Versus Conference Punishes
The Pac-10 reprimanded Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh for his comments about the officiating during the Notre Dame game. Here is the statement:
Walnut Creek--Stanford head football coach Jim Harbaugh was reprimanded today by
Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen for public comments about the officiating in
Saturday's Stanford-Notre Dame game.
At his postgame media conference, Harbaugh criticized a second-quarter call in which
Stanford was flagged for failing to provide a Notre Dame player an unimpeded
opportunity to catch a punt. The penalty erased the recovery of the muffed punt by
Stanford.
"Pac-10 rules prohibit comments by a coach about officiating other than to the
Conference office. Coach Harbaugh violated that rule by publicly criticizing the
officials," Hansen said. "He and all other coaches must comply with the policies on
officiating."
"In addition, Pac-10 officials have reviewed video of the play and it is apparent the
Stanford player covering the punt impeded the Notre Dame player attempting to catch
it.
"The call was correct," he added. "NCAA playing rule 6-4-1 states in part 'A player of
the receiving team within the boundary lines must be given an unimpeded opportunity
to catch the kick.' Even though the player attempting to catch the kick was bumped by
his teammate, he still attempted to catch the kick and was impeded by the Stanford
player. The rule places the onus on the kicking team member to avoid impeding the
opportunity to catch the ball."
At least he didn't go Jim Harbaugh and say something like "I sure hope they didn't drive home after the game, because they were way above the legal limit when they made that call."
Welcome to South Bend Jimmy
Get used to it
Tom Hanson has got to be the only man in America with so little credibility that he would defend Pac-10 officiating. Pac-10 officials are horrendous and a laughing stock throughout college football. I can't think of a single good thing to say about them.