Published: October 29, 2009 04:33 pm      

ALL IN THE GAME: SEC officials are catching heat

There is absolutely no excuse for officiating mistakes in this day and time when replay from a zillion angles gives the men in stripes every opportunity to make the right call. I'm not talking about the unmade call against Mount Cody for removing his helmet on the field of play against the Volunteers, but rather the call that probably cost Vanderbilt a win against South Carolina when the Gamecock receiver was out of bounds.

Bobby Johnson was more than a little upset but he shows much more restraint than Lane Kiffin.

Granted, Cody and Alabama should have been whistled for the violation but that game was over and a penalty at that time wouldn't have given Tennessee another opportunity for Lincoln to miss again.

Frank Gale's men in orange now have two really close calls against number one teams. What happened against Auburn and UCLA? Has Tennessee improved greatly or have Florida and Alabama been overrated from the start?

I'll give Mr. Gale a call for an unbiased report.

MTSU got back on track as they drilled Western Kentucky and they continue to be the best in the state. Go Raiders.

Though neither team has had a stellar season, both CCHS and Stone have opportunities to advance to the state playoffs with wins on Friday evening.

Stone will be hosting Scott County and the Jets will take on White County.

Good luck to both. I'm not ready for the season to be over just yet.

As I'm writing this the Lady Panthers are competing in the state volleyball tournament and they won their second match after losing the first. Go girls. I was reading about the tournament in the Nashville newspaper and they didn't even mention the Lady Panthers as a contender. Let's prove them wrong. We have already defeated one of the teams that they referred to as a possible winner.

I visited downtown Crossville this week wearing a Vandy shirt and a Titans jacket and everyone I ran into just bowed their head and wished me well. Some even took the time to give me a hug. What's up with that? There's nothing wrong with being a true fan, win or lose. The hugs were nice though.

I guess Bud Adams will get his way this weekend and we will see what Vince Young has learned while sitting on the bench. I'm trying to figure out who the Titans are going to beat. Please don't match Detroit's record of last year.

Come on Philadelphia Phillies! They took a big opening win and hopefully can finish off the Bronx Bombers with the fat wallets. It's been done before.

I haven't mentioned my newfound Michigan friends lately and the reason is that when I bring up football to them they shy away so I can't get any good quotes. One Ohio State fan did comment that their conference just can't compete with the SEC. Duh!

Let's get out and root the Jets and Panthers on to victory on Friday night and on Saturday you take yours and I'll take mine. UT versus Spurrier and South Carolina should be a good game and a Vanderbilt victory over Georgia Tech would turn my entire season around. Regardless, the sun will rise on Sunday.

Keep on smiling and find the good in everything, even a close loss. Have a great week.

GO PANTHERS!!!  GO JETS!!!  GO USA!!!

(Jim Butler is a Chronicle contributor and his column appears weekly.)