College football’s instant replay has gotten some bad press lately.

I will not attempt to second-guess those officials who officiated the games in question, but it seems that the instant replay system might need some adjustments.

I know the natural inclination is for the replay officials to look for any way to uphold calls made on the field, but I also know that officials tend to not worry as much about the calls they make on the field, because they know they will be reviewed.

All fans know about the officiating crew suspended by the Southeastern Conference for mistakes in a couple of games.

I do not know those officials (the referee was not even on the SEC roster in 2001, my final season of involvement with the SEC) and I don’t know if the calls in question were made by the same official or not.

I do hear from active and former officials that say the guys involved now are generally young, athletic and might become good officials, but lack the judgement gained by playing the game at the highest level.

They are well trained, but simply knowing the rules is not enough. It helps an official to grow up to have been inside the 20s, which means to have actually gained experience playing the game.

I have never known an official at any level who did not think he or she should not be officiating at a higher level.

That is the way it should be, except one must be willing to pay the price to gain that experience.

It is not much fun to officiate pee wee and junior high games at places that are sometimes dangerous and hard to get to, but that is the price that must be paid.

I wish more good people would get interested in football officiating.

Congratulations to Cathedral for making the playoffs and to Natchez High and Trinity for taking the first steps toward a state championship.

Good luck to all those youngsters.

And, that’s official.

Al Graning writes a monthly column for The Democrat. Contact him at alanward39157@aol.com.