SEC may discipline referee - Ala.-Ga. game
 

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Athens — SEC coordinator of officials Gerald Boudreaux said the league could take action against referee Tom Lopes for his performance in last Saturday's Alabama-Georgia game. But if it does, nobody else will know about it.

"There will be the normal review process and it will conclude when I look at the clips [Georgia coach] Dennis [Felton] sent," Boudreaux told the Journal-Constitution on Tuesday. "We have options within our review process. But if there is any follow-up, we're not going to release anything about it. There will be no official statement coming out of this office."

Boudreaux said officials can be reprimanded or suspended and that there's an end-of-the-year review in which the league could choose not to renew its contract with an individual referee. There is also the option of reassignment but Boudreaux said that a published report that Lopes had been taken off Georgia games was "not accurate."

"The schedule is made at the beginning of the year and it has not changed," Boudreaux said.

Boudreaux said he has talked extensively with Felton about last Saturday's game, won by Alabama 78-76 on a buzzer-beater by Ronald Steele. He said he has reviewed videotape of the game but had not yet received the DVD which Felton sent, documenting 23 alleged bad calls that went against Georgia.

Boudreaux admitted "there were some plays missed" by the crew officiating the Alabama-Georgia game but that happens sometimes "because of the talent and athleticism of the players."

"As long as a human element is involved there will be mistakes but we want to keep them to a minimum," said Boudreaux, who took over as coordinator this season after 20 years as an on-court referee. "But as far as accountability and recourse, it's all in place."

Great response in my opinion, much better than what Big Sky Women's coordinator is doing.

Agree, that's a professional response.

Is Gerald Boudreaux still a currently working official?

If so, I find it odd that he would also be the SEC coordinator of officials.

I'm pretty sure he gave up his floor work to take over Mr. Guthrie's position.

Yes, he gave up his on-floor career. That is part of the job. It was in Referee Magazine about a month or two ago.

Peace

While that makes sense to me, I have to say that it is a shame that this had to happen. I thought that he was one of the best in the NCAA game. I always enjoyed watching him work. However, I believe that he must be a quality supervisor now and that is why the SEC wanted him.

It makes a ton of sense for him. He accomplished just about everything a college official can accomplish and an opportunity came along to take over one of the biggest conferences in the country. He can last a lot longer as the assigner. I don't see how he could say no.

Thank you, Mr. Boudreaux, for holding officials accountable without feeling the need to embarass them.

Let me ask a difficult question.

In front of you is the media - Sportscenter, the internet, etc.
To the left of you is college conferences where the coaches make big money and their jobs depend on winning games.
To the right of you is a part time official who makes between 1-2 thousand a game and is an independant contractor.
Behind you is your family that depends on you to bring home the bacon.

So they guy/gal on your right makes a mistake, which they should not make, and the people in front of you advertise it. The guy/gal on your left is talking directly to your boss because they just got hosed and their job could be in jeopardy. You have your family behind you who depends on you to keep the electricity on. When the hammer falls, which it must because the guy/gal on the right is obviously wrong, do you tell the people in front of you and the guy/gal on the left of you? Or do you say it will be kept in house, but the guys in front of you show highlights of the guy on the right of you officiating games like nothing has happened and the guy/gal on the left of you sees it to? You must also keep in mind, this is a million (at least) dollar business.

I think it is a slippery slope and obviously many D1 conferences (in multiple sports), the NFL and the NBA do not mind coming out and saying what the punishment will be. When a coach gets fired, when a player gets a technical in a game or when a university scandal occurs, it is all right there in the open. Is it so wrong to be open about the punishment handed down to an official?

Just playing devil's advocate.

I can't keep track of who's on my right, left, etc. So I'll just say this:

Yes.

Keep in mind I understand both sides of this debate. I just wanted to see what the answers would be.

Does keeping the punishment in house mean the coaches don't know either or just the media doesn't know?

Even though it was under a different regime, I would say the SEC has taken a beating as far as credibility goes over the last two years or so.

As far as the game itself goes, I didn't see it, but according to the ESPN article, the big controversial call was a shot clock violation that Lopes called with 17 seconds left in the game. The ball hit the rim, but it was so close that they had to go to the monitor to confirm. The AP procedure gave the ball back to Alabama and they won at the buzzer (on what may or may not have been a travel before the game winning shot). I may have a problem w/ the SEC disciplining an official for something that they had to go to the monitor to confirm, or what may or may not have been a travel that can only be confirmed by the SEC reviewing a DVD or videotape in super-slow motion 5 days after the game because a coach b!tched. Just my .02. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=270200333

He!! yea it is... anything like that should be in-house, and nobody, and i mean NOBODY should know about it other than the reprimanded official and the person/board deciding his punishment. It goes back to the thread where we were talking about throwing fellow officials underneath the bus. You don't do it, no matter what. If you do, and you let the whole nation know he screwed up, then EVERY game, and i mean EVERY game, coaches and players are going to question his calls, and be continually on his @$$ because of it. It would essentially be forcing this guy to quit officiating.

We're talking about a guy, Tom Lopes, who has been one of the best in the business for many years. He's worked multiple Final Fours and is one of that small, elite group who you tend to see working the big games. His record speaks for itself.

That being said...If he screwed by misapplying a rule that is a major no no and I would have no problem with a simple statement from the SEC saying that he misapplied rule x.x.x and he and his crew will receive a (x) game suspension. But in seems in this case we're talking about judgement calls that need to be made at a split second. Obviously if an official misses too many of these type calls he/she will lose assignments to officials who can make the calls, but these mistakes should not be publicized.