DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum For some reason I am not shocked.

Had not seen this posted yet.
Yes I am a buckeye homer.
And I still have the blues about last saturday's game.
But this takes the cake. Literally.

Big Ten may have made a very costly mistake

By Tom Dienhart - SportingNews






Did the Big Ten make a $4.5 million mistake by allowing an officiating crew that was facing a suspension this weekend to work last Saturday's Illinois-Ohio State game?

As I reported last week, a source told me the conference plans to suspend the crew that officiated the Nov. 3 Purdue-Penn State game based on a review of its work in that game. That same crew worked one of the biggest Big Ten games of the year last weekend in Columbus.

Incredible!

Why would the Big Ten assign the crew -- a few of whom could be fired for their work in the Purdue-Penn State game -- to a game of this importance?

The Big Ten does not comment on specific officiating issues.

The crew includes referee Stephen Pamon, umpire Pat Bayers, linesman Jack Teitz, line judge Robert Davis, back judge Dennis Morris, field judge Bobby Sagers and side judge Joe Duncan.

That group called just three penalties, one on Illinois and two on Ohio State. And a few perceived non-calls have Buckeye Nation angry. Many more fans are upset knowing this crew was running the game.

Were there blown calls? That's debatable. But perception matters more than reality. And the reality is this crew shouldn't have been trusted with such a game.

And how's this for another megadose of reality? The loss cost No. 1 Ohio State a shot at playing for the BCS title. What's more, that loss hurt the Big Ten's chances of sending a second school to a BCS bowl, which would net the conference an additional $4.5 million.

Now, the Big Ten will have to be satisfied with getting just one BCS team. The winner of this weekend's Ohio State at Michigan game will go to the Rose Bowl.

Tom Dienhart is a staff writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at [Email]tdienhart@sportingnews.com.[/Email]

Editor's note: This story has been updated from the original version, which said the conference would net $17 million if Ohio State played in the BCS title game. The Big Ten receives $17 million whether the conference champ plays in the Rose Bowl or the BCS title game.

As a part OSU fan, this is a crock of BS.

No sense in crying or whining now,...the Buckeyes lost. It is what it is.

More of society's acceptance of rewarding poor performance. It is happening in every facet of our governement, education, economy, and values.

I am not surprised at all this happened.

And most probably, the Big Ten was "trying" to give this crew a chance to redeem itself at a game it THOUGHT wasn't going to be important. Wouldn't Michigan-Whiskey have been a better choice ??

Oh geez, here we go.

I love Ohio State as much as anybody. But, I haven't heard any complaints from coach Tressell, or any players regarding the officiating. -This tells me that the officiating was either bad for both teams, or not a problem at all.

Aren't you a Michigan fan? Get outta here, this discussion involves a top notch football program, not a program that loses to division 1AA schools.

Agreed,...I am a lot more frustrated by the apparent lack of enthusiasm and outright unmotivated aura the team seemed to be under. That is not an officiating problem.

He opened himself up for that one.

what questionable calls were they talking about?

the only one that comes to mind was illinois' first play from scrimmage, when the guy clearly fumbled the ball before going out of bounds...

but really, you can blame tressel for not using a timeout...

plus it was the first half, when timeouts aren't nearly as costly

this wasn't like the pittsburgh game or anything, ohio state lost the game because they couldn't tackle juice williams when they needed to

Boeckman wasn't as good as normal, and it affected everything. Too many bad throws. -Can't win'em all.

There was some consternation that the replay booth failed on the Illinois fumble into the endzone call, because of a communication/technology problem.

Again, THAT particular incident doesn't excuse the loss, though it was clearly a game-changing play/call.

The Buckeyes were beaten by the better team on the field that day. The defense laid an egg, and Illinois moved the ball. The only way we could have won that game is if there were some bad calls in our favor. We lost fair and square.

I'd appreciate some insight into the fascination so many of you Brown's have with Ohio state football.
I am from Pa. originally and have rooted for Penn State for many years but I have never seen such anguish from fans as when the Buckeyes are beaten.
It doesn't happen often recently and the Bucks are always one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the NCAA, but it is college football and you will have up and down seasons due to kids coming and going...why the angst when the team loses???
BTW I realize that the OSU has a much more respectable record than Penn State over the last decade or so but PSU has had some terrific teams also but just never saw the "life or death" attitude when fans gathered to watch the games.

That's cause you aren't from OHIO!
lol

We are an odd bunch in ohio when it comes to football. I watchted that vs (tv channel) special on HS football. They were doing Massilon vs. Canton McKinely. I didn't go to either school (I went to Southeast HS near Ravenna) but man it got me fired up!

It's a football town bro. So is PA. Don't tell me Penn State fans aren't as passionate as their Big 10 Bretheren- there were over 100,000 motivated people in attendance when OSU went to PSU this year.

I think it is better to play in games with few calls than games with flags all over the place.


This may be a story, but it isn't a reason why the Bucks lost.

3 flags the entire day? The way football should be.

That's kinda hard to argue against,....

That and the fact that OSU didn't lose because of calls and/or non-calls, but because they got their butt handed to them in all phases.