Sugar Bowl ref could have done more to stop the game from ending. Here’s how.

The universe came close to standing still forever.

As the final seconds ticked away at the 2026 Sugar Bowl between Ole Miss and Georgia, referee Jeff Servinski seemed to fight to keep the game going, despite the concept of time. After Ole Miss coach Pete Golding received a Gatorade shower and the awards platform had been moved onto the field, Servinski made the teams come back to complete the final second of play. 
 
After an onside kick was recovered by Georgia, fans were sure the second had expired, but it had not and the teams resumed play once again, invoking a final play emulating Cal versus Stanford in 1982 that seemed to last for another ten minutes. As the clock moved into negative territory, Servinski could only pray that he could somehow use his powers to keep play alive. In the end, he could not, and the Sugar Bowl was over. 
 
While the Intergalactic Business Report doesn’t usually delve into sports, we found this compelling as a story of a man fighting against the very physics of time. While some may say the referee was desperately trying to find a way to allow Georgia to win, we feel he was probably motivated by the idea that he might have developed the supernatural ability to control time. What viewers didn’t understand as they watched one of the greatest college football games in recent years, was that we all came very close to the entire universe stopping, perhaps forever, and that the game might still be happening today and tomorrow and the next day and so on.  
 
As Servinski's mind churned with notions of how to prolong the game, he achieved the feat of making one second last for what seemed like an eternity, despite the world around him struggling to move forward. Whether he was influenced by the occult or the divine is not for us to determine. But what we do know is that he could have done much more to delay that one second so that the game might never end. As lucky as humanity is that he didn’t succeed, we feel it necessary to at least explain how he could have. 
 
Eight things the Sugar Bowl referee could have done to freeze the final second forever. 
 
1. Re-open all the concessions and announce that each person in the stadium receives a free beer.  

2. While everyone is getting those beers, you say, “I’ll wait.” 

3. Demand the Gatorade poured on coach Golding be cleaned up before the one second of gameplay resumes. Personally supervise and often say “You missed a spot.” 

4. Keep going back to the pitch side monitor and saying, “Hold up a second. I just wanna see something.” Hide in there until someone has to physically pull you out.  

5. Point at a non-player and scream “streaker” till someone takes him down. 

6. Engage in a philosophical debate about the nature of time and whether it truly exists and come down on the side that it does not. 

7. Look vacantly into the stands and tap another ref on the shoulder and ask, “Did you see that?” And when he says, “See what?” you answer: “That!” When he asks again, “What?” you say, “That!” and just keep that going for as long as you can.  

​8. If all this isn’t working, just become the streaker until someone takes you down. 

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