SEC Fines Texas $250,000

[Nathan Larson]

9 hours ago, VaHorn said:

Anyone thinking that Texas will probably do nothing is dreaming. The SEC statement requires Texas “to use all available resources, including security, stadium and television video, to identify individuals who threw objects onto the playing field or at the opposing team. All individuals identified as having been involved in disrupting the game shall be prohibited from attending Texas Athletics events for the remainder of the 2024-25 academic and athletic year.”

Here are the SEC bylaws/regulations on this.

“If cans or plastic bottles are used as projectiles or otherwise cause game management issues, the institution is subject to an immediate fine and suspension of the alcohol sales privilege.”

The Conference is not suspending alcohol sales privileges for the University of Texas at this time but reserves the right to do so if other requirements outlined above are not met.

Wondering how a lawyer would look at this on infringement on freedom of speech from the SEC. I get the contract and signed it but I haven't seen any signs or warnings not to throw anything on the field inside the stadium.

[tenneseehorn08]

43 minutes ago, Nathan Larson said:

Wondering how a lawyer would look at this on infringement on freedom of speech from the SEC. I get the contract and signed it but I haven't seen any signs or warnings not to throw anything on the field inside the stadium.

A lawyer would say you're not in a public forum, you are on someone else's property. A ticket is a limited license to enter that property, subject to all restrictions imposed by the property holder, whether you are on notice of those restrictions or not. You're right to freedom of speech does not include the right to trash someone else's property. 

We should get a post-season ban this year for this behavior. It was egregious. Bad calls are part of the game; this was entirely inappropriate and unacceptable and will be a black eye on the University for years to come. Anything less and idiots will continue to feel this behavior was justified to get the call reversed, which would incentive this bad behavior going forward. if the shoe were on the other foot and Georgia fans did this, we would be apoplectic, justifiably so. 

It's like rioting. If you don't punish it sufficiently, then the offenders come back and do it again. That is what this was and is. Alcohol sales, fines, and individual bans are not enough to deter this behavior. They need to hammer us in the only way the fans will understand: taking away the postseason. Truly pains me as a proud Longhorn to say it, but that behavior is something I would expect from the clowns at Tech, not Texas. 

[.45s]

For those interested, the text below is from the SEC website

https://www.secsports.com/news/2024/10/university-of-texas-penalized-for-football-game-interruption

 

 

 

 

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (October 20, 2024) – The University of Texas will be assessed a financial penalty and must meet requirements set forth by the Commissioner following interruption of its October 19 football game with the University of Georgia due to fans throwing debris on to the field, the Southeastern Conference announced Sunday.

A portion of the third quarter of the Georgia-Texas football game was interrupted and delayed when some fans threw objects onto the playing field, interrupting the competitive opportunity for both teams and endangering contest participants.

“The throwing of debris and resulting interruption of play that took place Saturday night cannot be part of any SEC event,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. “The SEC is assigned responsibility by its membership to enforce its sportsmanship and game management policies and these actions are consistent with that oversight responsibility, including the financial penalty and mandated reviews.”

Under the sportsmanship, game management and alcohol availability policies established by the Southeastern Conference, the University of Texas will:

• Be assessed a financial penalty of $250,000;
• Be required to use all available resources, including security, stadium and television video, to identify individuals who threw objects onto the playing field or at the opposing team. All individuals identified as having been involved in disrupting the game shall be prohibited from attending Texas Athletics events for the remainder of the 2024-25 academic and athletic year;
• Review and update its Athletics Department game management procedures and alcohol availability policies to prevent a recurrence of Saturday night’s disruption, which shall include an evaluation of agreed upon SEC Sportsmanship, Game Management and Alcohol policies to verify full compliance with existing standards, and
• Following completion of this review, the University shall provide a report to the Conference Office to summarize its efforts to identify and penalize offenders and its plan to enact policies to prevent future similar incidents while ensuring compliance with Conference standards.

