Penn Wagers, the SEC official fans love to hate, is retiring

You won’t have Penn Wagers to kick around any more.

One of the most hated men in the SEC has retired, Steve Shaw, the conference’s director of officiating told “The Roundtable” on WJOX 94.5 FM in Birmingham.

Here’s a small sample of what Twitter thinks about Wagers’ decision.

Only in the SEC would retiring referee invoke so much celebration.

Here are just a couple of fans’ issues with Wagers the past few years that I can think of off the top of my head.

• The clock issue near the end of Alabama's 14-13 victory over Arkansas last year.
• He flagged Mark Richt — who has called it the only unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of his career — in the Bulldogs' game against Auburn in 2013.
• Wagers was the official for the Georgia-Florida game in 2007, when Richt emptied the bench after the first score.

BTW, the conference with go with eight officials for every SEC game this season.