TWO BAD CALLS

Upon further review, the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) needs to overturn its punishment of Philip Harden, the back judge whose missed call supposedly cost Tuskegee its 26-game winning streak, an undefeated season and the Golden Tigers' second consecutive Black College National Cham-pionship.

Interim SIAC Commissioner George Mategakis permanently suspended Harden after the conference's commissioner of officials ruled that Harden made the wrong call when he said Tuskegee receiver Jonathan Lessa was out of bounds when he caught what would have been the go-ahead touchdown with seconds remaining in the Turkey Day Classic, which Alabama State won 17-13.

The punishment simply doesn't fit the crime, and another bad call won't undo the first one.

While Harden's mistake robbed Tuskegee of a place in history - a victory would have broken the school record for consecutive wins, and, given the state of the SIAC, there is no telling how many more games the Golden Tigers might have won before losing - it was just that, a mistake.

We've seen officials at all levels, including the NFL, which is supposed to have the most highly-skilled, well-trained game officials in the world, blow calls every week without being fired, which is essentially what the SIAC did to Harden. We've even seen NFL officials miss calls despite having the help of instant replay without anyone being fired.

SIAC Public Relations and Marketing Director Harry Stinson III, the conference's incoming interim commissioner, who will replace Mategakis, told The Birmingham News the suspension "wasn't based solely on him missing that call,'' but didn't say what other factors were involved. For Stinson not to lay all the cards on the table, if there are cards to be laid on the table, is a disservice.

The SIAC's handling of the situation is curious at the very least. For starters, the conference didn't complete its investigation into the matter until nearly a week after the game was played. Then it took Mategakis to release a poorly constructed statement, in which he said among other things "We expect complete honesty from our officials at all times. Anything else is simply unacceptable.'' The implication is Harden was dishonest and deliberately blew the call. If that were the case, Mategakis should say so in no uncertain terms.

Dr. Moses Norman, SIAC supervisor of officials and the man who conducted the investigation, says he found no evidence that the call was nothing more than an error on Harden's part. Norman came to that conclusion after reviewing video and still photos of the play. Harden didn't have that luxury. Mategakis also said the entire crew "did a distressingly poor job officiating the contest.'' Yet only Harden is being punished. Norman and Dr. W. J. Maye, a neutral observer for the conference at the game, disagreed with Mategakis' assessment.

"I thought the game was well-officiated,'' Maye says, adding that he doesn't have an opinion on the accuracy of Harden's call because he didn't have good view of it from his seat in the press box. Norman says Mategakis' characterization of how well the game was officiated "was an unfortunate and ill-used term.''

Interestingly, Norman recommended a one-year suspension for Harden because in his estimation Harden missed a call that he shouldn't have. Therefore, he should be punished, but even a year's suspension is steep.

The permanent suspension pleases Tuskegee's administration, alumni and fans, who probably wouldn't be opposed to even harsher punishment - whatever that might be.

"It is cruelly unfair for game officials to tilt the contest against one of the teams," Tuskegee President Dr. Benjamin F. Payton, who is also President of the Presidents Council for the SIAC, said in statement from Tuskegee. "Such behavior lays the groundwork for an odious corruption to enter college athletics and to nurture moral cynicism among our youth. The strongest possible sanctions need to be used against such conduct." A missed call doesn't equal corruption.

The bottom line is no sanctions against Harden, regardless how harsh, will change the Golden Tigers' record or alter the fact they just were not sharp against Alabama State, for whatever reason. Eddie Robinson, the late, great Grambling State coaching legend, used to say that, "You should lose with dignity and win without acting the fool.''

The Golden Tigers would do well to practice the former. With 611 all-time victories, tops among HBCUs and among the most in all of college football, whining and complaining isn't befitting a program of Tuskegee's tradition and stature.

© 2008 Azeez Communications, Inc.

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