SEC Fines Urban Meyer 30 Large for Having an Opinion: Days of the Apocalypse Part II

After I read of the SEC's implementation of "SEC bylaw 10.5.4", which basically prohibits SEC coaches from expressing their opinions regarding the officiating done in SEC games, I thought to myself, "This is so stupid, there's no way they would ever enforce such a blatant violation of the 1st Amendment."

I was wrong.

Welcome, friends, to the end of life as we know it.

Don your woolen caps and prepare the red flags, comrades. The end of free speech is over. The reign of fearmongering and insecurity is encroaching even on our pastimes.

When I read of Coach Meyer's Punishment, I threw up a little in my mouth. Urban Meyer was fined $30,000 today for expressing his opinion two days ago regarding Saturday's win over rival Georgia. He believed that SEC officials had missed a late hit call against Georgia for roughing Florida quarterback, Tim Tebow. Let me quote the SEC official statement as reported by Rivals.com

"Coach Meyer has violated the Southeastern Conference Code of Ethics," SEC commissioner Mike Slive said in a statement. "SEC bylaw 10.5.4 clearly states that the coaches, players and support personnel shall refrain from public criticism of officials. The league's athletics directors and presidents and chancellors have made it clear that negative public comments on officiating are not acceptable."

Let's define some terms, shall we? I'm citing Dictionary.com.

Public
-adjective 1. of, pertaining to, or affecting a population or a community as a whole: public funds; a public nuisance. 2. done, made, acting, etc., for the community as a whole: public prosecution. 3. open to all persons: a public meeting. 4. of, pertaining to, or being in the service of a community or nation, esp. as a government officer: a public official. 5. maintained at the public expense and under public control: a public library; a public road. 6. generally known: The fact became public. 7. familiar to the public; prominent: public figures. 8. open to the view of all; existing or conducted in public: a public dispute. 9. pertaining or devoted to the welfare or well-being of the community: public spirit. 10. of or pertaining to all humankind; universal.
Criticism
-noun 1. the act of passing judgment as to the merits of anything. 2. the act of passing severe judgment; censure; faultfinding. 3. the act or art of analyzing and evaluating or judging the quality of a literary or artistic work, musical performance, art exhibit, dramatic production, etc. 4. a critical comment, article, or essay; critique. 5. any of various methods of studying texts or documents for the purpose of dating or reconstructing them, evaluating their authenticity, analyzing their content or style, etc.: historical criticism; literary criticism. 6. investigation of the text, origin, etc., of literary documents, esp. Biblical ones: textual criticism.

The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." It does not mean one can legally incite riots, but it does allow freedom to protest even the high government of these United States.

Did Coach Meyer call for the heads of the officials? No.

Well, then did he call for violence or hatred toward the officials? Um, no.

Then certanily, he called for the State of Florida to riot in the streets over the incident, right? No.

What, then, did Urban Meyer do wrong? He made a simple statement that violated a new rule designed to build a hedge around SEC officials and their egos.

But did Coach Meyer even violate SEC bylaw 10.5.4?

Commissioner Slive stated "negative public comments on officiating are not acceptable". Are we to believe then that negative public comments are the same as "passing judgement"? What if a coach says, "You know, the line judge's socks did not appear to be as white as I would have thought."? Is that a violation? It is not a positive statement.

And where are these bylaws anyway? Can we see a public copy? Do other conferences ask their coaches to not say a word regarding the officials and their calls?

And what is the big deal anyway? Are the officials so egotistical to think that they could NEVER miss a call? Are they so insecure that they can't take criticism for their jobs? Does anybody besides sports officials have a job where people are fined thousands of dollars for offering criticism or pointing out possible error? I'm not even saying the call was missed myself. I'm just saying that there is no good reason, at least of which I am currently aware, to necessitate the prohibition of free speech of SEC coaches. Refs miss calls. They are human. Instant replay can only overturn calls if there is unmistakable evidence to the contrary. Calls are going to be missed. Officials are still going to be paid. People are still going to cheer or boo. The SEC rule (and any other conference foolish enough to attempt this) only serves to make the leadership of the conference appear as insecure children.

I await the day when it will be punishable by law to question the veracity of the BCS or to mention publicly a playoff system. It's coming.