League plans more background checks

By Antonya English, Times Staff Writer
Published July 26, 2007

HOOVER, Ala. - When SEC commissioner Mike Slive meets with the league's football officials tonight, rest assured the issue of gambling will be on the agenda.

Slive said Wednesday that the league plans to do more background checks in an effort to keep the gambling scandal affecting the NBA from becoming an issue in the SEC.

"Obviously we talk about it all the time," Slive said. "Having said that, one can't watch what's going on in the NBA without realizing the need to be ever-vigilant. In three weeks our athletic directors will meet and we will talk with them about what we do and my guess is we'll end up even doing more than we've done in the past. A lot of the focus in the NCAA has been on gambling and student athletes. I think we need to make sure we've got a parallel program that is as intense for our officials as it is for the student athletes."

The SEC conducts random background checks on football officials, while most of the league's basketball referees undergo checks by the NCAA, which are mandatory to work the NCAA Tournament. Slive said the league most likely will expand those checks to include all football officials, although it's no guarantee.

"The question really is one of honor and trust," Slive said. "It's one of integrity, it's one of honor, it's one of respect for the game, for your colleagues and for everyone involved. And that's the kind of thing that we want, expect and are going to demand."

WHAT ABOUT US?: With the arrival of Nick Saban at Alabama, Auburn has found itself the state's forgotten program. But coach Tommy Tuberville and his players say they are enjoying their time out of the spotlight.

Quarterback Brandon Cox said the lack of preseason media attention may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

"In the past we've done better when people haven't predicted us to do well," he said. "We have a lot of young guys and hopefully that'll take some of the pressure off of them. As long as we're not in the paper for something bad, that's fine."

SEC TV STILL A POSSIBILITY: Slive said he will be closely watching the developments of the Big Ten and the Mountain West conferences, which have ventured into their own television networks. All but one of the league's television contracts concludes at the end of the 2008-09 season. "Our presidents, chancellors and athletic directors have authorized us to continue to explore the viability of an SEC network," Slive said.

KENTUCKY FEVER: Think winning eight games and the Music City Bowl can't do much for a program? Think again. Last year this time, Kentucky had sold about 15,000 season tickets; this year it's approximately 50,000. It appears fans are finally jumping on the football bandwagon.

"The atmosphere is completely different on a lot of different levels," safety Marcus McClinton said. "The players have confidence. Anybody who's a Kentucky fan is loving talking about Kentucky football where in the past it was like, ah it's the same old Kentucky. Now you have proof, now you have statistics, now you have a bowl. Now you can say you're something. Everybody's confidence is up and the whole environment around the University of Kentucky, there's just a different aura."

Antonya English can be reached at English@sptimes.com For more on SEC Media Days, go to blogs.tampabay.com/gators/

[Last modified July 26, 2007, 01:50:38]