The only reasonable conclusion is that the Big 10 is corrupt

Submitted by Rdog on

The call disparity is just too large and it has happened enough times.  There is lots of evidence that recruits are paid to choose some universities, should we be surprised that referees are also paid off?

What is concerning is that the Big 10 seems complicit in these occurrences.   As bad as our calls were yesterday, the 2014 Penn State game had an even worse call-   OSU was credited with an interception that clearly bounced before OSU caught the ball.  This one call gave OSU that game.   Penn State complained but the Big 10 did nothing.

So now, what do we do?  Unless somehow things change The team we love is going to be repeatedly hosed on calls in most Big 10 games.   I don't think it is likely possible to trace the money being paid to the officials.  However, I think a statistical analysis will show that there is a consistent anamoly in OSU's favor.    Just this game shows it -  OSU had 6! yards of penalties versus an average for OSU of 52 yards of penalties a game.  I'm guessing that the refs didn't want the disparity to be so large but Michigan outplayed OSU by enough that the refs were forced to be even more one sided than usual.  My hope is that the disparity is so obvious that changes will have to be made.

I also hope that Harbaugh is angry enough to force the Big 10 to fix this.  The Big 10 leadership seems to be involved as this has been happening at least as long as Meyer has been at OSU without the Big 10 addressing it.   You don't give Michigan 2 away games at Michigan State in a row without an intent to hurt Michigan.   Similarly, the initial divisions within the Big 10 put Michigan at a disadvantage-  this was changed only because the Big 10 wanted to add two bad teams (Maryland and Rutgers) to make more money.

I'm not sure I want to watch football if I know my team is going to be at a disadvantage in every critical game.  I don't buy lottery tickets or gamble in Vegas because I know that the odds are not in my favor-  I'm saddened to realize that Michigan is also playing against the house in trying to win the Big 10.

 

 

 

 

MGoBoard
Football

GoBlueBill

November 27th, 2016 at 8:47 AM ^

I think the problem is the automatic review of every play . If you are doing a job and you know the system is set up to correct a mistake you make. What is the motive to do the job right  in the first place ?

In this case , lets say a good way to fix this would be:

Hiring independant services to review each game to see any mistakes or missed calls .

Each mistake gets reviewed  to see why it might have been missed . If there is no good reason for making the mistake , that ref is given a demerit .

Demerits can result in lower pay , less work and even loss of job .

Thats motivation to be better .

Joined: 12/30/2014

MGoPoints: 11999

True Blue Grit

November 27th, 2016 at 8:53 AM ^

They hire these officials, pay them, and set up the rules.  And right now, they're tolerating bad officiating and not taking enough action to deal with it.  Harbaugh himself complaining is not going to be enough to effect change.  All the coaches and AD's in the conference need to push for changes, otherwise spineless and weak Delaney will continue to do nothing.  

Joined: 01/21/2011

MGoPoints: 32373

huntmich

November 27th, 2016 at 8:55 AM ^

The refs were awful. But we could have overcome their awfulness with a few better plays. Gotta get over it. They helped the buckeyes but they didn't play the game.

Joined: 10/18/2015

MGoPoints: 18173

huntmich

November 27th, 2016 at 8:55 AM ^

The refs were awful. But we could have overcome their awfulness with a few better plays. Gotta get over it. They helped the buckeyes but they didn't play the game.

Joined: 10/18/2015

MGoPoints: 18173

Charmandar

November 27th, 2016 at 9:19 AM ^

Agreed. We made enough mistakes that allowed for the corrupt officials to have an influence. If you don't want the officials to have an impact then don't fumble the ball at the goal line or throw 2 picks. Still doesn't excuse the corruption on display at the game. 

Joined: 08/24/2016

MGoPoints: 1391

Erik_in_Dayton

November 27th, 2016 at 9:02 AM ^

Yesterday was no worse than your typical MBB game at Indiana. Officials make mistakes and are influenced by crowds. That's nothing new. It seems unfair in the OSU rivalry, I think, only because the Big House almost has the feel of a neutral site game. But that's not the fault of officials.

Joined: 12/03/2008

MGoPoints: 59152

BoCanHam15

November 27th, 2016 at 9:24 AM ^

Damn Erik that is 100% true! I've been watching Michigan football since I was seven and I can still remember screaming,"Dad he fumbled!" The Charles White Rose Bowl saga! When I see O'neill refereeing a game,"a la Michigan State game!" I cringe. We have been forever on the short long hard end of this crap and I see no end in sight! Forgive my writing I'm in a stupor from incremental piles of SHIT from these past few years of targeting our program!



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 07/08/2016

MGoPoints: 16100

NRK

November 27th, 2016 at 9:17 AM ^

You cannot remove the angle from that shot as much as you want to by doing this type of gymnastics. 

 

Saying "the ball is on his back and his back is over the line" is exactly the same argument as saying "the ball is over the line" - it's subject to the same angle that is extremely poor in determining whether or not it was a first down. A buckeye fan in the comments even says this and then in perfect OSU-tinted logic the response is "yeah but his back is past it at that angle!"

 

Which is also why it wasn't overturned. I just have not seen a definitive angle, so we're stuck with the poor spot on the field.

Joined: 02/20/2009

MGoPoints: 6411

CTSgoblue

November 27th, 2016 at 9:13 AM ^

What's frustrating is that damn yellow line. Everyone focused on it during the replay but the yellow line was slightly inaccurate. If you look at the first play of OSU's 2OT drive, the tip of the ball was placed on the far/left side of the 25yd line such that Barrett would have had to get all the way to the far side of the 15 yard line (the white line). EVEN WITH the ref's super generous spot, it looked like he was an inch short!!!

