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Jim Delany, Doing His Best To Sabotage The Big Ten Since 2009

Sep 24, 2009, 9:00 PM UTC

â†µIn the aftermath of Tate Forcier ascending to the ceiling of theâ†µSistine Chapel by leading a dramatic game-winning drive against Notre Dame,â†µCharlie Weis made sure everyone knew he wasn’tâ†µcomplaining about the officiating, but he saw Armando Allen’s recalledâ†µtouchdown “thousands” of times and couldn’t discern whether heâ†µstepped out or not, and oh by the way all those holding calls were bogusâ†µand one of Michigan’s players punched one of our warrior-poets. But he’sâ†µnot complaining. â†µ

â†µâ†µAbsolutely noâ†µâ†µone boughtâ†µany of this this, especially the last bit about the punch, except Bigâ†µTen commissioner Jim Delany. Delany’s never met an opportunity toâ†µembarrass himself and his conference in public that he didn’t like. (Rememberâ†µwhen he releasedâ†µa letter claiming the SEC’s academic standards were wack? Even ifâ†µthat’s true, you’re the commissioner of the Big Ten. You’re notâ†µsupposed to say anything except “we like the Rose Bowl.”) Heâ†µtook the unprecedented step of suspending Jonas Mouton for the Easternâ†µMichigan game. He did this on Thursday at 4 p.m., after Michigan hadâ†µfinished its practices for the week, and issued a statement aboutâ†µMouton’s act “not having any place in football” when similarâ†µthings happen in about 50 percent of games every weekend. â†µ

â†µâ†µRodriguez was annoyed, obviously, and wanted to make sure his teamâ†µwas not singled out for approbation, so he saidâ†µthis:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“I will tell you my conversation with the commissioner, we will watchâ†µâ‡¥every Big Ten game very closely and every non-football act, a six-inchâ†µâ‡¥jab or anything that is not called for in the game of football, we’reâ†µâ‡¥going to ask that that person gets the same type of punishment thatâ†µâ‡¥Jonas Mouton got,” Rodriguez said. “I’m sure the league would doâ†µâ‡¥that.”â†µâ†µâ†µThen Purdue offensive lineman Zach Reckman did this on the last playâ†µof Purdue’s loss to Northern Illinois:â†µ

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â†µGuy is down, game is over, and that’s a cheapshot. Should it draw aâ†µone-game suspension? Absolutely not. But it did, because of Delany’sâ†µaforementioned knack for horrible PR. Danny Hope is â†µtickedâ†µoff.
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â†µâ†µâ‡¥“Well, really he [Rodriguez] should worry about his own team,” Hopeâ†µâ‡¥said Sunday. “I didn’t think Zach Reckman’s play at the end of the gameâ†µâ‡¥was all that vicious. ... I’m sure it’s going to be brought up and we’llâ†µâ‡¥address it. I don’t think he should have gone in there and jumped onâ†µâ‡¥that guy at the end of the play, but maybe he was hoping the ball wouldâ†µâ‡¥come loose. He was just trying to give us a chance to win.”â†µâ†µâ†µGuess who Purdue’s got this weekend? Notre Dame. Charlie Weis’sâ†µpetulant post-game (not) complaining, which challenged theâ†µprofessionalism of the Big Ten’s referees and was rewarded by theâ†µconference’s commissioner, came around to get a Purdue offensive lineâ†µstarter suspended. This karma, Jim Delany. It is telling you to neverâ†µsay anything to the media again. â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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