I don’t know if it is because of my lack of in-depth knowledge about all the other sports is so obvious, but I have been asked to write more about football (American football).

That is fine with me, except I don’t get the interesting and strange emails about football that some of the other sports elicit. When I wrote about Australian Rules Football, it drew comments from all over, including some from Australia. The same sort of thing happened about cricket. One writer asked me some questions about cricket, and I had to reply that what he read from me was my entire knowledge of the sport.

With few exceptions, I can’t tell where an email originated (unless the writer wants me to know). None of those was from Natchez.

On to football. The SEC has solidified its instant replay procedure. As we said, it will be much like the original Big Ten system installed last season, in that only the replay official can call for review of a play.

The home schools will each provide a secure press box booth and will install three TV monitors in the booth. One monitor will show nine panels, and the view of a play from any of those panels can be instantly transferred to the 27-inch monitor for the replay official’s view.

In the booth will be a technician (provided by the home school), a communicator and the replay official &045; both assigned by the SEC. On the sideline at each 20-yard line will be a set of guarded head phones and mic with a cord which reaches to the hashmark.

The SEC wants the referee to discuss things with the replay official away from the sidelines.

When an SEC game is not televised, the home school will provide a live feed to the booth.

When the replay official, watching the play on the field as well as on his monitor, decides he needs another look at a play, he will ask the communicator for the best view, which that individual, by touching the proper panel on his monitor, will have that view up on the replay official’s monitor.

The replay official will then have 12-14 seconds to determine if he wants to review a play. If so, he will press a button which will vibrate a pager on each of five on-field officials, and they will have the referee stop play and announce that the play is under review.

After a subsequent play has started, no previous play may be reviewed. The referee will don one of the sideline headsets, and the replay official will either tell him the play stands, there isn’t enough evidence to overturn the call or the play is overturned.

The SEC each week will provide to all replay officials tapes of all the plays reviewed the previous week as a training tool. As Supervisor of Officials Bobby Gaston said, &uot;The thing I want our replay officials to know is we don’t want them to officiate. They are to simply look at a play, decide if it should be reviewed, and then make the correct decision.&uot;

The cost to each SEC institution to install the equipment will be about $20,000. Will it work? Will it improve officiating?

I don’t know, 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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