The actions taken by the Conference are consistent with SEC Bylaws and Commissioner’s Regulations related to the availability of alcoholic beverages at athletics events which states, “If cans or plastic bottles are used as projectiles or otherwise cause game management issues, the institution is subject to an immediate fine and suspension of the alcohol sales privilege.”

The Conference is not suspending alcohol sales privileges for the University of Texas at this time but reserves the right to do so if other requirements outlined above are not met.

[Texas fan in Georgia]

[NancyS]

15 hours ago, justwinbaby said:

Any students who did that should be expelled from the university

I hope you're kidding. 

[whereiend]

5 hours ago, tenneseehorn08 said:

A lawyer would say you're not in a public forum, you are on someone else's property. A ticket is a limited license to enter that property, subject to all restrictions imposed by the property holder, whether you are on notice of those restrictions or not. You're right to freedom of speech does not include the right to trash someone else's property. 

We should get a post-season ban this year for this behavior. It was egregious. Bad calls are part of the game; this was entirely inappropriate and unacceptable and will be a black eye on the University for years to come. Anything less and idiots will continue to feel this behavior was justified to get the call reversed, which would incentive this bad behavior going forward. if the shoe were on the other foot and Georgia fans did this, we would be apoplectic, justifiably so. 

It's like rioting. If you don't punish it sufficiently, then the offenders come back and do it again. That is what this was and is. Alcohol sales, fines, and individual bans are not enough to deter this behavior. They need to hammer us in the only way the fans will understand: taking away the postseason. Truly pains me as a proud Longhorn to say it, but that behavior is something I would expect from the clowns at Tech, not Texas. 

I don't agree at all. It's up to the refs to provide a reasonable standard of officiating. I've never seen DKR erupt over officiating on this level. Is this a culture change or was the call they threatened to make just that bad? IMO it was the latter. I'd be kind of pissed if our crowd took that one lying down.

[tenneseehorn08]

47 minutes ago, whereiend said:

I don't agree at all. It's up to the refs to provide a reasonable standard of officiating. I've never seen DKR erupt over officiating on this level. Is this a culture change or was the call they threatened to make just that bad? IMO it was the latter. I'd be kind of pissed if our crowd took that one lying down.

So a riot, which is what this was, is justified because we don't like the call? There will be lots of calls we don't like. Officials will not (and cannot) always get things right. It doesn't matter how bad it is. Throwing a tantrum because you perceive something as unfair is how children behave. We should not reward childish behavior. Just the opposite: it should be severely punished. Right now, with the call reversed, we have been more rewarded than punished. That sets a terrible precedent. If we don't reverse course and get hammered even more, then it sends a message to every fanbase that acting like a child and throwing a tantrum is acceptable. But it is not.  

Edited 23 hours ago by tenneseehorn08

[whereiend]

15 minutes ago, tenneseehorn08 said:

So a riot, which is what this was, is justified because we don't like the call? There will be lots of calls we don't like. Officials will not (and cannot) always get things right. It doesn't matter how bad it is. Throwing a tantrum because you perceive something as unfair is how children behave. We should not reward childish behavior. Just the opposite: it should be severely punished. Right now, with the call reversed, we have been more rewarded than punished. That sets a terrible precedent. If we don't reverse course and get hammered even more, then it sends a message to every fanbase that acting like a child and throwing a tantrum is acceptable. But it is not.  

Not saying throwing trash in the field specifically was warranted, but an extreme expression of frustration with the call from both the crowd and Sark was appropriate.

The fact that IT WORKED tells you all you need to know. This call was so bad the officials were ashamed to stand by it.

[Haynes]

I do wonder what sort of fine is issued if a coach shoves an opposing quarterback after a play in the SEC.  Not condoning throwing garbage onto a football field with a game going on in anyway.  

Just how vocal he was against bells and whistles and how they came to eat.  Then Smart saying that now a “precedent is set” to overturn calls by throwing items.  

