Finally a weekend without crow on my menu, but Ole Miss surely had me warming up the pot for a while before they let Alabama off the hook.

Many people who watched the end of Saturday’s USC-Notre Dame game were puzzled by the ruling that appeared to give the Trojans an extra chance to run a final play, which resulted in them getting the winning score.

It seems after a long pass completion which put USC on the Irish 13 yard line, Southern Cal used a couple of plays to get to Notre Dame’s 5. Needing a couple of yards to make a first down and stop the clock and with no timeouts remaining, USC quarterback Matt Leinhart lunged for the goal.

He fumbled the ball, and it went out of bounds. For some reason, the clock failed to stop and the Irish fans, thinking the game over, rushed the field.

The officials, after conferring, ruled the fumble had gone out of bounds while still in USC’s possession. They also ruled the ball had not gone out of bounds in advance of Leinhart when he fumbled.

Had they ruled the ball had been in advance of Leinhart, they would have started the game clock on the ready-for-play signal rather than on the snap. This is all covered in NCAA Rule 3, Section 2, Article 5a 11. Southern Cal scored on the following play, much to the consternation of the Notre Dame radio and television announcers.

Although this column is not syndicated and runs only in The Democrat, I am constantly surprised at the number of people from all over the world who read it on the Web. I have heard from readers in England, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and most all over the United States.

I have also been fortunate to cover some high school sports for a weekly paper. Most often I cover either Madison St. Joseph or St. Andrew’s but do occasionally get to see Madison Central, Jackson Prep, Jackson Academy or the new Ridgeland High.

On a number of occasions I have run across football or basketball officials who attended one of the Southwest Coaches and Officials clinics in Natchez, and all spoke highly of the function and its driving force, Andy Pressgrove.

I have also gotten to watch several young athletes with Natchez roots. St. Andrew’s softball and basketball standout Maeve Wilson is the daughter of Natchez native Curtis Wilson; and her grandparents, Mr. And Mrs. Ed &8220;Speedy&8221; Wilson, still live in Natchez. Scott Haltom, a three-year starter at catcher for the St. Andrew’s baseball team, is the son of Dr. Jim Haltom and grandson of Natchezians Bob and Glen Haltom.

St. Andrews soccer and baseball star Aubrey Green’s grandparents are Walter and Dot (Stone) Green, former Natchezians. Walter and I graduated from Natchez High together. Aubrey’s great-aunts Ethel Banta and Ruth Ellen Calhoun still reside in Natchez. Sara Bergin, catcher on the Madison Central slow-pitch softball team, is a Natchez native and likely spent some of her elementary school years at Cathedral.

Former Natchezian Benji Maier is the starting fullback on the undefeated Jackson Academy football team.

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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