The College Football Season came to an end last night in Atlanta with an all SEC National Championship. So many time championship games fail to live up to all of the pregame hype. Not the case this time as Alabama and Georgia made sure that the game exceeded all expectations.
A lot was was said when Alabama was selected over Ohio State. Many of the pundit said that the selection of two SEC teams in the playoffs was not fair; that is did not represent the diversity of the sport. The also said that the possibility of two SEC teams meeting in the Championship game would not be good for the future of the College Football Playoff. Many also said that a team that did not win its conference championship should not be considered for the playoff.
The sole missions of the College Football playoff committee was to select the four BEST teams for the Playoff. Not the four most deserving teams, not the four most politically correct teams, not the four best conference champions and certainly not the four most popular teams. I said at the time I felt like the committee got it right. There was little disagreement in the selection of Clemson, Georgia and Oklahoma but when they selected Alabama over Ohio State most people said that Ohio State should have been selected simply because they won their Conference Championship, Not because they were the better team.
I think that any of the four teams would have beat Ohio State. Simply put, Georgia, Alabama, and Clemson would have beaten the Buckeyes and Oklahoma had already beaten them earlier in the season. Simply put, Ohio State wasn't one of the four best teams in the country. The Selection Committee got it right.
That bring me to the game itself. Overall the game was a classic and I enjoyed it, but there were a few thing that I found interesting.
First, why was Mekhi Brown (#48) not ejected for throwing a punch during the game. The officials obviously saw it because they flagged him for Unsportsman like conduct. I have no doubt he would have been immediately ejected if this had occurred during a regular season game. Also why was he not banished from the bench when he violently charge at coaches and players and had to be physically restrained. Not only was nothing done for his unacceptable conduct on the bench, he was allowed to return to the game.
Additionally, I must say that I usually like Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit, but last night was NOT one of their better efforts. They appeared be more interested in being politically correct rather than calling the game. They ignored several issues throughout the game.
This was was most evident was when Mekhi Brown was flagged for unsportsman like conduct for throwing a punch. The only comment Fowler and Herbstreit made was "He is lucky he wasn't ejected." This would have been a perfect time to bring in their rules official who was in the booth and ask him why he wasn't ejected. Not only didn't they discuss the non-ejections they made no comment at all when Brown shoved a couple of coaches and player in a violent rage on the Alabama bench. They were silent and the video quickly cut away from the scene of several people trying to restrain Brown.
It would be interesting in hearing why the Brown incident both on the field and on the bench was not addressed by Alabama, the Game Officials and the TV Broadcasts. The reason being is probably the politically correct bull crap of "it's a teaching moment. We want Brown to learn from this." Or this was a young man in a high pressure situation so we can excuse his conduct as competitive behavior.
I call Bull Crap. Browns actions on the field should have resulted in an ejection. His actions on the bench should have resulted in him being banished from the bench area for the rest of the game and his future with the football team should be re-evaluated upon return to campus.
Finally several people that I have talked with today were disappointed with the way the game was officiated. Again the most glaring issue I have was why Brown was not ejected. Over all I have seen better officiated game and I have seen worse. In my opinion the officials for the most part was pretty good. Did they miss calls? Sure. Did they cost Georgia the Game. Certainly Not.
With that the College Football Season is over and now we can turn our full attention to College Basketball. And in just about a month Pitchers and Catchers will be reporting to Spring Training.
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