to another 7A West coach this evening that said that he had been told, in the coaching circles, that the ump in question had been requested to not officiate games involving the PurpleDogs last year because of the quality and consistency of his calls.......

[Coach Venny Slocombe]

Here is a little something new for the conversation.........spoke to another 7A West coach this evening that said that he had been told, in the coaching circles, that the ump in question had been requested to not officiate games involving the PurpleDogs last year because of the quality and consistency of his calls.......

My understanding is that the ump in question is an alum of Fayetteville. Any truth to this........................QF, can you help out a little on this?

[BadDogGHSDogPound]

A new article on it.

http://www.swtimes.com/articles/2009/05/13/commentary/kevin_taylor/taylor051309_01.txt

[Quite Frankly]

Here is a little something new for the conversation.........spoke to another 7A West coach this evening that said that he had been told, in the coaching circles, that the ump in question had been requested to not officiate games involving the PurpleDogs last year because of the quality and consistency of his calls.......

My understanding is that the ump in question is an alum of Fayetteville. Any truth to this........................QF, can you help out a little on this?

His rep is(was) actually pretty good.  He is a FHS 1974 graduate.

[Baitshop]

Here is a little something new for the conversation.........spoke to another 7A West coach this evening that said that he had been told, in the coaching circles, that the ump in question had been requested to not officiate games involving the PurpleDogs last year because of the quality and consistency of his calls.......

My understanding is that the ump in question is an alum of Fayetteville. Any truth to this........................QF, can you help out a little on this?

His rep is(was) actually pretty good.  He is a FHS 1974 graduate.

That is not what 2 other 7A West coaches have said in the past week in conversations with folks from Southside.....

[Quite Frankly]

He's graded out high enough among the conference coaches to make it to the Final game.  It's easy to work backwards with comments now, but the truth is he was well thought of overall.

Of course, that's past tense now.

[Coach Venny Slocombe]

Here is a little something new for the conversation.........spoke to another 7A West coach this evening that said that he had been told, in the coaching circles, that the ump in question had been requested to not officiate games involving the PurpleDogs last year because of the quality and consistency of his calls.......

My understanding is that the ump in question is an alum of Fayetteville. Any truth to this........................QF, can you help out a little on this?

His rep is(was) actually pretty good.  He is a FHS 1974 graduate.

If he is a grad of Fayetteville High then he should not have ever been put in that situation. This clearly lies at the feet of the AAA in my opinion.

[blue4hire]

I agree.  He may be the most honest, fair guy in the world but the perception of him calling in favor of Fayetteville over rides the reality that he probably just screwed up (badly) in the eyes of many people.  This perception could have been avoided by not allowing alumni to officiate, especially in playoffs.  There were 6 other games he could have called. 

[Quite Frankly]

I have said and repeat that grads shouldn't do their schools playoff or championship games.  But it happens more than you think.

In this case, it was 35 years ago and none of the parties involved were there simultaneously.  When you begin to go down that road(which again I think has merit), you also have to look at the town they live in now (which might be different), the town they work in, the town an ump's kids might live in, the town were they work etc etc etc.

You get the picture.

Again, I think he should not have done this game.  But it's not the first time it's happened in Arkansas or anywhere else.

[Ty]

The call was wrong. Even the Fayettevile players continued to make a play on the ball because everyone in the stadium knew the call was wrong.

You can't change the fact that the person that made the wrong call is an alumni of FHS and has children that attend the school. Just one more chalk mark up beside the actions of the AAA.

Personally knowing Fayetteville players, this is not how they wanted to win their 4th state title in a row. The travesty is the disregard shown by the AAA in the aftermath of such an event.

[borborygmi]

06 LSU/Auburn. Replay call at end of game cost LSU the game most probably. I was there. At least 3 very questionable replay calls. Replay official was Auburn grad and former Aubbie fb player. It's just wrong and why it happens is beyond me. 90,000 plus at the game @ at least 50 bucks each and reason given was he lives close so he only cost 300 bucks cuz no travel. It's just always wrong. Alums shouldn't do any games.

[parpar]

Been there, done that, on a high school level and a college level.  Even though I was an alum, the coach of the other team requested that I do the finals, as I did his quarterfinal game and evidently he liked what he saw.  But I would always disclose it  on the front end and bow out if asked.

In my football conference, the 3rd year in the League they asked that we reveal all our ties to a school - if we graduated, if our spouse graduated, if our kids went there, if we played or coached with any of the staff, etc.  In a pinch, we might get assigned to a non-conference game there, but never a conference game.

After two years of college football, the conference then

[Smithian]

A week later and no word from the AAA.

What a disgrace.

[Billyo62]

A week later and no word from the AAA.

What a disgrace.

If they ever say anything ( and they won't ) it will be.... It was a bad call!

