USA Today rips into big ten conference (just read bold parts)

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The Big Ten fined Michigan $10,000 on Monday because Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh ripped into the officiating that contributed to Michigan’s 30-27 loss. It was a justifiable action. But with that, the conference said the matter is closed.

Fat chance.

Closed in the mind of Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany perhaps, as he buries his head in the sand and refuses to answer some important questions.

Starting with:

why was Dan Capron, the lead official on a crew disciplined by the Big Ten in 2002 after a game between Purdue and Wake Forest, working as the referee during the Ohio State-Michigan game?

It was surprising news for Joe Tiller, the former Purdue football coach who was livid in 2002 after shoddy officiating contributed to his team’s 24-21 loss to Wake Forest. The officials did not work more games that season, but the Big Ten never clarified the extent of the discipline.

“You would like to think that once they were semi-retired by the Big Ten that the Big Ten would say, ‘No, you’re done, period,’ ” Tiller, who coached at Purdue from 1997 to 2008, told USA TODAY Sports. “We had a real mess in that particular game from an officiating point of view.

Another valid question: Why was Kevin Schwarzel, the back judge during the Ohio State-Michigan game, allowed to work the contest even though he resides in Ohio?

In 2006, Schwarzel told the Athens (Ohio) News that he couldn’t work the Ohio State-Michigan game because he’s from Ohio. Bobby Sagers Jr., the side judge, also lives in Ohio.

The Big Ten did not respond to requests for comment.

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