Interesting news about officiating crew for Big 12 CCG

[Nexus]

The bold paragraphs towards the end of the article.

 

 

LINCOLN — And now, here to present the final Big 12 North trophy to the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe.

 

Mr. Commissioner? Is anybody from the Big 12 office here?

 

Nope.

 

There was no Big 12 North trophy presentation on Friday afternoon after NU sealed the deal with a resounding 45-17 victory over Colorado at Memorial Stadium.

 

That's because there was no trophy.

 

That's because nobody from the Big 12 office showed up to present the trophy, which is standard league protocol. Hmm. All the flights from Dallas to Omaha sold out this weekend?

 

"Apparently they got a lot of nasty mail from Nebraskans,'' said Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne. "For some reason, they didn't feel they'd be safe. I don't know.''

 

This was already a juicy saga, with Beebe potentially having to hand the Big 12 championship trophy to Osborne and Bo Pelini next Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium. Can you say Al Davis and Pete Rozelle?

 

If the Huskers win, Beebe might do the honors next to a bodyguard.

 

In a phone interview with Blair Kerkhoff of the Kansas City Star on Friday night, Beebe said he and his family had received death threats in recent weeks from people purported to be Nebraska fans.

 

"We had a threat that you're going to die and your family is going to die in your house,'' Beebe said. "You have to start taking it seriously.''

 

Beebe also said that someone called him, apparently impersonating a police officer and told him "they had my daughter (who is in college) and she was unresponsive.''

 

That turned out to be false.

 

Beebe told Kerkhoff that he spoke with an independent contractor who works in the National Football League security office. That person told Beebe it wasn't worth attending the game until they could check out all the threats.

 

The commissioner said he had received more than 2,000 e-mails about Nebraska, many of them vulgar, and that his staff had received vulgar messages, too.

 

Beebe is a former NCAA enforcement representative who was in on several tough cases, including the SMU death penalty. But he said he's "never had to deal with this amount of vulgarity and nastiness.''

 

This puts the commissioner's absence in proper perspective. I know some of you are saying Beebe was gutless not to show up. But I think he had his reasons. Good reasons.

 

That doesn't excuse the Big 12 from having someone here. Nobody in Nebraska would know Associate Commissioner Tim Allen from the comedian/actor Tim Allen. Or media chief Bob Burda.

 

Heck, the Big 12 could have sent Assistant Commissioner Ed Stewart. You know, the former All-America linebacker at Nebraska. Husker fans are going to give him grief?

 

Also, the trophy ceremony would have taken place in the Huskers' locker room, perhaps the most heavily guarded spot in the state.

 

For weeks, the commissioner has been mum about the whole Nebraska business, the Eric Martin suspension, the 16 penalties last week.

 

Why make all the ugliness public the week that thousands of Husker fans will make the trip to Dallas? Will it subdue the angry fans? Or aggravate those who want attention?

 

It seems the attention from this could have been avoided by sending one unknown Big 12 rep.

 

Then again, maybe there's just no getting around a fiery, emotional throwing-potted-plants end to this divorce.

 

I spoke with Osborne alone after the game. He declined to comment later, when told of Beebe's comments. He said Beebe had relayed his concerns earlier in the week.

 

Earlier, Osborne didn't seem upset at the lack of Big 12 presence. He just rolled his eyes. He shrugged. At this point, there are no more surprises in this story and few emotions left for the man who has seen it all in over four decades.

 

"Whatever,'' Osborne said. "We'll just roll with the punch. I'm just glad we won it. I'm proud of Bo and the guys. Now we'll go down there and try and win the championship.''

 

What type of reaction will Nebraska officials and the team get from the league when they arrive in Dallas next Friday?

 

"I have no idea,'' Osborne said.

 

Better yet, will the league beef up security at the game? Who knows?

 

What should help is the choice of officials. Osborne said Walt Anderson, the Big 12's supervisor of officials, told him the crew who did the Nebraska-Texas A&M game would not be doing the Big 12 championship game.

 

"We do get an all-star group of officials, No. 1 at their positions,'' Osborne said. "These will be supposedly the No. 1-rated referees. It won't be the same group (as A&M). As far as I'm concerned, that sounds good. We're pleased.

 

"My understanding is that the referee will be from a different crew and we haven't had that crew. And there will be four members of this person's crew there, and they're all rated very high. I don't think we've had that crew this year.''

Osborne said he spoke with Anderson Monday and didn't bother to ask him about the 16 penalties against NU at Texas A&M.

 

"I didn't ask him, and he didn't say anything,'' Osborne said. "We send the (video) clips in every week. We didn't hear back from them. There's really not much to say right now.''

 

Both Osborne and Beebe are playing nice at this point, which is another way to say both sides are just eager to get this thing over, ASAP.

 

"We just hope we can play really well,'' Osborne said. "It's important to remember that we have basketball, a lot of sports still to go. We'd like to leave on good terms. That's our intention.''

 

In Beebe's interview with the Kansas City Star's Kerkhoff, which Kerkhoff shared with me, Beebe saluted Osborne and NU Chancellor Harvey Perlman for their comments last week.

 

"I'm really grateful for what the chancellor and Tom Osborne have done to mollify this, and what Bo Pelini has done," he told the Star. "The tone set by the leadership has a huge effect on situations like this.

 

"We're talking about a very small percentage of a fan base, very small. Nebraska fans are some of the best and most passionate fans in sports. I think this will all turn out OK.''

