A “fixing” story actually reared its head during the offseason. Lots of Nebraska fans felt the Big XII was out to screw over Nebraska for leaving for the Big Ten. They were gonna show us, by golly. And then we lost to Texas A&M, where we had something like a 16 to 2 penalty ratio. It was a really ugly game, and our coach screaming his head off on TV didn’t help matters. He later got reprimanded publicly by the AD and school president for his temper tantrums. Then a few weeks ago, my Husker fan brother forwarded this to me:
Read this article… Interesting insight into the A&M debacle from last year. Pelini says refs informed him they were going to screw NU over:
http://www.omaha.com/article/20110730/SPORTS/707309838#shatel-2-sides-of-single-minded-man
"Did any of those officials tell you during the game you were going to get jobbed?‘’ I asked.
"Yes,‘’ [NU head coach Bo] Pelini said.
Of course, his implication was that this PROVES that Texas’ Big XII hated NU and wanted payback over leaving for the Big Ten. I was supposed to be a nice Husker fan and agree with the conspiracy and (of course) blame Texas. My reply:
"Did he report this to the NCAA? If so, this would make Terrell Pryor and Cam Newton look like a Sunday picnic! I mean, this affects the integrity of the game, and could have lasting repercussions. At the very least, the refs or Big XII could get busted on racketeering charges, which is a major Federal offense. Ask Tim Donaghy of the NBA, who got 15 months in federal prison. And that was for solo gambling, not acting on behalf of a conference.
The “going to get jobbed” implies a ref said this before or during a game. One call to his AD during the game should’ve brought in an investigation and possible forfeit. Not that I don’t believe him, but he had no reason to keep quiet if this is true. He certainly wasn’t quiet during the game itself.
And the above quote was not from some internet fan blogger, but the head coach of a major NCAA program to Omaha’s leading daily newspaper."
Then my buddy (also a big Husker fan) said it even better:
“No kidding. If the refs said we were coming after you. Then by all means: Don’t play. Go to the press box and say, the refs just told me they were coming after us tonight. Until we have a new squad we are not playing this game.”
So my brother said that “Maybe his massive fit during the game prevented that option from being taken and maybe that is that is why [AD Tom] Osborne took disciplinary action…”
Oh? Allow me to retort:
"Here’s the problem I have with that. Based on the context, the ref supposedly said this before or early in the game, so Pelini had time to warn his AD and the Big XII what was going down.
Even if we take the theory that the Big XII wouldn’t have helped, it still makes Bo culpable for leaving his players in the game. If the refs are not going to make calls correctly (and he knows this), he is putting our players at significant injury risk. Bad calls are not just missing offsides and pass interference, but also facemasks and late hits. If I recall correctly, didn’t Martinez get injured in that game? And some player got grabbed in his nuts, with a resultant non-call?
I hate to play “blame the victim”, but those should’ve signaled Pelini/Osborne to stop the game. Yet he settled for simply screaming at the refs and his own players? I’m not calling him a liar, but something don’t jive.
Ultimately, I don’t believe a ref would be stupid enough to reveal these plans to the opponent’s HEAD COACH!
Evil Big XII: “Let’s get NU good for leaving us. We must use subtlety…”
Ref to Pelini: “Nanny nanny boo boo! You’re going to get jobbed!”"
As it was, this incredible story of a ref taunting a head coach had no legs. No NCAA investigation, no retractions, no “taken out of context”, nothing. No coverage by the Lincoln paper, or further investigation by the Omaha paper. Of course, I’m sure many NU fans (like my brother) still feel the story is true… :dubious: