State Sen. Chris Elliott: Kirby Smart’s ‘I wasn’t calling timeout’ sounds like ABC Board on fees

(Alabama Senate GOP Caucus, Southeastern Conference, Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, YHN)

The Auburn Tigers on Saturday night lost what was a controversial game filled with moments that Tigers fans were rightfully upset with the officials about.

While most attention centered on the halftime fumble/no-fumble, a second-half moment from Kirby Smart also stirred controversy: he appeared to call timeout but wasn’t charged, saying he was alerting officials that Auburn’s defenders were clapping, which is a delay-of-game infraction.

RELATED: ABC Board approves fee increase, drawing ire of legislators

As social media was set ablaze, State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Josephine) made a hilarious reference to a story which has been at the forefront of the state, comparing the SEC refs to the state Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board after they met on possibly raising the central warehouse bailment fee.

“My frustration with the ABC board is them telling the legislator for the last two years or so we are gonna build this out of our operating revenue, and just how frustrating it is for them to go back on that,” Elliot told Yellowhammer News before comparing it to Smart’s timeout.

“For Kirby Smart to say ‘I wasn’t calling timeout!’ was similar. And it’s similar in state government, we can’t say one thing and do the other.”

Elliot was a big laugh when asked about the post and said he was “just trying to draw a comparison.”

“This is not something that the Legislature has approved,” Elliot said of the ABC controversy.

“Rather, it’s something they’re doing on their own through their rulemaking authority to make up for increased profit for them, for a new building… Show me where either in a published report or a document to the Legislature, that they said they were going to do this prior to asking for approval.”

Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.