Goodbye: TV Teddy Valentine
The Big Ten opted not to rehire refereeing's darling angel:
October 31st, 2018 at 7:13 AM ^
Finally! This is honestly great news.
October 31st, 2018 at 8:03 AM ^
Stupendous news! What kind of asshole makes the games about himself instead of the teams? This was long overdue.
Best Penn State!
October 31st, 2018 at 7:16 AM ^
As irritating as he was, I'd watch a YouTube channel of him reffing our games from his living room in front of his tv.
October 31st, 2018 at 8:43 AM ^
I never knew I wanted this until now. Do you think his living room has enough room for his charge calls? Would he turn his back on players? Or go nose to nose with his TV screen? So many options.
October 31st, 2018 at 10:04 AM ^
I'm picturing a large empty room with only a couch and a TV. The walls are covered in mirrors floor to ceiling so he can view himself in all his glory.
October 31st, 2018 at 10:17 AM ^
and the mirrors have text that says "Objects in the mirror are smaller than they appear"
October 31st, 2018 at 7:29 AM ^
No one runs as fast from the baseline to half court than Ted Valentine when he winds up for a charge call
October 31st, 2018 at 7:37 AM ^
Came for the Posbang!
Staying to relish in the changing good fortune for the good guys.
October 31st, 2018 at 7:37 AM ^
No tears from me.
Don't let the door hit you in the rear end on the way out, Teddy.
October 31st, 2018 at 7:47 AM ^
Well no reason to watch college basketball anymore. I mean that's why you guys watched too right? To see the amazing and always entertaining officials - not the players.
No love lost here from me. The game will definitely be better from his absence.
October 31st, 2018 at 7:53 AM ^
Valentine's Day came early this year?
October 31st, 2018 at 8:32 AM ^
I think I see what you did there...
October 31st, 2018 at 10:03 AM ^
"Valentine's Day Massacre came a little early this year" would have been a better joke, but OK...
October 31st, 2018 at 10:19 AM ^
Not all jokes float down here, I guess.
October 31st, 2018 at 7:56 AM ^
Michigan fans aren't the only ones rejoicing at this news! And is it just me, or does everyone find the fact that the B1G Director of Officiating finally got something right to be a big surprise?
October 31st, 2018 at 10:10 AM ^
Now if only he could fix that football problem
October 31st, 2018 at 7:59 AM ^
October 31st, 2018 at 8:11 AM ^
His quotes in the article are gross. The guy refers to himself in the third person, and legitimately thinks he's a star. Ew
October 31st, 2018 at 8:13 AM ^
Oh thank GOD.
October 31st, 2018 at 8:15 AM ^
wellbye.gif
October 31st, 2018 at 12:01 PM ^
I'm pretty sure there's an MGoRule somewhere that when you post this gif you need to post it about 492 times in a row, not just once.
October 31st, 2018 at 8:24 AM ^
He always seemed to think he was an integral part of the show. Don't think he will be missed.
October 31st, 2018 at 8:26 AM ^
How did I not know that Beilein was his student teacher in high school? From the story:
"It’s a delicate topic. Michigan coach John Beilein declined through a spokesman to comment for this story, even though he and Valentine go back to the mid-1970s. Beilein, while playing at Wheeling College, worked as a student teacher in Valentine’s 10th-grade civics class at John Marshall High School in Glen Dale, W.Va."
October 31st, 2018 at 8:42 AM ^
It's quite the stretch for a "connection." As someone who's student taught (and in the same class for an entire school year, not 2 months), I remember no student. Maybe a couple vague first names.
October 31st, 2018 at 11:29 AM ^
[Whoops, read the quote wrong. I thought it was saying that Valentine was the mentor teacher and Beilein was the student-teacher.]
October 31st, 2018 at 8:00 PM ^
There was actually an article on this on the Athletic. TV Teddy remembered John; Beilein didn’t remember him at first but was able to place him after a bit. Wheeling, WV isn’t the most integrated place on the planet, which apparently helped.
So, I guess they’ve been friendly for close to 30 years. Hard to tell from the number of terrible calls he’s made against Michigan — but I guess that’s sort of the point.
October 31st, 2018 at 8:28 AM ^
I preferred TV Teddy over Ed Hightower. I always thought Ed had an issue with the Fab Five and was biased against them. Ted was an equal opportunity screw job.
EDIT: To let you know how much Ted was intertwined with Michigan hoops. Do a Google search for ted valentine gif. Quite a few gifs from this blog.
