Dick Honig isn't just a UM graduate who referees the Big Ten (or did ref in the Big Ten), he is by all definitions a booster. He fund raises for Michigan. Leads alumni events for the school.
Witvoet went so far as telling Joe Paterno that he met with Dick Honig the week of a PSU at Michigan game (one of the screw job games).
Think about that, the officials doing the Michigan home games meet with a Michigan booster before the game.
Football: Paterno makes concerns official
Red flags Big Ten for crew assignments
Wednesday, October 16, 2002
By Ray Fittipaldo, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
When Penn State Coach Joe Paterno met with Athletic Director Tim Curley and other Penn State athletic personnel Monday morning they discussed the problems with the officiating in the Big Ten.
Curley then sent a letter to conference commissioner Jim Delany, asking for a review of the conference policies on officials which would include policies on crew assignments, performance evaluation, technology, accountability and the recruitment and training of officials.
Yesterday during his weekly teleconference with reporters, Paterno made clear his biggest concern was the conference policies concerning crew assignments. He's concerned that personal bias could be a factor among officials who work games in their home states.
Three of the officials who worked Penn State's 27-24 overtime loss at Michigan Stadium on Saturday reside in Michigan. Referee David Witvoet lives in Plainwell, Mich; umpire Tony Payne in Lansing, Mich; and back judge Dino Paganelli in Wyoming, Mich. The other officials were: Daniel Capron, of Chicago, who was reprimanded by the conference earlier this season for poor performance; line judge Tom Ransom of Frankfort, Ind; field judge James Filson of Bollingbrook, Ill.; and side judge Terry Anderson from Mineral Point, Wis.
The crew called Penn State for six penalties for 46 yards; Michigan twice for nine yards. Witvoet's crew also worked last year's game at University Park, a Michigan 20-0 victory, in which Penn State was called for six penalties for 50 yards, Michigan once for 5. Witvoet's crew has worked three of the past six games involving Penn State and Michigan. In the games his crew worked this season, last season and in 1997, Penn State was penalized 19 times for 151 yards. Michigan was penalized eight times for 38 yards. When Witvoet's crew did not work, Penn State was penalized 17 times for 145 yards, Michigan 27 times for 206.
"You try not to be paranoid," Paterno said. "But the same crew that did this game did last year's game. Last year [Michigan] had one penalty called against them; this year two. So you start to wonder and you look at it. It starts to get obvious when you start to look at tapes and wonder why things weren't called. I am sure that happens to people who play against us. You don't expect people to be perfect, but you start to get concerned when it gets to be a little lopsided."
The crew made at least four incorrect calls during the game. The most obvious officiating mistake came with 40 seconds remaining, when Tony Johnson caught a pass near the sidelines at the Michigan 22. Johnson got both feet in bounds, but an official ruled he did not get either foot down. There were several other questionable calls that went against both teams, many that occurred late in the game and changed its course.
Paterno also expressed concern that the officials working Saturday's game met with Big Ten referee Dick Honig, who lives in Ann Arbor, Mich. and had a run-in with Paterno after Penn State lost an overtime game against Iowa Sept. 28. He also pointed out that only four officials employed by the conference are from Pennsylvania. Seventeen conference officials are from Illinois, 11 are from Ohio, seven from Michigan, five from Indiana, four each from Iowa and Minnesota and three from Wisconsin.
"I expressed some concerns I had with Tim, and Tim is in the process of making some decisions," Paterno said. "I'm not sure what can be done. We're concerned about the same crew working this year's game and last year's game. There were some concerns about the fact three of them live in Michigan.
There were some concerns that some of them said to me that they had met with Dick Honig, who was the guy I had some problems with at the Iowa game, who lives in Ann Arbor. Those are the kinds of things they should be looking at. Not necessarily that anybody is incompetent. We are all human beings and have friends and impulses. I think that is what Penn State would like to see done.
"Just reexamine how the officials are assigned. It is tough. We are a border state. There are [four] officials from Pennsylvania in the Big Ten. One of whom played for me, Bob Bassett, who can't get a Penn State game. You want to know why. There should be some kind of policy. It's just that, 'Let's take a look at it.' "
Penn State's request for a review of the conference's policies with officials was met with a one-paragraph response in the form of a statement from Delany: "Penn State director of athletics Tim Curley has communicated to me concerns regarding the conference football officiating program. In the spirit of openness, as we have done previously with other Big Ten institutions, we have asked Penn State for a detailed critique of its concerns and will provide a candid and detailed response."
Curley said yesterday the university went public because his hope is that his colleagues and conference coaches would join the crusade. Judging from their responses yesterday, Penn State won't have to do much lobbying. Conference coaches yesterday were overjoyed that that a conference heavyweight decided to publicly denounce the state of officiating.
"Absolutely, unequivocally yes," Purdue Coach Joe Tiller responded when asked whether the conference should conduct a review of its practices.
Tiller complained about the officiating after a 24-21 loss to Wake Forest Sept. 21, and the conference responded by suspending four officials for an indeterminate period. One of the officials worked the Penn State-Michigan game.
Tiller said there is a lack of qualified officials working games.
"There is a talent drain," Tiller said. "We have had a number of officials move on to the NFL. I can empathize, not sympathize, with the conference. Your pool changes. I wonder about the availability of talent. It would appear to me there are many things we could do. I see calls being made by people who are not in position to make calls."
"We have to look at how we hire, fire, reward, how we penalize and base it all on performance," said Illinois Coach Ron Turner, who is a major proponent of instant replay. Other coaches are starting to come around on that subject, including, it appears, Paterno.
Paterno dismissed the use of replay after two questionable calls might have cost his team in the overtime loss to Iowa. But he sounded as if he was in the process of changing his mind yesterday.
"My concern with that is I don't want to overreact," he said. "When things don't go your way, you have a tendency to overreact. When the Big Ten coaches get together next, hopefully that will be on the agenda with Dave Parry and whoever else the commissioner thinks is appropriate. We ought to talk it out.
"I have never been for instant replay. ... When it's appropriate, when the discussion is relevant, we'll talk it out and maybe I'll have a change of heart."
http://old.post-gazette.com/sports/psu/20021016psu1016p4.asp
