Suggested letter to Jim Delany

Submitted by Jevablue on

One man's rage against the machine....and a letter going out overnight mail tomorrow.

 

Jim Delany

5440 Park Place

Rosemont, IL 60018

 

Dear Mr. Delany,

Re: OSU vs Michigan

I’m going to the trouble of writing this letter to ask a very simple question.  How in the world could you, with the top 2 Big Ten teams, on the country’s biggest stage, a game known as “The Game”, could you entrust such a game to that officiating team?  A team consisting of a disgraced former referee that had already been dismissed for incompetence and two other Ohio referees one of which is a publicly unabashed Buckeye fan.  Of course none of this would be of significance were it not for the fact that the incompetence and biases played out in such an obvious manner that you cannot find a single reference outside of a direct OSU partisan to not scratch their heads at the many calls/non calls that all broke for OSU.  I guess to be fair, we should note that these “officials” did call 2 OSU penalties totaling 6 yards.

 

A Cleveland newspaper covered Harbaugh’s tantrum and looked at 6 plays of particular note, all of which were debatable call/no call/proper spot/ etc situations.  And indeed they were all “judgment” or toss up calls.  And all of them broke for OSU.  So if you flip a coin 6 times, what are your odds of getting all “tails”?  1/64 is the answer of course. 

 

If I wanted to watch pre-ordained sporting events, I’d be a WWF fan.  I am not going to besmirch your office's motives.  I am going to chalk this up to carelessness.  As a retired Medical Device Executive for a fortune 500 company, I know how I would have been viewed had I been this careless under similar circumstances of such equal import.  Hence my original question, how could you be so careless with such an important event?  Additionally, why should we have any faith in the competence of your office going forward?  Finally, does not the University of Michigan deserve an apology for this blatant abdication of diligence? 

With a sincere response to this inqiry from your office I will donate $1000 to the charity of your choice, please include the specific information with your response.

MGoBoard
Football
Jim Delany

michgoblue

November 28th, 2016 at 4:54 PM ^

I applaud the effort of so many here who want to express their rage to the Big Ten.  At the end of the day, we got screwed by a terrible officiating crew that, in addition to being incompetent, may have actually been biased. 

But there is already media coverage of the issue, and I expect that this coverage alone - including our coach calling it out in his post-game presser - will largely rectify the issue.  I also expect that Harbaugh is going to have Warde Manuel make improving the B10 refs priority #1 going into the Big Ten meetings. 

So, while I get wanting to express rage against the perpetrator of this injustice, you are likely wasting your time, and all letters to Delaney will be viewed as sour grapes from the fans of the losing team.  If you are inclined to do something, I recommend using every platform available to you on social media to get momentum behind Michigan being selected for the Playoffs in the event of a Washington loss to Colorado.  Like I said in one of the many other threads on this topic, let's come up with a catchy hashtag - sometling like #TheGameRematch or #MichOSURematch - and get it trending on all of the Twitters. 

Joined: 11/16/2009

MGoPoints: 32178

bjk

November 28th, 2016 at 6:53 PM ^

Changes always happen more quickly when they are accellerated by a shitstorm of voluminously and forcefully expressed public outrage. Harry Belefonte tells a story of an A. Phillip Randolph visit to the FDR White House. FDR listened to APR list a litany of demands over dinner, and then told him: "I agree with every one. Now you need to organize and FORCE me to do it." Leaders go where they think the public is going (unless they are affirmatively evil). But they need to be reminded.

Joined: 11/26/2009

MGoPoints: 3993

Mgodiscgolfer

November 29th, 2016 at 6:05 AM ^

I first want to applaud you for your very thoughtful letter that got the point across without demeaning the B1G  Conference and keeping your composure while placing the blame at the feet of the person most responsible for such an obvious mistake that I personally am sure that has never happened in Ann Arbor. 

There is no way I can sit here (even though I have sent a simular letter out myself) and critisize your efforts in any fashion. Those who have done so in this thread probably have not even casually mentioned their dissappointment  to many more than their best friend or their brother  Then they feel a need to critisize a letter to the commissioner as maybe not the best way to handle this.. As if there is a right way and a wrong way on how to do this. Go figure and Go Blue!

