In genteel conversation it is called &8220;circling the wagons.&8221; The acronym in more common language is &8220;CYA.&8221;

I can not find fault with those Southeastern Conference football officials to whom I have talked about the waved-off pass interference call in the LSU-Auburn game. All of those fellows are of necessity company men.

The only fact that most of them seem to hang their hat on is that a different defender for Auburn than the one who committed the interference was the defender who tipped the pass. There is nothing in the rulebook, or in any publication I have seen, which addresses that situation. At the very least a defensive holding foul should have been called. It was obvious that LSU&8217;s receiver had been held, and that the holding took place prior to the ball being touched by the defender. The rule covering illegal use of the hands, or holding, states that defensive holding, against an eligible receiver, carries a 10-yard penalty, and an automatic first down if a legal forward pass goes beyond the line of scrimmage.

There would have been no violation had the pass been touched prior to the holding taking place, but that did not happen in the LSU case. While the penalty and first down would have kept LSU&8217;s drive alive, there can be no certainty that LSU would have eventually scored.

A full SEC officiating crew was assigned to work Saturday&8217;s Millsaps-Lincoln (Mo.) game at Millsaps&8217; Harper Davis Field. Steve Shaw, probably the top referee in the SEC, headed the crew. As the crew&8217;s regular head linesman, Gus Morris, was a Millsaps graduate, he was replaced in the crew by another head linesman. Morris, a member of the Millsaps Athletic Hall of Fame, played on one of Millsaps&8217; best teams, along with former Natchezian Brad Chism.

Millsaps is coached by Mike DuBose, former Alabama Head Coach, and before that a long-time Alabama assistant. I played golf with him a few times during the annual officials and coaches golf outing held each spring. Coach DuBose remembered those occasions, and asked about a couple of other guys in our golf group.

To change sports, I watched a little of both the Monday and Wednesday pro-ams at the Southern Farm Bureau Classic Golf Tournament. The Annandale course is in excellent shape, and the weather turned out to be perfect for all four days. At the Monday pro-am, I saw and chatted with Don Shanks and his wife, Carolyn. Don is in his final year officiating in the SEC. He was not around for the Wednesday pro-am, as he was traveling to Columbia, S.C., for the Auburn-South Carolina game. At the Wednesday pro-am I saw Steve Shaw, who told me about his crew coming back to officiate at Millsaps Saturday.

I was pleased to notice a couple of weeks ago that former Cathedral golfer Jordan Farmer was the leading Delta State scorer in a recent fall tournament. I don&8217;t recall if Jordan is on scholarship at Delta State but if he is not, he should be soon.And, that&8217;s official.

Al Graning is a former SEC referee and former Natchez resident. He can be reached by e-mail at

AlanWard39157@aol.com

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