Well the question also, is there a precedent set to be able to shove the opponent when you feel like having a sideline tantrum?  If it had been an official, I imagine it would have a more severe punishment than a call from Sankey.  

[justwinbaby]

2 hours ago, NancyS said:

I hope you're kidding. 

Nope.  You do understand that if you throw something on a playing surface at pro events aren’t allowed to buy tickets for that said venue.  Got to learn a lesson, sometimes the hard way.

[tenneseehorn08]

1 hour ago, whereiend said:

Not saying throwing trash in the field specifically was warranted, but an extreme expression of frustration with the call from both the crowd and Sark was appropriate.

The fact that IT WORKED tells you all you need to know. This call was so bad the officials were ashamed to stand by it.

Acceptable extreme expression form of frustration: booing the refs, even cursing them out. 

Unacceptable form of expression: throwing trash on field. 

We will never know if they would have changed the call otherwise. The fact that that IT WORKED is beside the point. Other teams that we play will be screwed by very bad calls in the future, we may get similarly screwed again, and it will not justify this behavior. That is sports.

In order not to incentive it because IT WORKED is precisely why it should be severely punished. Otherwise you teach students, the leaders of tomorrow, that you can get what you want by throwing a tantrum/rioting. 

[Hashtag]

Nobody will even care in a week so why care and create some holistic this is Texas BS. News flash everyone hates us no matter what so just embrace it. 

[whereiend]

19 minutes ago, tenneseehorn08 said:

Acceptable extreme expression form of frustration: booing the refs, even cursing them out. 

Unacceptable form of expression: throwing trash on field. 

We will never know if they would have changed the call otherwise. The fact that that IT WORKED is beside the point. Other teams that we play will be screwed by very bad calls in the future, we may get similarly screwed again, and it will not justify this behavior. That is sports.

In order not to incentive it because IT WORKED is precisely why it should be severely punished. Otherwise you teach students, the leaders of tomorrow, that you can get what you want by throwing a tantrum/rioting. 

Joel Klatt had a good discussion of this in his podcast. The solution is some kind of review/challenge mechanism to allow an incredibly bad game changing call like this to be overturned.

I didn't throw trash on the field but I understand why it happened as that was an absolute disaster of a call.

SEC needs to be accountable themselves for unacceptable officiating.

Edited 21 hours ago by whereiend

[2345togo]

41 minutes ago, justwinbaby said:

Nope.  You do understand that if you throw something on a playing surface at pro events aren’t allowed to buy tickets for that said venue.  Got to learn a lesson, sometimes the hard way.

Okay, so ban them from the stadium. But expel them and kick them out of the University of Texas?  Get out of here idiot.  Your reasoning here does not add up.  Horrible take 

[tenneseehorn08]

11 minutes ago, whereiend said:

Joel Klatt had a good discussion of this in his podcast. The solution is some kind of review/challenge mechanism to allow an incredibly bad game changing call like this to be overturned.

I didn't throw trash on the field but I understand why it happened as that was an absolute disaster of a call.

SEC needs to be accountable themselves for unacceptable officiating.

I agree with Joel Klatt. But that is a prospective, future-looking solution. That doesn't address the appropriate punishment right now under the current rules for the past violations.  

And I'm certainly not saying or implying you did any of this.

I'm saying the only way to ensure that in the future other people don't throw a similar tantrum through similar acts of rioting/vandalism is to ensure there is no incentive for us to do it again. 250k, taking away beer sales, or kicking out a couple students of future games won't work.

Even if it was a terrible call, you have to live with it under the current rules, because that's sports. If they fix the rules so it doesn't happen again via replay, great. But that comes with downsides too, and there will always be certain unreviewable plays where the refs mess it up. When those happen, the precedent has been set that a tantrum will fix the problem. So unless that is so heavily punished that it takes that option off the table, it will happen again.  The hammer should come down to ensure it does not ever happen again. 

