New Big Ten Refs

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Holy Man

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Late in one of the games I had to listen to on the radio, Mike Grimm said that several refs from the Big Ten were not invited back this year, and noted that some of the new guys were really struggling.

Any one know which refs were canned by the Big Ten? I assumed one would be Mike Sanzere (?), but apparantly he was here on Monday. I hope this does not turn into a "the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know" situation.
 

the reffing at some of these games has been very inconsistant
 

In addition to to Sanzere, I've seen Hightower & Valentine do Big Ten games, and the other two refs with Sanzere vs. Virginia were recognizable. I hope they didn't get rid of Steve Welmer.
 

SelectionSunday said:
In addition to to Sanzere, I've seen Hightower & Valentine do Big Ten games, and the other two refs with Sanzere vs. Virginia were recognizable. I hope they didn't get rid of Steve Welmer.
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Agreed. Welmer is the best official in the country. I don't see how/why he would be one of the refs not asked to come back.

Sanzere is terrible. The "oops I was going to call a charge but changed my mind to a block when the players started complaining" Jarvis Hayes 3-pt play call vs. Georgia in 2003 was one of the more befuddling calls I've ever seen.
 

Count me in the camp that thinks Sanzere is a weak official. Though, to be fair, I thought the crew vs. Virginia was fine.
 


SelectionSunday said:
Count me in the camp that thinks Sanzere is a weak official. Though, to be fair, I thought the crew vs. Virginia was fine.
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Agree SS. It was not the refs in the VA game, our guys played a crappy 2nd half and Tubby will make sure that they pull their heads out of their arses. I have been a proctologist, now retired, who has seen unenviable evidence of heads there. So then, what would we do? The best line I heard from one of my former patients was..."please tell my wife that you did not find my head up there!"
 


Welmer

Bummer. If the Facebook page is correct, it looks like Steve decided to hang it up. For some reason Welmer is one guy I've always wanted to introduce myself before a game, shake his hand & thank him for the great job he does with college basketball.

Long live Steve Welmer, as he joins Tommy Rucker on the Big Ten basketball official retirement sidelines.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Bummer. If the the Facebook page is correct, it looks like Steve decided to hang it up. For some reason Welmer is one guy I've always wanted to introduce myself before a game, shake his hand & thank him for the great job he does with college basketball.

Long live Steve Welmer, as he joins Tommy Rucker on the sidelines.
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I thought Welmer was one of the best, too. Always let them play, and kept the game under control. I didn't read the facebook, but I do recall that he had some health problems the last year or two, dealing with injuries and such. I wonder if that was part of it.

If he is really done, someone needs to do a story on him. He may have been the most famous face in college basketball that wasn't a coach. He was on TV almost every night. And he was a good official. A rarity in the Big Ten.
 



That's too bad. The NCAA needs more officials like Welmer - guys/gals who do a quality job while at the same time not acting like they're the main attraction of the game (Eddie H, please pay attention to that last attribute).
 

Welmer's injury a couple years ago

Not 100% certain, but I think he tore his achilles heal a couple years ago. That's gotta' be a tough injury to recover from, especially a guy his age & size.
 

theres a comment on the facebook that he was in IN for a game on the 16th of Nov. perhaps he was just done with being a sun belt guy? just big 10 perhaps?

googling him theres a stats site that shows hes done a bunch of games so far
 

Good point. I hope you're right. It does seem like I just saw him on TV a couple nights ago.
 



Doug Gottlieb said on the Mizzou-Georgetown broadcast that Welmer injured his knee a week or two ago and decided to retire. He's been battling injuries for 3 years.

He was the best Big Ten official. If memory serves, he was a former Evansville player back in the day.

I wonder what refs won't be back. I sure hope to see less of Tom O'Neal, Zelton Stead, Donnie Grey, Mike Sansere, Rick Hartsell, Tim Higgins, and Ted Valentine.

Would like to see more of JD Collins, John Higgins, Jamie Luckie, Mark Whitehead, and Steve Olson.
 




Too bad about Steve Welmer. Like Hodger, I'd love to shake hands and thank him for the great job he always does. Big refs like me could do worse than trying to pattern their games after him.

I have a hard time accepting official's criticism from someone who is not a ref and doesn't know what to be looking for. I could talk all day about that.

That being said, I agree with everyone here in that Eddie the Eagle is one official I'd like to see fewer and fewer of.
 

GopherRock said:
Too bad about Steve Welmer. Like Hodger, I'd love to shake hands and thank him for the great job he always does. Big refs like me could do worse than trying to pattern their games after him.

I have a hard time accepting official's criticism from someone who is not a ref and doesn't know what to be looking for. I could talk all day about that.

That being said, I agree with everyone here in that Eddie the Eagle is one official I'd like to see fewer and fewer of.
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Thanks for chiming in Rock. To my knowledge, you are the only ref who posts here regularly and your insight is helpful, objective and welcome.
 

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