[Smithian]

Even if they said "We apologize for an error in judgement by the umpires," it would make me and a lot of people happy. I just hate that the AAA can act like nothing ever happened.

[arreferee]

06 LSU/Auburn. Replay call at end of game cost LSU the game most probably. I was there. At least 3 very questionable replay calls. Replay official was Auburn grad and former Aubbie fb player. It's just wrong and why it happens is beyond me. 90,000 plus at the game @ at least 50 bucks each and reason given was he lives close so he only cost 300 bucks cuz no travel. It's just always wrong. Alums shouldn't do any games.

Not sure where you got your information, but it's not all correct.

[borborygmi]

I got my info. from myself and the Luzeanna media.

[borborygmi]

Here's more info. if I can figure out how to paste.

2.   LSU vs. Auburn – September 16, 2006

It was one of those typical SEC smash mouth, defensive struggles.  LSU was up 3-0 at halftime, and Auburn had scored a touchdown in the third quarter to make it 7-3.

There were two calls that robbed LSU of a chance to win the game.  The first was a catch resulting in a first down by Jacob Hester.  Hester made the catch, but then dropped the ball and it went out of bounds.  It was ruled a reception on the field.  The play was reviewed and could only be overturned if "indisputable" evidence existed.  The replay clearly showed that Hester had possession and took two full steps before dropping the ball, but the replay official overturned the call on the field.

Then with 2:46 left on the clock, LSU was going for it on 4th and 6.  Jamarcus Russell dropped back and threw a dart to an open Early Doucet.  Before Doucet could make the catch, an Auburn defender tackled him and drew a flag.  The refs conferred and announced that it was pass interference on the defense and that LSU would advance 15 yards and get a 1st down.

Inexplicably, the referee then waved off the flag saying that there was no interference because the ball had been tipped by a defender.  Back to the replay booth.  The replay clearly showed that the ball was tipped, but only after Doucet was tackled.  This meant that the interference happened before the tip; therefore the interference call should stand.

The replay official overturned the interference and gave the ball back to Auburn.  It was later discovered that the replay official was not only an Auburn alumnus, but was also a big booster to the program.  I guess that's how he got the job.  Nevertheless, this blatant home cooking cost LSU a chance to play for the SEC Championship and possibly a national title. http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/Brian%20Scott/bcs/32065

[borborygmi]

Here's more and this from a former SEC official. I have the replay officials name if you need that.
It's Official: LSU-Auburn call still not clear

Natchez Staff

Published Saturday, September 30, 2006

I had expected to have an answer from the Southeastern Conference Supervisor of Football Officials by this time explaining the wave-off of the defensive pass interference call in the LSU-Auburn game last week.

After I wrote last week's column in which I implied that the SEC had admitted that the officials had erred in their ruling in that game, I found an article in which the Supervisor of Officials said that the officiating crew was correct when they overturned the interference call against Auburn, ruling that the pass had become uncatchable because it had been tipped by an Auburn player. It is certainly true that, had the ball been tipped prior to the interference violation, there would have been no penalty.

As far as I know, nobody has questioned that the ball was tipped after the interference took place. Under the reasoning that the tipping had made the pass uncatchable, that same reasoning would result in many intercepted passes being allowed, even after the defender had obviously interfered with the receiver prior to the interception. It seems that an interception in that case would obviously create an uncatchable situation.

I am sure the SEC has a logical explanation for the wave-off, but I can find nothing in the NCAA Rule Book, in the Approved Rulings, or in the Official's Study Guide that sheds any light on the LSU-Auburn play. As for now, I remain curious about the reasoning for the call coming as it did. One can't say that ruling cost LSU that game, but it did wipe out perhaps their best chance to win.

As far as I can tell, the NCAA replay system is working as designed thus far. That is not to say that all replay results have been met with universal approval. Most announcers, many fans and a lot of coaches stay convinced they had a better view of any controversial play than did the replay official with his instant look at each play from nine views.

I have not heard this from coaches, but most announcers seem to think that all officials assigned for intersectional games should come from neutral conferences. That idea has some merit.

Bowl game officials have been assigned from neutral associations or conferences for years, going back to at least the middle of the 1970s. The NCAA does not make the assignments, but merely determines which conference or assigning group will send officials to each bowl. During the regular season, normally the visiting team's conference will assign a crew for an intersectional game. The replay crew will usually travel with the officiating crew. I did note that the crew of officials which worked last week's Oklahoma-Oregon game, including the replay officials, were assigned by the PAC-10 Conference, which was the home team's conference. It is widely known that there were several bad calls in the game, which likely cost Oklahoma the game. To their credit, the PAC-10 accepted blame and suspended the officiating crew, including the replay people, for a couple of games.

And, that's official.

Al Graning is a former SEC official and former Natchez resident.
http://natchezdemocrat.com/news/2006/sep/30/it8217s-official-lsu-auburn-call-still-not-clear/