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SEC: Tim Tebow Getting Lit Up Must Not Be Seen

Nov 6, 2009, 10:16 PM UTC

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â†µâ†µSo the SEC backed itself into a corner after weeks of officiatingâ†µoutrage by announcing that any coach who suggested the refs in theâ†µleague were anything but perfect robotic paragons of justice would get aâ†µfine or a suspension. This was probably a good idea after even Vandy’sâ†µBobby Johnson gotâ†µuppity. â†µ

â†µâ†µThen Urban Meyer, spurred by the firestorm over the Brandonâ†µSpikes eye-gouging extravaganza, had a complaintâ†µor two about chippy play from the Gators, most prominently anâ†µobvious unnecessary roughness call on Tim Tebow after a handoff: â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“That should have been a penalty in my opinion,” Meyerâ†µâ‡¥said. “Obviously, it should have been. You’ve got to protectâ†µâ‡¥quarterbacks. That’s the whole purpose. It’s right in front of theâ†µâ‡¥referee. I’m not sure how they’re going to handle that, but ... that wasâ†µâ‡¥one of the plays we did send in.”â†µâ†µ

â†µHe has now been finedâ†µa cool $30,000. All's well that ends with an obscenely rich personâ†µgetting a token fine, right? Not if you're the SEC, which is attemptingâ†µto stop a tide: â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥XOS Technologies Inc., which has a new contract with theâ†µâ‡¥Southeastern Conference and starting this year is policing the use ofâ†µâ‡¥the league’s video, is clamping down on fans who have been feeding theâ†µâ‡¥fire over controversial hits in last week’s Georgia-Florida game.â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥Several hits from that game made it onto YouTube and otherâ†µâ‡¥sites. But XOS has apparently acted fast. The UGA hit on Tim Tebow hasâ†µâ‡¥been taken down from YouTube. Asked about it, an SEC official said theâ†µâ‡¥video should not have been posted or linked by media.â†µâ†µâ†µThat’s what you get instead of the now-pulled video.â†µIt’s been replaced by “This video is no longer available due to aâ†µcopyright claim by XOS Technologies, Inc.” â†µ

â†µâ†µSo not only is the SEC going after an obvious case of fair use,â†µthey’re scolding members of the media who dare link or reference theâ†µnewsworthy information contained therein. The Spikes gouging, on theâ†µother hand, is still on youtube.â†µThere areâ†µatâ†µâ†µleastâ†µsixâ†µversionsâ†µof it. Congratulations on “acting fast,” XOS. You haveâ†µsuccessfully not prevented anyone from seeing Tebow get lit up by aâ†µGeorgia player, nor have you prevented anyone from seeing Brandon Spikesâ†µimpersonate the Bushwhackers. â†µ

â†µâ†µThe SEC’s decision here is as inconsistent as it is nonsensical, andâ†µpoints to a really annoying future where any newsworthy SEC event isâ†µgoing to get thrown up on YouTube and linked all across the web, atâ†µwhich point the video will be pulled after a bogus DMCA claim andâ†µeveryone’s old posts will be broken. Enterprising bloggers will saveâ†µcopies of the video and re-upload it everywhere; someone will find aâ†µcrazy Russian video site that doesn’t care about American copyright lawsâ†µand all of our videos will come with ads for famine and vodka. â†µ

â†µâ†µ(HT: Getâ†µthe Picture.)â†µ

â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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