The college football bowl season is upon us, and you might be interested in bowl game officiating assignments for various SEC officials.

In addition to the crew which was assigned to work the SEC Championship (which, by SEC rule, cannot also officiate a bowl game that year), the SEC was given three bowl games for which the conference is to furnish officials. Neutral officials are required for all bowl games

The three bowl games to be played using SEC officials are the GMAC Bowl, the Liberty Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl. The GMAC Bowl, Dec. 21 in Mobile, matches UTEP against Toledo.

That officiating crew, led by referee Penn Wagers, includes Mississippians Don Shanks at side judge and Stan Murray at back judge.

The Liberty Bowl, which has Fresno State facing Tulsa, is at noon New Year&8217;s Eve in Memphis. A Liberty Bowl I officiated many years ago was played at night, with the thermometer hovering at the zero mark. People in the stands were lighting bonfires to survive.

We officials wore panty hose, long underwear (top and bottom), a sweatshirt, extra socks, then our long-sleeved uniform as well as our jackets and gloves. We kept Vasoline on our faces. The pea in our whistles froze, so all we could do was to make a toot sound.

I hope this year&8217;s crew, which includes referee Tom Ritter and veteran back judge George Ranager from Meridian, is treated better by the weatherman.

The other SEC assignment is to the Fiesta Bowl, to be played Jan. 2, in Tempe with Ohio State facing Notre Dame. Both squads have 9-2 records. Steve Shaw will referee that game, but the only official who is even close to Mississippi is Bobby Aillet Jr. of Monroe.

I had read, and thought I understood, that instant replay would not be used in any bowl games. While that may be true, I noticed the SEC assigned an instant replay official and a communicator to each of the bowl crews.

As a reminder, under the SEC review plan three people are required. There is a Technician, assigned by the home school (I do not know if the bowl committee, or who, might assign that individual). The communicator and the replay official are booth assigned by the SEC.

All three are in a booth in the press box. While the Fiesta Bowl would certainly be equipped for play review, I do not know about the Liberty Bowl or Ladd Stadium in Mobile. Maybe the SEC just sent those replay guys along for a bonus.

The replay system used by the SEC involves feed from the network televising the game. When there was no TV coverage, the host school was to have the equipment and crew to furnish that feed to the replay booth.

As far as I have heard, the SEC&8217;s replay system has gotten good reviews, so to speak.

And, That&8217;s Official.

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

AlanWard39157@aol.com

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