SIAP - Harbaugh says B1G admits error on Higdon phantom hold call
https://articles.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2018/10/jim_harbaugh_big_ten_admitted_1.amp
That and $5 will get you a latte.
October 3rd, 2018 at 4:13 PM ^
I’d be curious if he 5 men in the backfield penalty on the punt. I counted 3 at most. Not sure how they got that one so wrong either.
October 3rd, 2018 at 4:22 PM ^
Second time the B1G has admitted the John O'Neill crew made a mistake in a Michigan game. (First was the roughing the punter call against Oregon State in 2015 when the punter was running outside of the tackle box. BTW, the John O'Neill crew made the same wrong call again in 2016 at the Iowa game.)
October 3rd, 2018 at 4:44 PM ^
Isn’t this what review was intended for? I’m not saying to set up the little camera and grab a notebook on every flag but look up at the replay, refs! It’s right in the jumbo screen for everyone to see! Or maybe the booth looks at it ? Hell, god knows there is plenty of time for six commercial breaks on every possession but not one second to look at a gamebusting call? Just turn your head and say , whoops. Sorry. It’s entertainment after all not a court of law. There needs to be some discretion used when mistakes are so clearly made because in the end the game suffers not the refs credibility .
October 3rd, 2018 at 5:34 PM ^
"That and $5 will get you a latte."
So, does this mean better latte than never? . . . Don't forget to tip your servers.
October 3rd, 2018 at 5:40 PM ^
The graph is intriguing but all you need to do is watch the games when Chase is pulled to the ground in the backfield with the back judge having a clear view of it and no flag is thrown something is wrong
October 3rd, 2018 at 5:41 PM ^
how about the umpteen other missed call against our opponents over, say, the last 3 years???
October 3rd, 2018 at 5:49 PM ^
For me it's more the lack of holding calls against Michigan's attacking style of defense that I have an issue with I don't have an issue with the other calls that were called on Saturday other than the obvious Higdon call
October 3rd, 2018 at 8:50 PM ^
What's most disturbing about this penalty trend is how often we seem to get screwed in our own stadium. I'd love to see figures on penalties in ones one stadium in the big ten. It seems like so many schools get an advantage as personally I believe that deep down inside officials get this crazy feeling that if they call a penalty on the opposing team the cheer that goes up in the stadium is for them. Unfortunately it seems like we are sometimes at an officiating disadvantage in our own stadium.
October 3rd, 2018 at 9:19 PM ^
great. now what’s being done about it?
look, refs make mistakes. i get it. sometimes they have to make quick decisions in the moment with imperfect information. Sometimes bad calls happen. But they shouldn’t happen at a consistent rate. but until there is some way to hold refs accountable for consistently bad calls, what’s going to stop them from calling shit like what happened to Higdon the other night? there was literally no way to even remotely justify holding on the that call. And I’ve never played a down of real football in my life.
a few bad calls here and there is one thing. it seems like since Harbaugh has been here, an inordinate amount of calls have gone against Michigan, or when Michigan should have gotten a call, the refs can’t find their whistle.
fine that the refs admitted the call was wrong, but if there is no real punishment or accountability for the ref who called it, what the hell difference does it make?
October 3rd, 2018 at 11:01 PM ^
Leave this shit conference.
October 4th, 2018 at 12:37 AM ^
Yeah and lucky for the B10 we pulled out the victory. Sick of the idiot zebras skating. Don’t they suspend crews for blowing ridiculous calls like that? What’s the incentive to get it right if all we ever do is shrug it off?
October 4th, 2018 at 1:29 AM ^
Anybody up for a good ol' late night Italian mafia vs. Michigan football conspiracy?
Somebody in a previous post suggested that perhaps the NCAA and referees have too much to lose by letting AI replace them. That there may even be a connection to gambling and organized crime. That got me thinking. I had not attempted to make that link before. But is it that far-fetched?
Just for fun, below are a handful of refs (not all-encompassing) with Italian sounding last names that you may have heard of. Do their names sound familiar to you? Should referees be memorable figures in sporting contests? Is there a disproportionate number of referees (vs. players) with Italian ancestry?
Alas, as far as our beloved Wolverines are concerned, it seems to be guys without Italian last names, like Bill LeMonnier and John O'Neill, that have been the cruelest to us.
