Steve Shaw, on the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that changed the tenor of the 2009 Georgia-LSU game:
Shaw said based on those guidelines, the Green penalty now “would be more of a talk-to then an unsportsmanlike foul. Make no mistake. Our guys are trying to communicate with these players. Our preference would be we could stop it before it goes over that line.”
A “talk-to”? What’s the ref supposed to say – “damn it, AJ, don’t be so clutch”?
I like Steve Shaw, but to pretend that Green did something there worthy of a rebuke is nonsensical, reflexive ass covering for an officiating crew that didn’t deserve it. Just call it for what it was, an unfortunate screw up, and move on.
Get The Picture 
“An unfortunate screw up” isn’t calling it what it was. This too, is covering for their sorry asses. How about “An undeserved screwing” ?
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To bad our defense didn’t stop them to cover up for this atrocity, on the whole they actually played well that day though.
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As i recall, LSU ran the ensuing kickoff back or a TD. Not the defenses fault on that one. Was a dumb call but was only 15 yards on the KO. The special teams should have held. Special teams mistakes have been the hallmark of our last 2 LSU losses. Lets hope we reverse that trend. The NT game didn’t give me much hope though
I will
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That kickoff was returned to the Georgia 43 and Charles Scott scored on a 33-yard run a couple of plays later.
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Nope. LSU’s last drive started on the UGA 37 yard line with 1:09 left to play.
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I think you’re thinking of the 2003 LSU game when we beat them statistically, missed 3 FGs, but scored at the end to make it 10-10. Then, though, the ensuing kick-off was (I think) returned for a score.
We’ve had some pretty interesting match-ups with the Tigers from Red Stick over the years, haven’t we?
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Nope. I was in Red Stick for that one.
LSU completed a bomb with about 2-3 minutes left to take a 17-10 lead. I told the LSU players’ families around me they left too much time on the clock; we got inside LSU territory before Greene threw a game-ending INT.
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Our only TD that game was a Tyson Browning (i believe) 91 yard screen play…. absolute thing of beauty.
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Well, Marc Curles has since been demoted to a back up referee, correct? That might be as public a statement as to his on field judgment as we ever get from Shaw.
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Nope he’s still a crew chief. That was an incorrect assumption. “Off” officials will serve as backups during their week off. That’s what Curles was doing the other day.
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Should’ve known. Damn.
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In the AJC article there was a quote stating that AJ’s celebration “called attention to himself.”
Uh, no. Catching a 19 yd TD for the go-ahead against LSU with 1:09 left in the game is what called attention to himself.
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As long as Penn Wagers has an R on the back of his shirt there is zero credibility with SEC officials. There may be a couple who almost have a clue but as a whole I think they are the worst in the world, bar none! It is a crying shame that in the conference that plays trhe best football the arbiters are pathetic. They affect the outcome of the games entirely too much. The best refs are the ones you don’t remember seeing during a game.
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There are two or three really good crews. The rest need to be swept up and out.
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I am convinced that the SEC officials had UGA on an unofficial probation for several years after the UF vs UGA field storming incident.
Remember the scandal this fall where the PAC 12 ref offered a Vaca to Mexico for whomever Calls technical fouls on a certain coach… And the coach was tossed from a subsequent conf tourney game.
My observation from those years was that UGA was on a short leash for celebration and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for 3-4 yr afte the UF TD celebration. The AJ Green thing was a prime example
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I agree 100% and I don’t usually buy into conspiracy theories.
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I know a lot of people will accuse me of having a collection of tinfoil hats for saying this, but I agree with you. Whether overt and intentional or not, I believe Georgia players lost the benefit of the doubt with officials for several years after the celebration. Thankfully, I think that is over now. Or at least I should say that I don’t find myself seething about a couple of non-existent personal foul calls after every game like I used to.
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I don’t believe it is over yet. North Texas didn’t get flagged for holding once against UGA. UGA gets flagged for holding on the opening drive of the second half. No way that is not a concerted effort.
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While I’m always wiling and able to complain about those sorts of calls, I was specifically referring to the personal fouls. There was a period of about five years or so that some player (often Reshad Jones) was just GOING to get flagged for a very debatable personal foul nearly every game. Thankfully, that doesn’t happen as often as it used to.
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Like the personal foul call on Reshad Jones in Stillwater? Okay, I understand what you mean. It just seems that after awhile it can’t be that we are just snakebit about penalties. I feel the same way about Jimmy Williamson and the keystone cops. Tinfoil hats are cool!
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I’m not sure exactly how to phrase my suspicions regarding the local police in Athens, but I will say this much. Anyone who thinks UGA athletes don’t face a higher level of police scrutiny than their counterparts at TU, FU, SC, Bammer, the Barn, etc. is kidding himself.
Once again, to be clear, I’m not accusing the local police of being on a UGA athlete witch hunt. But I do suspect the local authorities in Knoxvegas, Gainesville, Columbia, Tuscaloosa, Auburn, etc. will “look the other way” at times when the police in Athens wouldn’t.
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Do you think they actually called a play in the huddle or did Joe just say to AJ: “AJ, go to towards the corner or the end zone and I’ma heave it over the db’s head. Ready, break.”
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Given that it was the Ginger throwing the ball I think it was probably meant for the underneath WR and the ball slipped.
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Nah, say what you will about Cox but he threw a nice deep ball.
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Yep. He was the king of the pick-six, but he was solid in other respects.
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If there was ever a play that confirmed that officials are dirty and crooked, and by that I mean taking money to change game outcomes, that was the one.
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I was at that game. One of the most chikenshit calls I’ve ever seen. They never called one on Tebow for his antics..
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Me too.
Regarding Tebow, I know there weren’t too many Georgia fans left in the stadium, but he ran up and down the field Gator chomping during the time outs Corch called in 2008.
As I recall, Tim Brando alluded to the AJ Green call as a potential race issue in the CBS post-game show.
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Timmy T could run around the field doing the Gator chomp with impunity because he was Timmy T. AJ scores what should have been a game winning TD and LOOKS UP into the stands and gets flagged. ANYONE who says this is a rational call is not living in reality. SCREW JOB. BIG TIME. All I can say is “gird your loins UGA.”
LSU is coming to town.
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If there is such a thing as Karma, that is why AJ is enjoying a nice NFL career and Timmy is without a team to play for.
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This makes me more happy than it should.
Yes….I’m still bitter.
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JC, you’re not alone.
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Damn, Senator…I was in a good mood until this.
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Ditto. I woke up with a cold this morning, and now this. Then I get word that a friend may have tickets for me this weekend. That means I am going to have to go this weekend and scream my head off for 3 hours and be hoarse for another week. Life is hard.
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Yes. Please just say it was an enormous clusterfornication and move on. The fact that Shaw still feels the need to cover their asses four years later is exactly what is wrong with the culture of officiating.
And while we’re at it, let me whine about something else in that article. There is a long list of explicitly forbidden gestures such as throat slashes, salutes, first down signals, etc. I think it is silly that those things are prohibited. But, having said that, if they in fact ARE prohibited, call them! Either call them or remove the list of prohibited gestures from the rule book. I don’t know how many of those gestures I’ve seen go uncalled so far this year, but I’ll bet it is at least a hundred. While in the back of my mind, I suspect we might see flags thrown from forty yards away the first time a Georgia player does one of them.
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The 2009 celebration call happened because the SEC was protecting its undefeated teams to maximize its bowl revenue.
But THIS is the reason we lost that game:
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