A good buddy of mine sits next to a guys at work who is a college football ref. Up until recently split time between MAC and Big 10, starting this year - the Big 10 asked him to only do Big 10. I guess he's from a big ref family - dad did NFL, and his brother now does NFL.
Apparently he told my friend he is reffing the Michigan / MSU game. Said 'no ticky-tack penalties and that it's going to need to be pretty big infraction for him to throw a flag. (FYI - my friend is a minnesota alum/fan)
I asked him if the ref was a fan of either team - he said no, went to a small school in Minnesota. They actually talked about the 2016 OSU/Michigan game (well, a asked about it...) and the ref said almost all of them truly do their best to call a fair game - their income depends on it, and usually trumps any allegiance. He did volunteer that we would never ref in the SEC/south. Said it is just dirty, old boys club. You are supposedly often time 'encouraged' to do the right thing, whatever that means. He said they are always graded the worst in the nation for bad calls, but the public never sees this.
With regards to refs and fans of a team, like OSU last year - he said their are restrictions if you went to one of the schools, have a family member working there, or a child enrolled.
I sent the one photo of the ref patting Weber on the butt - but does anyone have the photo of the ref signaling a touchdown for OSU, where he's like celebrating? The ref actually wants to see it. I have looked all over the web for it today and can't seem to find it - but I remember it distinctly from last year.
And funny thing - after talking about last years OSU game with my friend, and thinking of reffing this weekends game - he literally goes, 'you know what, I better change all my social media handles.'
Thanks for any help!!!
Apparently he told my friend he is reffing the Michigan / MSU game. Said 'no ticky-tack penalties and that it's going to need to be pretty big infraction for him to throw a flag. (FYI - my friend is a minnesota alum/fan)
I asked him if the ref was a fan of either team - he said no, went to a small school in Minnesota. They actually talked about the 2016 OSU/Michigan game (well, a asked about it...) and the ref said almost all of them truly do their best to call a fair game - their income depends on it, and usually trumps any allegiance. He did volunteer that we would never ref in the SEC/south. Said it is just dirty, old boys club. You are supposedly often time 'encouraged' to do the right thing, whatever that means. He said they are always graded the worst in the nation for bad calls, but the public never sees this.
With regards to refs and fans of a team, like OSU last year - he said their are restrictions if you went to one of the schools, have a family member working there, or a child enrolled.
I sent the one photo of the ref patting Weber on the butt - but does anyone have the photo of the ref signaling a touchdown for OSU, where he's like celebrating? The ref actually wants to see it. I have looked all over the web for it today and can't seem to find it - but I remember it distinctly from last year.
And funny thing - after talking about last years OSU game with my friend, and thinking of reffing this weekends game - he literally goes, 'you know what, I better change all my social media handles.'
Thanks for any help!!!