Conclusion: None. Except maybe fuck John O'Neill hard. This was the most stupid and subjective research I have ever done in my life. And though I love Italians, I'm sure somebody will tell me this was racist too. Oh well.
(EDIT: I updated this post to include a bunch of relevant stories and videos. Unfortunately the 'embed link' functionality does not work. So I included the URL's which makes this post look very sloppy. It broke the right side margin or "container" as it is called. But there's nothing I can do.)
NCAA
Bill Carollo (Lawyer) – Head of Big10 officials since 2008. Behind this infamous call in 1999 that resulted in a rule change the following year. Burt Emanuel Catch. www.youtube.com/watch?v=m24r9JiKV14
Dan Capron (Lawyer) – head official for the UM-OSU game in 2016. Bobby Sagers and Kevin Schwarzel Fix Ohio State / Michigan Game: Disgrace to the Rivalry. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mhG1Pp6SJM
Also called the 2018 CFB Championship between Alabama & Georgia. Big Ten officials kept hurting Georgia in the National Championship. www.sbnation.com/college-football/2018/1/8/16866514/georgia-alabama-referees-missed-calls-national-championship-facemask
Gene Steratore (full-time ref) – regularly screws Michigan in basketball games. IMO, screwed Brady and the Pats in this year’s Superbowl with two or three TD catches that should not have been permitted. (i.e. Alshon Jeffrey trapped first TD catch, Corey Clement was out in back of end zone, Zach Ertz did not complete the catch, Illegal formation on Nick Foles trick play TD, Hail Mary PI against Chris Hogan). https://boston.cbslocal.com/2018/03/28/nfl-controversy-new-catch-rule-eagles-tds-super-bowl-patriots/ ; www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/should-eagles-have-been-flagged-for-illegal-formation-on-foles-td-catch/ ; www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/look-refs-appear-to-miss-pass-interference-call-on-super-bowl-hail-mary/. Steratore retired from NFL following the SuperBowl. www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3yF-488pxg
Jim Lapetina (retired) – head ref in the UM-MSU clock game of 2001. Screwed us all the time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYdfWlQiK7o
NFL Officials
Tony Corrente (Teacher)
Pete Morelli (full-time ref)
Carl Paganelli (full-time ref)
Perry Paganelli (full-time ref)
Mike Pereira (full-time ref)
Jeff Triplette (full-time ref)
Tony Veteri Jr. (full-time ref)
Rob Vernatchi (full-time ref)
Ed Hochuli (Lawyer, maybe not Italian last name, father-son legacy)
Dean Blandino (NFL Vice President of Officiating, retired from NFL in 2017)
Alberto Riveron (NFL Sr. Vice President of Officiating, current). Wiki & NYT notes he emigrated from Cuba. The last name "Riveron" could have originated in Italy and it appears that at least one Riveron family from Cuba might have its roots in Genoa, Italy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Riveron
www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/sports/football/16ref.html
www.ancestry.com/boards/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=2&p=surnames.riveron
Pete Rozelle and Paul Tagliabue (commissioners of the NFL from 1960-2006, 46 years. Preceded Roger Goodell)
(light moment: enjoy watching the aforementioned Pete Morelli, Jeff Triplette, Pete Morelli again, call the most penalties on single plays in NFL history in the first 6 mins of this video and Mike Pereira provide the color commentary) www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNR12s2QZQo
Refs that loved to screw Michigan with last names that aren’t Italian
Bill LeMonnier – called the #1 vs. #2 Michigan vs. Ohio State game in 2006.
Dave Witvoet – retired after 2014. Oversaw 3 of our losses in Rich Rod’s first (pivotal) year in 2008 (MSU, NW and IL)
John O’Neill – Started ref’ing UM games in 2007 beginning with the App State debacle. UM is 8-10 in games he has ref’d. However, that doesn’t tell the story. Our 8 wins came against UCF, Oregon St, Indiana, Illinois (2), Purdue, Minnesota and a lowly Nebraska team this year. Our 10 losses came against Ohio State (3), MSU (2), Notre Dame (1), Penn State (1), Nebraska (1), Iowa (1) and App State (1). In other words, he features in high stakes Michigan games and they have lost every single one of those games. (Maybe his mother was Italian? I kid. I kid.)
2018 (1-0): win vs. Nebraska at Michigan Stadium
2017 (0-1): loss to MSU at Michigan Stadium
2016 (1-1): loss to Iowa at Kinnick; Win vs. UCF at Michigan Stadium
2015 (1-1): loss to MSU at Michigan Stadium; Win vs. Oregon St at Michigan Stadium
2014 (1-2): losses to ND in South Bend; OSU at the Shoe; Win vs. Indiana at Michigan Stadium
2013 (0-1): loss to Nebraska at Michigan Stadium
2012 (1-1): loss to OSU at the Shoe; Win vs. Illinois at Michigan Stadium
2011 (1-0): Win vs. Illinois in Champaign
2010 (1-0): Win vs. Purdue in West Lafayette
2009 (0-1): Loss vs. Penn State at Michigan Stadium
2008 (1-0): Win vs. Minnesota in Minneapolis
2007 (0-2): Losses to App State and OSU at Michigan Stadium
Other ramblings: I have NOT been on the fence for a long time about whether Michigan is getting shafted by referees in the major sports. I have seen way too many contests shifted by the influence of referees. My first Michigan game in A2 was the infamous 1990 Desmond getting tripped in the end zone game. That definitely left a mark. We were ranked #1 in the country at that time. Forward to 1:50 of the following video to hear Moeller address the refs.
Desmond Trip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiAaEdKUzM0
While I do not believe that Michigan is specifically targeted by seedy elements of organized crime with connections to the Italian mafia (that was meant to be a joke) I do think people genuinely despise Michigan. Perhaps for the same reason I do not like to watch games with Michigan fans. They can be smug, snarky, arrogant, know-it-all's. And I am a UM grad (so too were Drew Sharp and Michael Rosenberg FWIW) Take for example, the guy, Mike Dolce, who threw the flag on Karan Higdon for holding. He's a GVSU grad who owns a real estate company in GR. GVSU grads do not by and large love Michigan. If anything, MSU is their second team.
Higdon Phantom Hold: www.youtube.com/watch?v=atEoy0RL2tU
Point is, there should be no need for root cause analysis. Emotions should play no role. But humans are still very jealous creatures. Hence, why Facebook is so popular.
Also, I think I first hit my breaking point when John Gravelllese disallowed a Michigan goal vs. Miami during the NCAA hockey playoffs back in 2010.
Disallowed Goal recap: www.annarbor.com/sports/michigan-hockey-teams-run-ends-in-3-2-double-overtime-playoff-loss-to-miami-ohio
Red Discusses Disallowed goal: www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=13&v=xub4DEw6NyU
This would have advanced us in the tourney. We had a good team that was on a great run. That game should been over. Just like the MSU-UM clock game in 2001. Game should have been over.
Refs have the ability to affect games. You are not a conspiracy theorist for accepting that. Even one or two plays each game can have a profound impact. Many will not agree with this take, but I thought Ohio-native Terry Wymer greatly affected our momentum at the end of the first half of the NCAA basketball final this year. We were playing great, and with a lead, when a series of ticky-tacky fouls put some of our guys in trouble and took the wind out of our sails. We never recovered. Of course, we all remember the Trey Burke block in the 2013 title game made by Pitino's buddy Tony Greene. (Burke also picked up crap fouls and had to sit with 11 mins to go in the first half and then played with 4 fouls for most of the second. McGary was forced to the bench with 4 fouls at 9:11 in the second half. He was targeted and held back with ticky-tack fouls in both Final 4 games)
Burke's clean block: www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6rgP8Id--U
Pitino hugging Greene: www.myajc.com/rf/image_medium/Pub/p4/MyAJC/2013/04/03/Images/photos.medleyphoto.3265786.jpg
I think collectively, we as fans just need to turn up the volume on this issue, whatever that takes, and not be dissuaded by the "you're a nutty conspiracy theorist, take your tinfoil hat off, stop whining, wah-wah, it's a bad look for us..." blah blah blah. Let's keep a microscope on it. Michigan has been getting screwed for a really fucking long time and after a certain point, the collective human consciousness of our fanbase can sense it is more than just bad luck or happenstance.
