We’re only a week into the college football bowl season, but even this early it looks like the officials working the games are getting (giving?) their money’s worth.

I was disappointed the first SEC crew to work a bowl this year, led by referee Rocky Goode in the Las Vegas Bowl, found cause to inflict 21 penalties on the two teams. Winner Wyoming was penalized 11 times for 114 yards, while losing UCLA was flagged 10 times for 84 yards.

That is likely more penalties than Rocky’s regular season crew had all year! Wyoming was a 14-point underdog, about the way they were against Ole Miss, but pulled out the win by scoring 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

In earlier bowl action Southern took care of North Texas and didn’t have too much flag trouble. Georgia Tech wiped out Syracuse in their bowl game, and it appears the officiating crew played only a minor role in that game.

Syracuse drew seven flags for 45 yards, while the Jackets were penalized five times for 38 yards. On a nasty night in Mobile, Bowling Green took care of Memphis, 52-35, and officials threw only six flags against both teams. I remember how hard it is to pull your flag when your hands and gloves are frozen.

Thursday night in frozen Fort Worth, before a small (for Texas) high-school sized crowd of about 13,000, Cincinnati bested Marshall, 32-14. Loser Marshall shouldn’t complain about the officiating as they were assessed but 5 yards for a single violation. Even winner Cincinnati only had six penalties, so I guess the frozen-glove condition existed there as well.

Friday, in warm and sunny Honolulu, the Warriors (used to be the Rainbows) of the University of Hawaii ran (passed) away from UAB 59 – 40. I don’t yet know which conference assigned those officials, but I really think they spent too much time on the beach. UAB was flagged six times in the first quarter alone as Hawaii built up a 21-13 lead.

Bowl games resumed Monday night with the Boise Bowl (MPC Computer Bowl) and the Motor City Bowl. It appears only a single bowl-eligible team was left out of the bowl mix this year, which begs the question &045; how many bowls are enough?

I know there are about 200 officials each year who are happy that the bowl number is what it is, because each one will come away with good memories and probably a bowl watch or ring.

All, of course, aspire to officiate that last, big national championship game, and all but a very few will have to start with the smaller bowls and try to move on up. The starting point for SEC officials used to be the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, and I considered myself lucky to work three of those before moving up to the Liberty Bowl.

That Liberty Bowl was when I learned that your flag could freeze in your pocket, and your whistle would freeze to your lips. I remember that it was eight degrees in Memphis at kickoff, and the fans were lighting bonfires in the stands.

It was cold, and that’s official.

Al Graning is a former SEC official and former Natchez resident. Reach him at

AlanWard39157@aol.com

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