And what’s the story with David Parry?

This letter was sent to James E. Delaney, Comissioner of Athletics of the Big Ten Conference, and a copy was also sent to David Parry (as well as both head coaches)

[David Parry called me personally on 11/20/2000 to discuss this. His comments are shown below in blue.]

November 7, 2000

James E. Delany
Commissioner of Athletics
Big Ten Conference
1500 W. Higgins Rd.
Park Ridge, 60068-6300

Dear Commissioner Delany,

I am writing to you regarding the officiating crew who worked at the Northwestern-Michigan football game on Saturday, November 4, 2000. I feel that this crew did a very poor job, and their irresponsible calls altered the game unfairly for both teams. There are at least 4 calls that I will mention, all poor judgments, which presented Northwestern University with unfair opportunities.

I realize that the officials working at these games do the best job they can, however, I don’t feel that this particular crew was up to the standards necessary for a high profile Big Ten game such as this one. I understand that there is a great deal of pressure on these men to make the correct call, but I strongly question the following calls.

1. In the 1st Quarter, Michigan Quarterback Drew Henson was scrambling (with the ball) to get out of bounds. As he dove onto the ground at the sideline, the ball came loose. This was clearly a result of impacting the ground, which cannot cause a fumble. Also, after the ball rolled clearly out of bounds, a Northwestern player picked it up, at which point an official ruled possession by Northwestern of a fumble recovery. It wasn’t until all officials convened that is was agreed that the play had been dead, and the ball belonged to Michigan.

“Officials made the wrong call- it was corrected.”

2. After a score, Northwestern kicked the ball on-sides, and appeared to recover the football. However, it was apparent to all those along the sideline that the Northwestern player who recovered the ball had been off sides before the ball was kicked, giving him an advantage to recover it. An official in the area definitely should have been in position to make this call.

“NW player was offsides. The official who makes that call was on the other side of the field and didn’t make the call.”

3. In the second half, Michigan linebacker Larry Foote (#17) was applying pressure to Northwestern Quarterback Zak Hustak. He hit the passer cleanly, but was immediately called for an Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty for the hit. This gave Northwestern momentum to continue their drive. I understand that it is important to protect Quarterbacks and prevent unnecessary roughness, but the hit was not intentionally violent- it appeared to be made simply to break up the play.

“The tackle was a helmet-to-neck tackle. This is always penalized to prevent injury.”

4. Again in the second half, there was another Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty against Michigan as the Northwestern Quarterback was scrambling to get out of bounds. He clearly was not out of bounds, and the Michigan player tackled him so that he could not take a chance that he would turn upfield and continue his run. The hit was definitely applied in-bounds, and again, did not appear to be intentionally violent. This play also helped Northwestern’s momentum.

“Wrong call was made. QB actually tripped himself up and penalty should not have been called.”

While these poor calls by the officials may not have caused a win or loss for either team, they certainly allowed Northwestern to either take or retain possession of the ball and continue scoring drives that may otherwise have been stopped. In fact, one of these calls was made on a third down stop that would have resulted in a 4th and long situation for Northwestern, and most likely a change of possession due to a punt.

It is unacceptable at any level of play to have sub-par officiating, but even more so when there are conference title implications. This game was altered by poor officiating, poor calls, and missed calls. While I am not suggesting that the league should institute an “instant-replay” system, I do feel that there needs to be a better system to keep officials “in check,” and that the repercussions of poor officiating should be looked at with great scrutiny as it applies to this game.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please feel free to contact me at xxx-xxx-xxxx if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Gray Siegel

cc: David M. Parry (Coordinator of Officials, Football, Big Ten Conference)
Lloyd Carr (Head Coach, University of Michigan
Randy Walker (Head Coach, Northwestern University)