The next time they appoint John O'Neill to ref a huge game Michigan is playing in Ann Arbor, sound the alarm, collectively groan out loud, and then boo the hell out of him after his first bullshit call and every one thereafter.
Other interesting bits I dug up after the original post, just for posterity and because several posters on the Diary inferred my post was racist:
John O'Neill appears to be a Chicago guy (like Capron, Delany and Carollo) and comes from a family of referees. (At least Chicago is not known for having ever been a hot bed for organized crime, right?)
"BCS Championship official from Chicago area." He was unavailable for comment. www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140106/ashburn/john-oneill-bcs-championship-game-referee-is-st-rita-high-alumnus/
The O'Neill family runs a referee camp in Chicago. Two generations. Perhaps John is a cousin of Tom Jr. Same age. Same "ll" name spelling. Both in Chicago. "THE MAN IN STRIPES."
www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-03-12-9503120021-story.html
In an WaPo article about Jim Harbaugh having a legitimate gripe about the OSU game, Tom O'Neill Jr. is mentioned towards the end of the article as getting angry about a reporter wanting answers to why a technical foul was called on Jim Boeheim. "College referees are paid adults. So why can’t the NCAA let them face reporters?"
www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/college-referees-are-paid-adults-so-why-cant-the-ncaa-let-them-face-reporters/2016/11/30/cade4a2a-b724-11e6-959c-172c82123976_story.html?utm_term=.2cd62e7ab2f9
Oh, and while I was originally joking about the Italian mafia, there are a couple of people much more connected to pro sports than I who have an opinion on the matter. They do not seem to think it is a joke. I found these stories after I made my original post:
Ex-NBA ref Tim Donaghy: 'Organized crime will always have a hand in sports'
www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/may/22/ex-nba-ref-tim-donaghy-organized-will-always-have-a-hand-in-sports
Josh Norman thinks NFL refs are controlled by the mob...
www.sbnation.com/nfl/2016/8/23/12611978/josh-norman-nfl-refs-controlled-by-the-mob-too-soft
NFL is Fixed - Dan Moldea on the Owners, Mafia ties, Fixed games
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4Dt4-3lohw
The mob and sports: A colorful — and ugly — history
www.foxsports.com/other/gallery/mafia-mob-sports-influence-fixing-games-point-spreads-black-sox-tim-donaghy-jimmy-hoffa-052815
The NFL and The Mafia Documentary: Organized Crime and Gambling with the Mob
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWJncbnhgvY
Also, try living and doing business in southern Italy for 4 years -- in this very day and age -- and then get back to me about whether the Italian mafia is still alive and well. Or just read this, this, this and this.
www.newsweek.com/mafia-mob-la-cosa-nostra-arrests-busts-assault-fraud-extortion-gambling-fbi-487466
www.businessinsider.com/mafia-still-controls-southern-italy-2012-10
www.theweek.co.uk/90851/does-the-mafia-still-exist
www.reddit.com/r/AskEurope/comments/94roxx/how_powerful_is_the_mafia_in_southern_italy_and/
Not that I need to clarify this, but FWIW, I love Italy and Italians more than any other country and people in the world. I want to live there permanently someday (in the North). I have anything but racist thoughts about them on the whole. Their food, culture, people and the landscape of the country are absolutely beautiful.
Just like someone calling you a "conspiracy theorist" or a "whiner", screaming racism or insulting you is always a good way to thwart critical thought and shut down a conversation. Don't fall for it. (referring to BlockM, Wolverine 73, MGoFunkadelic, 1VaBlue1, L'Carpetron Do…who insulted my Diary post in the comments section).
Typically these people live in such a bubble, where nothing can be nefarious, that they are incapable of letting anything puncture their pristine predisposed world view. They are also the self-righteous, morally outraged indoctrinated little pissants of our fanbase, who like to lecture others from their moral and enlightened high ground, which give our institution a bad name. For the younger folks still finding their way in the world, swat them away like flies. They will try to pester you throughout your life. And nothing you say will change their minds because their ego is too fragile. Do your own research. Form your own opinions. Keep an open mind. Be open to being wrong. And do not be bullied.
Do I think the Italian mafia still has a hand in fixing college & NFL games? The answer is, "I do not know and I doubt I ever will." Before I started this research, the answer was simply, "no."