October 31st, 2018 at 10:14 AM ^
Thank you. I will be a minority view but (a) I thought he was a good ref, (b) he was one of the two best refs (with Tom Rucker) in the BT for some number of years, (c) he wasn't intimidated by coaches or home crowds---on the road, he was the one ref (for many years) you had a chance to win with on the road, (d) he and Hightower hated each other---he once got into a fistfight with Ed at halftime of an Indiana (Knight) game----when Ed wouldn't protect Ted's back. Now EH became a decent ref late in his career. But for many years he was just so awful, he rooted so hard.
For many years the BT was just pro rasslin'. It started to change when Steve Welmer came on the scene. The BT is now pretty good in BB. Football is the debacle.
October 31st, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^
It is possible he was, at times, a good ref, just like it's possible LaVarr Ball is just a good father looking out for his sons best interests.
October 31st, 2018 at 8:31 AM ^
Oh, thank the maker. I cannot stand watching that idiot. He makes the game about himself.
October 31st, 2018 at 8:35 AM ^
The article said he liked Izzo because he called him a friend. How does anyone fall for that?
October 31st, 2018 at 8:41 AM ^
Can't believe the Big Ten actually did something about it, in the most passive aggressive way possible.
October 31st, 2018 at 8:44 AM ^
Don't know what you mean by passive aggressive. Most organizations or companies aren't going to broadcast to the world breaks in employment relationship.
This happens all the time, it's just never reported. Officials are constantly no longer assigned games. Most of them you don't know, so it goes completely unnoticed.
October 31st, 2018 at 9:49 AM ^
I think we can all agree that the Big Ten is not most companies or organizations.
TV Teddy made it seem like it was a complete surprise to him...I'd expect after 34 years officiating for the Big Ten to at least have a conversation with the guy and it sounded like he just didn't get an offer letter. I work in HR and if that's how it went down, it's a bit petty.
Thankfully TV Teddy's ego is bruised, not destroyed:
Valentine said of his departure from the Big Ten: “Hey, it’s not my doing, not my choosing, but it is what it is. My body of work is what I stand for. As you get older, you get more mature about stuff. I’m known all over the country. I’m blessed.
October 31st, 2018 at 11:32 AM ^
Yeah, agreed. I just don't believe Teddy if he thinks/says it was out of nowhere. I've worked with people who publicly claim their sacking was out of nowhere, but it's well known there were good reasons and processes followed - I'm sure you've seen that.
October 31st, 2018 at 1:22 PM ^
"It was completely out of the blue!"
(has been on a Performance Improvement Plan for 18 months and received 10 written warnings)
Nope, never seen that before.
October 31st, 2018 at 9:27 AM ^
They promoted him to spectator, lol
October 31st, 2018 at 8:50 AM ^
The game will never be the same.
October 31st, 2018 at 9:04 AM ^
So sad! NOT!!!
October 31st, 2018 at 9:20 AM ^
I think you mean Good Riddance and not Good Bye
October 31st, 2018 at 9:28 AM ^
Well, hekk -- maybe the B10 is not entirely broken. Well-done. Now, I suppose it's "Watching TV" Teddy V.
October 31st, 2018 at 9:34 AM ^
“A guy at Michigan caused me to lose weight. About four years ago, Michigan was playing Michigan State. A fan at Crisler (Center) yelled out, ‘Valentine, you’re a great referee, but you’re fat!’ A security guy said, ‘Do you want me to throw him out?’ I said: ‘No, it’s the truth. I am fat.’
“Because of that guy, I lost weight. I came back the next year and saw him. I waved at him. He said, ‘You look good!’ I told him, ‘I couldn’t have done it without you.’
October 31st, 2018 at 9:35 AM ^
My favorite...
October 31st, 2018 at 9:41 AM ^
Clown
October 31st, 2018 at 10:04 AM ^
Can they make this decision retroactive by about 15 years?
October 31st, 2018 at 10:19 AM ^
Oh, let him call one more incomprehensibly bad charge.....just for the road.
Then, he can hit the road.
October 31st, 2018 at 10:23 AM ^
He's a walking talking symbol of why I find college basketball unwatchable. NCAA basketball is a non-stop ref show, and winning a game has less to do with who is the best and whether the refs will deign to call anything that game.
October 31st, 2018 at 11:11 AM ^
WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAA C YA!!!