SEC commissioner Greg Sankey rips broadcasters as 'some of the worst officials in America' while defending replay reviews
The SEC commissioner further defended replay officials by saying the conference plays all of its games on Saturday, rather than having individual matchups on a Thursday or Friday.
Key points
- SEC commissioner Greg Sankey defended the conference's officiating — notably officials reviewing replays — during a Monday interview on ESPN's "The Paul Finebaum Show." In particular, Sankey lashed out at TV broadcasters who criticized officiating calls made during Texas' 34-20 win over Missouri on Saturday.
- Thus, officials cannot devote all of their attention to one game and have audio of the replay process available for TV broadcasts as seen with the ACC, Big 12 and Big Ten.
- Though slow-motion video appeared to show that Manning had the ball in his hand as his arm was moving forward, replay officials upheld the call.
"So you have to figure out how to manage that process so you continue to have the right outcomes." However, Sankey acknowledged that the conference's system isn't perfect and will look at measures to improve officiating and the replay process.
"Some of the worst officials in America are those in the announce booth.
Additional details
- "Somebody on a Saturday night who's announcing a game between Oklahoma and Florida going back to something that happened at noon, that he's never called and asked a question about and being critical is unacceptable in my mind," Sankey said.
- "We don't have the luxury of a Thursday night or a Friday night game, where you can do one game at a time and everybody's eyes and voices and minds are on that one monitor," Sankey said to Finebaum.
- "We'll take the responsibility, we'll take the heat, we'll work to continually improve, we'll work on how do we provide more transparency and access to a replay system," he said.
- However, the play was ruled a fumble by the officials on the field, giving the Longhorns a 14-yard gain.
- "I am highly disappointed in announcers and their criticism, and they're wrong," Sankey told Finebaum.
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