It insults my football sensitivities that they didn't even bring the sticks out to measure...

Joined: 08/20/2014

MGoPoints: 5355

KC Wolve

November 27th, 2016 at 9:41 AM ^

Well, I'm not sure bringing tangled chains across the field does much in that situation. The line was already there. They started right on the 25 so if the ball was touching the 15 it was a first down. If it wasn't touching it, no first down. The yellow line and the chains were just distractions.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 10/09/2010

MGoPoints: 12673

OKWolverines

November 27th, 2016 at 10:14 AM ^

Do we not have even a shred of football common sense? It was 1&10 from the 25. The ball was placed on top of the 15- for better or worse!- you do not measure. Hey wait, maybe in between plays OSU had the lines on the field moved- since everyone and the Illumanati are out to get us, this is now the real proof that we always get screwed by Jim Delaney. Yes, that's it. It's not that we stopped playing offense or couldn't run the ball all damn day or that they finally wore the defensive front down, it's the Illumanati.

Joined: 11/26/2016

MGoPoints: -68

MichiganMAN47

November 27th, 2016 at 9:16 AM ^

Every game I generally have one goal: do not boo the officials, it's rude and unsportsmanlike. I am done with this. I attended the game yesterday and I am done with this mentality. After that monstrosity I will boo Big Ten refs from here to eternity. They fucked us yesterday and i will never forget it.

Joined: 02/24/2015

MGoPoints: 3216

NRK

November 27th, 2016 at 2:14 PM ^

You're a better person than me if you had that mentality. I boo away. I get criticized if I screw up at my job, why does a ref get some safe space? Make the right call and I won't boo - or put another way, I'll only boo when I think the call is blown, not that I dislike it or don't agree with it. 

Frankly I think the whole concept that complaining about refs is somehow off limits that is pushed by most of the sports journalists (and others) is obnoxious. If there's an element of the game and it's negatively impacting you why is it bad to call it out? It feels so authoritarian to suggest that refs are above reproach. They can screw up, and if our coach thinks so then he should be able to say so. And let's be honest almost every newspaper reporter's stance was that "he shouldn't criticize the refs/he's whining" not that Harbaugh was wrong about the reffing being atrocious. It's setting arbitrary limits and then whining about your limits being broken instead of focusing on the actual issue of the refs being poor.

Joined: 02/20/2009

MGoPoints: 6411

NRK

November 27th, 2016 at 2:09 PM ^

Well, him being in Ohio HOF itself does not mean he's an OSU fan in itself, but I understand the point.

 

Yes, I'm aware of potential biases. I talk about that in my response above - I tend to account for them in "crappy reffing" in the first place. Michigan, as much as we love it, is hated by many others.  But I'm not leaping to the fact that there's some vast conspiracy to hurt UM - which is what the OP was saying.

Joined: 02/20/2009

MGoPoints: 6411

Charmandar

November 27th, 2016 at 9:49 AM ^

In a a billion dollar industry with millions on the line for an outcome of a game, yeah, a ref's internal bias should be questioned. We have seen time and time again one sided calls in this conference and in the NCAA. 

The NCAA like the federal government is corrupted beyond repair.

Joined: 08/24/2016

MGoPoints: 1391

NRK

November 27th, 2016 at 2:05 PM ^

I don't have a problem with questioning particular refs and their potential biases. In fact, it is something that should be done as part of a vetting process for officials in the first place.  I have an issue with Schwarzel, who apparently was (is?) an OSU fan, reffing the game. I also suspect that even if you get someone trying to objective there is going to be some subconcious bias - I don't think there's a way to eliminate that. I include that in my "crappy reffing", but I guess I can see how others don't. I just assume there are going to be the guys who don't like Michigan as much, and even subconciously it slightly impacts something. Likewise I suspect we get some benefit from it (though I don't recall it helping us out much recently, unfortunately).

 

But I can't make the leap to the conclusion that there is a conspiracy to promote OSU at the expense of UM. That requires actions or knowing inactions by a number of individuals and I just don't think there is that level of complicitness that or cooperation. It's the same reason I don't believe that 9/11 was an inside job, or that the CIA killed JFK, or that there is some giant cover up of aliens working with the US government. That many people cannot be quiet, and frankly, no organization is that competent.

Joined: 02/20/2009

MGoPoints: 6411

UMForLife

November 27th, 2016 at 9:31 AM ^

I ascribe this to incompetence and possibly a little bias (Ohio guy and all). Not some conspiracy theory. I do not believe Delaney would contact refs and say that they want OSU to win. Can you imagine M leaving B1G? The conference will be trash. B1G would not purposefully screw over three teams--M, OSU and PSU. Now, could they have evaluated who is officiating the game. Of course. Could they have avoided bias. Of course. That falls on B1G and not on Refs. I ascribe this to B1G leadership. Shorty.

Joined: 11/04/2013

MGoPoints: 63393

BoCanHam15

November 27th, 2016 at 9:39 AM ^

Just for chits and giggles the ref that threw the flag at Harbaugh for throwing the playbook backwards is also a basketball ref! He was recently voted into the hall of fame in Ohio for referees! Guess where his induction took place, Columbus! This SHIT has got to stop!



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 07/08/2016

MGoPoints: 16100