Joined: 01/13/2011

MGoPoints: 5322

los

November 28th, 2016 at 4:56 PM ^

Solid letter. 

Remove the second "could you" from "How in the world could you, with the top 2 Big Ten teams, on the country’s biggest stage, a game known as “The Game”, could you entrust such a game to that officiating team?"

Also, I belbelieve 'inquiry' was misspelled.

I applaud your efforts.  

 

Joined: 02/06/2009

MGoPoints: 906

uferfan

November 28th, 2016 at 4:58 PM ^

I would enclose a check for $1,000 issued to the "Jim Delaney Micropenis Reclamation Fund". Be sure to draw a wang in the memo line with two Buckeye nuts hanging from it.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

Joined: 02/04/2015

MGoPoints: 24591

Jevablue

November 28th, 2016 at 5:13 PM ^

I’m going to the trouble of writing this letter to ask a very simple question.  How in the world with the top 2 Big Ten teams, on the country’s biggest stage, a game known as “The Game”, could you entrust such a game to that officiating team?  A team consisting of a disgraced former referee that had already been dismissed for incompetence and two other Ohio referees one of which is a publicly unabashed Buckeye fan.  Of course none of this would be of significance were it not for the fact that the incompetence and biases played out in such an obvious manner.  One cannot find a single reference outside of a direct OSU partisan to not scratch their heads at the many calls/non calls that all broke for OSU. Even the Wall Street Journal mentioned the officiating for the game in a piece today by Jason Gay.  I guess to be fair, we should note that these “officials” did call 2 penalties totaling 6 yards.

A Cleveland newspaper covered Harbaugh’s tantrum and looked at 6 plays of particular note, all of which were debatable call/no call/proper spot/ etc situations.  And indeed they were all “judgment” calls.  And all of them broke for OSU.  So if you flip a coin 6 times, what are your odds of getting all “tails”?  1/64 is the answer of course. 

I am not going to besmirch your office’s motives.  I am going to chalk this up to carelessness.  As a retired Medical Device Executive for a fortune 500 company, I know how I would have been viewed had I been this careless under similar circumstances of such import.  Hence my original question, how could you be so careless with such an important event?  Additionally, why should we have any faith in the competence of your office going forward and what steps will be taken to mitigate even the appearance of bias?  Finally, does not the University of Michigan deserve an apology for this blatant abdication of diligence and how it so clearly played out?

With a sincere response to this inquiry from your office I will donate $1000 to the charity of your choice, please include the specific information with your response.

Joined: 11/05/2011

MGoPoints: 2978

MGoBlueMyself

November 28th, 2016 at 9:27 PM ^

Let's all just quit bitching and hoping for "competent officiating" and sign up to be B1G refs ourselves! I'm sure it pays pretty well, get to see games up close, maybe change the outcome of a Michigan game or two. Could be fun! I mean, you saw the childlike awe on that one ref's face after his idol JT Barrett scored a go ahead touchdown. Who's got it better than him? that could be you supressing a boner as Chris Evans or Dylan McCaffrey races into the endzone. Flag Chris Ash for being outside the coaching box when he's in the locker room. Flag James Franklin for poor clock management and unsportsmanlike penis drawings in his tiny notebook. Tell Mike Dantonio his fly is down and giggle when he scowles at you, or better yet, ask him where all the Spartans went when his stadium is awash in the opposing team's colors. Warn Jim Harbaugh to stay off of the white line....then burst out laughing together after you yell "Gotcha!" and high five Top Gun style. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Joined: 10/07/2016

MGoPoints: 1458

Jevablue

November 29th, 2016 at 9:17 AM ^

Letter going out today "return receipt".  Thanks for all the input. I wonder if a written campaign to Ward Manuel is appropriate as well.  Old fashion letters may stand out more in this bit/byte driven world.

Thanks again and Go Blue

Joined: 11/05/2011

MGoPoints: 2978