February 14, 2008
Forget rules, how about refs?
So the NCAA is going to fix the biggest problem in college football by.....letting officials determine whether to run a 40-second or 25-second clock? Ooh yeah, that's a good idea. After a disastrous officiating year in 2007, let's give the zebras more power to potentially affect the game.
Last season, the Big Ten reprimanded an officiating crew led by a referee, Stephen Pamon, who has a long criminal record and ties to gambling interests. Then it allows him to work the next game anyway (OSU-Illinois), where the instant replay crew inexplicably does not review an obvious fumble (in part, because TV monitors are not allowed in the coaches' press box booths). Then the Big Ten refuses to comment on the incident, and then the Big Ten head of officiating -- Dave Parry -- gets a big promotion, where he now is the national coordinator of college officiating.
Great move. Maybe Parry's first act will be to name Pamon head of his ethics department. Maybe Kelvin Sampson will be Pamon's No. 2 man.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: What makes officials a taboo topic? Why can we rip and criticize players, coaches and administrators, and yet somehow officials are off-limits?
The Big Ten displays the height of arrogance when it adopted a policy that it will not comment on officiating. Why not? What are they hiding from?
Whatever happened to Pamon, anyway? The man should at least be suspended indefinitely while a thorough investigation takes place -- like the one Yahoo.com did, finding all sorts of stuff that the Big Ten's background check had failed to find.
Everyone involved in college football deserves transparency when it comes to officiating. They deserve explanations. No one is perfect, we all understand that. Officials will make mistakes.
But for the Big Ten to continue to employ a crooked ref, and then for the NCAA to promote his boss, the one who refuses to answer any questions, is outrageous and inexcusable.