I'd like to know how long Joe Paterno and the athletic department are going to tolerate the Big Ten officiating that has turned the past three meetings into University of Michigan victories at critical stages of the game. Will we wait until Penn State loses 10 in a row to the Wolverines?
Critical calls at critical times against Penn State, often with little or poor explanation, are the reason Lloyd Carr's team "owns" the Nittany Lions as the moronic Michigan fans boasted on Saturday.
I thought I had seen the worst example ever of gift officiating when Carr complained to the referees and got two seconds put back on the clock two seasons ago.
But Saturday's game was absolutely the worst example of a Penn State team having to fight their opponent, their fans and the zebras that I have ever seen in nearly 50 years.
JoePa is quoted from the press conference after the game as saying, "I was told by my men upstairs that (Mike Hart) was a yard short. I asked the referee close to me, and he said he didn't make the call."
What kind of answer is that? So JoePa, just accepted that answer rather than calling the head official over to raise his concerns? I've seen JoePa raise a fuss over a lot less than that before, in person and on TV.
This loyal fan of the blue and white is not OK with lying down for Michigan's Lloyd Carr when the games are on the line.
Where is the support for the student athletes in all this?
Jim Wilhelm
Class of 1979