 

Look, I'm no Big 12 fan. It's been the Mickey Mouse clubhouse in so many ways. That continued Friday, when the league didn't bother to send a mailroom clerk to Lincoln.

 

But I don't condone death threats, either. I don't think many in Husker Nation do, either.

 

This needs to be over. It's going to be over in a week, unless you're going to chart Doc Sadler's traveling calls. Nebraska has made it back to Jerry Jones World, and the Huskers are 60 minutes from a trophy and an awkward, satisfying moment.

 

We seemed destined to get a compelling, unforgettable climax. And the game should be pretty good, too.

 

LINK

[Sparker]

That's good news. I think with the A&M game they know they have a lot of eyes on them. If they have a high profile game like this looking that bad, it will not be good for the long term image of the Big XII.

[Lincolnite]

Things I took from the article:

 

*Beebe is a douche bag

 

*Tom is angrier than he's letting on to the public

[Ratt Mhule]

Death threats are going way overboard. Call him an imcompetent bumbling moron for all I care, just don't cross the line...

[Hercules]

Death threats are going way overboard. Call him an imcompetent bumbling moron for all I care, just don't cross the line...

 

Threats of any kind are way, way over the line.

 

However, the problem I have is that the media is now going to go apes$*t over how Nebraska's fan base is made up of raving lunatics.

 

Some low-life dirtbags wrote some garbage emails to Beebe, and the state, the university, and the football program are going to come under fire for it.

[dergibog]

Death threats are going way overboard. Call him an imcompetent bumbling moron for all I care, just don't cross the line...

 

Threats of any kind are way, way over the line.

 

However, the problem I have is that the media is now going to go apes$*t over how Nebraska's fan base is made up of raving lunatics.

 

Some low-life dirtbags wrote some garbage emails to Beebe, and the state, the university, and the football program are going to come under fire for it.

 

I don't know. Did Beebe really get death threats? Did Husker fanatics send them? It could just as easily have been BS from Beebe, like the BIG television contract he supposedly pulled out of his a$$. There are trolls who would send stuff like that just to have a good one over on the Huskers or Beebe or both.

 

I got a threatening fax once sent to my school, my AD and the superintendent. It was sent anonymously from Kinko's. It might have been sent by a parent, or it might have been sent by a goofball. I showed up for the next game. Maybe Jerod-Eddie can search for Beebe's balls.

[HuskerNative]

Shatel's right about this:

That doesn't excuse the Big 12 from having someone here. Nobody in Nebraska would know Associate Commissioner Tim Allen from the comedian/actor Tim Allen. Or media chief Bob Burda.

Heck, the Big 12 could have sent Assistant Commissioner Ed Stewart. You know, the former All-America linebacker at Nebraska. Husker fans are going to give him grief?

Also, the trophy ceremony would have taken place in the Huskers' locker room, perhaps the most heavily guarded spot in the state.

For weeks, the commissioner has been mum about the whole Nebraska business, the Eric Martin suspension, the 16 penalties last week.

Why make all the ugliness public the week that thousands of Husker fans will make the trip to Dallas? Will it subdue the angry fans? Or aggravate those who want attention?

[deedsker15]

More crap from Beebe

[Ratt Mhule]

Death threats are going way overboard. Call him an imcompetent bumbling moron for all I care, just don't cross the line...

 

Threats of any kind are way, way over the line.

 

However, the problem I have is that the media is now going to go apes$*t over how Nebraska's fan base is made up of raving lunatics.

 

Some low-life dirtbags wrote some garbage emails to Beebe, and the state, the university, and the football program are going to come under fire for it.

 

I don't know. Did Beebe really get death threats? Did Husker fanatics send them? It could just as easily have been BS from Beebe, like the BIG television contract he supposedly pulled out of his a$$. There are trolls who would send stuff like that just to have a good one over on the Huskers or Beebe or both.

 

I got a threatening fax once sent to my school, my AD and the superintendent. It was sent anonymously from Kinko's. It might have been sent by a parent, or it might have been sent by a goofball. I showed up for the next game. Maybe Jerod-Eddie can search for Beebe's balls.

 

No because according to Beebe, he was just going for the ball, not the balls lol

[huskers1]

The thing I took from the article? If this is the #1 rated crew why haven't we had them all year? Isn't that kind of odd that in a game between undefeated teams (twice-osu and mizzou) and a game that has the #8 and #18 ranked teams (I believe thats what they were) we don't get the best the league has to offer?

[River-runner]

That's good news. I think with the A&M game they know they have a lot of eyes on them. If they have a high profile game like this looking that bad, it will not be good for the long term image of the Big XII.

 

 

I don't believe there is a "long term image" for the Big 12. The Texas schools will find a model providing more economic benefit for them, then they are gone.

 

GBR

 

RR

[Fuzzy]

But are they the same officials from last year's Big 12 CCG?

[Fuzzy]

But are they the same officials from last year's Big 12 CCG?

[okaive]

But are they the same officials from last year's Big 12 CCG?

 

The refs that we had for the Iowa state, Texas and aTm are the same refs as last years ccg. Now they are stating we are getting a new batch that we have yet to ref us yet.

[Lincolnite]

Beebe's an idiot. He can't discuss Courtney's hit on Gabbert but he lets Tom Osbourne announce there are new and improved officials for the championship game. It makes it sound like your other refs blew it, Dan.