BATON ROUGE — The Southeastern Conference — it just messes up more.
Two years ago, the SEC office and its bright, well-meaning commissioner, Greg Sankey, realized it did not previously know its own rules that require football teams to play all eight conference games in order to win a division title, meaning postponed games for weather (such as LSU at Florida in 2016) must be rescheduled.
This week, Sankey fumbled again. After one of the worst postgame scenes in the league's football history — as far as adults behaving badly — he chose to do very little.
Sankey did nothing publicly all week in the aftermath of the fights that broke out after LSU's 74-72, seven-overtime loss at Texas A&M last Saturday until this Friday afternoon at a press conference held in conjunction with the Alabama-Georgia SEC Championship Game coaches' press conferences.
And Sankey didn't even bring it up in his opening comments, which included discussion of officiating, the targeting rule and scheduling. He had to be asked a question about it.
It was not that bad of a fight. There have been far worse, including during the Ole Miss-Mississippi State game last Thanksgiving night. But that fight featured players, who are mostly 18-to 22-year-old kids and still growing up.
The skirmishes that broke out Saturday night in College Station, Texas, involved adults in their 40s who are employed as coaches at SEC member institutions. One was Texas A&M wide receivers coach Dameyune Craig. The other was LSU director of player development Kevin Faulk of Lafayette.
Craig did not hit anyone, but he almost did according to video, as he swung his arm wildly while running crazily toward the LSU sideline after the game and jawing with the program whose head coach, Ed Orgeron, fired him after the 2016 season. Craig was not aiming at anyone, but he still almost hit LSU quarterback Joe Burrow.
Faulk pushed around Texas A&M student assistant Cole Fisher, who is a kid in his 20s and the nephew of A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher, but was in no way innocent. Fisher shoved LSU offensive analyst Steve Kragthorpe just after Kragthorpe had gone up to Craig, whom he knows from their time together at LSU in 2016, and told him to "get out of here, you won."
When Fisher shoved Kragthorpe, it set Faulk off because he knows Kragthorpe has Parkinson's disease, which affects the central nervous system. And Faulk knows Kragthorpe wears a neurostimulator, or pacemaker, inside his chest, which is where Fisher hit Kragthorpe. Fisher likely did not know that Kragthorpe has Parkinson's or wears the brain pacemaker. But Fisher was out of control.
Kragthorpe did exaggerate a bit - or remembered things inaccurately in the melee. He was not punched, which was the word he used on Sunday. But 95 percent of his account given Sunday to the USA Today Network was accurate. And a shove to a pacemaker might as well be a punch.
Sankey should have announced a fine or public reprimand of Craig on Friday and either fined or publicly reprimanded Faulk, too. These two are supposed to be setting examples for the younger athletes. Yes, Faulk was clearly coerced. His wounded comrade — Kragthorpe — was hit in his pacemaker. But Faulk realizes he made a mistake and said as much Sunday.
Sankey should have also publicly reprimanded Cole Fisher and should suspend him from the sideline in Texas A&M's bowl game as well as a game or games next year. Fisher was at first trying to restrain Craig, which is admirable, but still Fisher went on to act as crazed as Craig.
There should also be a public reprimand of LSU safety John Battle, who landed the best punch of the night to Cole Fisher. But again, Battle was also coerced by Fisher's wild behavior.
Kragthorpe, a former Texas A&M assistant who is as well thought of there as he has been for years at LSU and is very credible, is not completely above reproach, though. When one is wearing a pacemaker, one should not go up to as crazed an individual as Craig appeared to be postgame and tell him to leave. Kragthorpe should have quietly exited as soon as he realized a melee was cooking.
It was a mess. And clearly, if Craig and Fisher do not go crazy, then Faulk doesn't go crazy. And nothing crazy happens, and Sankey can just talk about less crazy issues all day.
But Sankey publicly did nothing, which is flat wrong, especially four days after he came out all high and mighty about the A&M fans storming the field and about the Ole Miss-Mississippi State fight.
A&M was publicly fined $50,000 for its fans rushing the field, according to a release by Sankey's office Monday morning. Then later Monday, Sankey announced four public reprimands for two Ole Miss and two State players for their roles in the fight in that game.
As far as the LSU-Texas A&M ugliness, all he had was this after a question:
"Obviously, very disappointed in what transpired after the game," Sankey said. "And I have been in conversations with the athletic directors subsequent to that game. And I've made it clear that that type of behavior is unacceptable. I'm also confident from my conversations and my expectations about how individuals involved will be managed, and that both will take the appropriate actions regarding each individual's participation. And that's my statement on that issue."
LSU associate athletic director Robert Munson said Friday that whatever discipline involving LSU's side will be handled internally. Texas A&M will likely do the same.
OK, so Sankey is letting his programs police themselves in this case. Sometimes that is a good strategy. But in this situation, it is not a good look for a commissioner after such a bad look involving adults from two of his member institutions. Frankly, I don't trust either side to admit a significant amount of wrongdoing or to dole out any significant punishment.
Strange that the SEC goes out of its way to scream out fines of schools from $50,000 to $250,000 when their fans — mostly kids being kids, by the way — rush the field, but the SEC publicly looks the other way when what happens on that field showcases adult employees of SEC member institutions behaving like kids.