Edited 21 hours ago by tenneseehorn08

[whereiend]

36 minutes ago, tenneseehorn08 said:

I agree with Joel Klatt. But that is a prospective, future-looking solution. That doesn't address the appropriate punishment right now under the current rules for the past violations.  

And I'm certainly not saying or implying you did any of this.

I'm saying the only way to ensure that in the future other people don't throw a similar tantrum through similar acts of rioting/vandalism is to ensure there is no incentive for us to do it again. 250k, taking away beer sales, or kicking out a couple students of future games won't work.

Even if it was a terrible call, you have to live with it under the current rules, because that's sports. If they fix the rules so it doesn't happen again via replay, great. But that comes with downsides too, and there will always be certain unreviewable plays where the refs mess it up. When those happen, the precedent has been set that a tantrum will fix the problem. So unless that is so heavily punished that it takes that option off the table, it will happen again.  The hammer should come down to ensure it does not ever happen again. 

It's clearly not actually an "unreviewable play" given that the ref was (allegedly, but we all know this is true) able to watch the replay on the jumbotron and realize that his call was idiotic. There is no excuse for the ruleset to not include a mechanism of reviewing this play. This rule should be changed tomorrow.

[justwinbaby]

2 hours ago, 2345togo said:

Okay, so ban them from the stadium. But expel them and kick them out of the University of Texas?  Get out of here idiot.  Your reasoning here does not add up.  Horrible take 

Actions have consequences and thanks for calling me names

Edited 18 hours ago by justwinbaby

[Hashtag]

15 minutes ago, justwinbaby said:

Actions have consequences and thanks for calling me names

There are levels and degrees to consequences. Expulsion over throwing a water bottle get outta here with that weak take. 
 

 

Thats like saying someone caught speeding should get same punishment as someone who committed murder. 

[2345togo]

16 minutes ago, justwinbaby said:

Actions have consequences and thanks for calling me names

Anytime. Horrible take. They threw water bottles on a field of grass. No way does that merit kicked out of the university. From someone who knows how hard it is to get into UT and graduate, no way that is merited for throwing one water bottle.  Agree it is a bad look and something should be done, but kicked out. Come on man. 

[Neil Leininger]

Since we are fined, that field judge should be banned from working any more games this season. You can't be that bad at your job and keep it, if integrity means anything to the SEC.

[justwinbaby]

1 hour ago, Hashtag said:

There are levels and degrees to consequences. Expulsion over throwing a water bottle get outta here with that weak take. 
 

 

Thats like saying someone caught speeding should get same punishment as someone who committed murder. 

All tickets are revocable licenses.  So if I was speeding in a car and killed somebody, I should be shown mercy?  Probably not

1 hour ago, 2345togo said:

Anytime. Horrible take. They threw water bottles on a field of grass. No way does that merit kicked out of the university. From someone who knows how hard it is to get into UT and graduate, no way that is merited for throwing one water bottle.  Agree it is a bad look and something should be done, but kicked out. Come on man. 

Can’t afford the punishment, don’t do stupid things.  It’s a privilege to attend any college (not just Texas), it can be taken for anything these days.

[2345togo]

39 minutes ago, justwinbaby said:

All tickets are revocable licenses.  So if I was speeding in a car and killed somebody, I should be shown mercy?  Probably not

Can’t afford the punishment, don’t do stupid things.  It’s a privilege to attend any college (not just Texas), it can be taken for anything these days.

Guess I missed it that one of the water bottles killed someone. What are you talking about? What you were saying was comparing a speeding ticket to getting a life sentence. Not speeding and killing someone. No one killed anyone with the water bottle. I’m sorry I don’t want to call you more names, because I’m sure you get that all the time in the real world. But you are making it very tough. 

[82horn]

I wish there was some way to downvote some of these comments. If some of my kids or grandkids threw stuff on the field well we would talk. Some of you are really soft…  just saying that kind of BS doesn’t represent the University I graduated from….