BIG TEN Commissioner still floating idea of instant replay

Jim Delany has allowed Penn State coach Joe Paterno more room to complain out of respect.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
CHICAGO -- Are instant replays in the Big Ten's football future?
Will league commissioner Jim Delany have better Monday mornings?
Perhaps the former will produce the latter.
This month has seen coaches rage as never before at perceived officiating injustices.
How bad is the problem? Delany said of the 800 or so plays in league games each week this season, there are 15 to 25 mistakes, about three to five per game. Last year, there were 12 to 26 mistakes a week.
"That's been the range for the last five years," he said. "Officials make mistakes in every game. Where you have close games, they stand out like a sore thumb."
And in the Big Ten's parity-rich upper division, soreness has reached TV highlight levels.
Not happy
"Am I happy that we've had close games and officials have had an impact?" Delany asked. "I am not."
The pattern has been set -- a crucial game (usually involving Penn State) comes down to the wire, officials blow a call or two that decide the outcome (usually against Penn State), coaches review film, supervisors review officials and, come Monday morning, all heck breaks loose (usually from Penn State).
"We've had a lot of confidence in our officiating program," Delany said. "We don't enjoy the same confidence that we had, and I take that personally. Not in a defensive way, but in that we'll do whatever we have to do to make it better."
While a more national officiating base might help, while "fast-tracking" talented young officials instead of waiting until they have a decade or two of experience could work, instant replay is the glamour solution.
Anyone who has seen the NFL's system knows it's not full proof.
Still, technology could provide an edge in an all-too human profession, although perhaps not as much as some might think. Delany said that of the 200 or so officiating mistakes in a conference season, probably 30 to 60 are review-able based on NFL standards.
"You can't review a non-call," he said.
The Big Ten floated the replay idea last spring and received little support, mostly because of cost. Delany said, "We had no more than two coaches and a couple of athletic directors supporting it." He estimated it would cost one million to two million dollars to implement, including personnel and equipment.
Proposal's strength
Expect a more solid proposal to come up next spring, although Delany said, "I think coaches will consider it, but I don't think it will be a slam dunk." The Big Ten would still need NCAA approval, which is not guaranteed.
Delany opened a Pandora's box when he allowed Penn State coach Joe Paterno to vent, although given Joe Pa's stature in the sport, he had little choice.
"Historically, by custom and by rule, it hasn't been OK," Delany said about public criticism of officials. "If anybody could be criticized, it's me for allowing some of it to happen. And I have allowed it to happen."
Why?
"Out of respect for a person who's been a great sportsman for 35 years. A person who is frustrated, and maybe justifiably so. If anybody has earned the benefit of the doubt, I think Paterno has."
For now, Delany is asking coaches to refrain from criticism, although he admitted that, "it would be very hard, having allowed what I've allowed over the last three weeks, to nick anybody."
He said he would continue to hold officials accountable, much as he did when he fired several for their mistake-filled performance during September's Purdue-Wake Forest game.
"Have we been too lenient?" he asked. "I think not. I know disciplinary actions have been taken, most privately, but some publicly.
The exception
"Officials have always made mistakes. I would never call out an official for making a mistake. I wouldn't call him out for making two mistakes. But in that particular case, they made many mistakes."
Delany has promised to review the league's officiating program that includes in-season video meetings each Wednesday and Friday night, technical advisers at each game, post-game evaluations and grading officials.