Arkansas Razorbacks Football: A Fine May be Worth It

FAYETTEVILLE, AR - OCTOBER 17: Head Coach Sam Pittman of the Arkansas Razorbacks gives a thumbs up to fans in the stands before a game against the Mississippi Rebels at Razorback Stadium on October 17, 2020 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Razorbacks defeated the Rebels 33-21. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
FAYETTEVILLE, AR - OCTOBER 17: Head Coach Sam Pittman of the Arkansas Razorbacks gives a thumbs up to fans in the stands before a game against the Mississippi Rebels at Razorback Stadium on October 17, 2020 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Razorbacks defeated the Rebels 33-21. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

After another controversial loss in SEC play, many Arkansas fans are starting to say a fine to Sam Pittman or athletic director Hunter Yurachek may be worth it.

Over the past decade, the SEC officiating has gone from mediocre to now borderline criminally negligent. A familiar foe for Arkansas fans reared his head as the Arkansas Razorbacks were taking on the LSU Tigers Saturday. It is tough enough to play the defending national champions coming off a three week stretch where they have not played, but to have to play them and Marc Curles just seems a bit ridiculous.

As we have discussed before, Curles has a history of absolutely horrible calls. One of the most perplexing things about this is that he continues to be assigned to ref Arkansas football games. Curles has said in interviews before that “no one feels worse than he does” when he screws up or is just protecting the blue blood as is par for the course with the SEC. If that is the case the question most Arkansas fans will have is why does it continue to happen? Most people that inept in the jobs where they continue to screw up are eventually relieved of their duties.

Until the Arkansas administration will show a little backbone and voice the displeasure in stronger terms, what we witnessed on Saturday will continue to occur. The bottom line here folks is that the Arkansas Razorbacks are still thought of as the outsider and the stepchild to the SEC. Remember this when the opportunity to chant S-E-C, S-E-C, hits you. The conference cares about the blue bloods and that is it. When Arkansas does well the thought process in Birmingham is, well isn’t that cute. From that point the powers that be in the league office makes sure to put Arkansas back in its place. Honestly, I expect Pittman and Yurachek to handle it the same way they did against Auburn, we will work with the conference on it. I would not expect Jalan Catalon to suit up the first half of this week’s game. Nothing will change and we need to be happy with our respective scraps.