SEC ref: 'I know I made a mistake'

Marc Curles, the SEC ref who makes his living as a Birmingham, Ala.-based financial planner, would laugh it all off, all the abuse, if he didn't hurt so much.
Instead, the Georgia Tech grad readily concedes he screwed up and says no one will be harder on him than Curles is on himself.
"I understand people are passionate about their teams," Curles says softly. "Like I said, we sign up for this. I admit I made a mistake in this ballgame. I deserve a little bit of people getting on me. I am getting on myself.
"From a personal viewpoint, I don't need to hear what folks say, because I know if I made a mistake. And no one feels worse than I do. I have to evaluate myself. We are our own worst critics at times. All the media, the message boards and things like that, I honestly don't listen to them too much. Just don't listen to them, don't read them."
The SEC officiating crew that Curles heads up has been on the hot seat since a controversial excessive celebration call three weeks ago late in the LSU-Georgia game, a flag thrown by the back judge that the conference office later said wasn't warranted. Then Saturday, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino left Gainesville livid about a handful of controversial calls and no-calls that seemed to favor the Gators.
Most perplexing was a 10-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Arkansas defensive lineman Malcolm Sheppard that helped fuel Florida's game-tying drive in the fourth quarter. That flag came from Curles' pocket.
Again, as in the LSU-Georgia game, the SEC office came forward and admitted a mistake had been made. In a statement released early this week, the league said it had found no video evidence to support the personal foul penalty. The SEC Rocks!