Oh how I hate the Big 10

If you know me well, you know that I hate the Big 10 with a passion. Especially Big 10 football. No one in the conference ever plays anyone of significance out of conference, and when they do it's generally at home. In both sports they have some of the greatest regular season upsets of all time: North Dakota State over Wisconsin in basketball, Appalachian State over Michigan at the big house in football. But this latest flap is absolutely the worst thing since Woody Hayes punched a player Bobby Knight choked a player Michigan had to vacate their back to back finals appearances with the Fab Five Maurice Clarett filed a false police report. Big 10 referee Stephen Pamon, who was the side judge for the biggest game of the year, Illinois at Ohio State, filed for bankruptcy in 2002 after piling up $492,407 in debt, much of which was owed to casinos. The rest of his rapsheet:

• He allegedly has gambled at casinos as far back as the 1980s, and a sister-in-law said gambling losses incurred by Pamon and Pamon's wife led to the couple filing for bankruptcy.
• In 1997, he was charged with repeatedly beating three of his girlfriend's four sons with an electrical cord. He told authorities he beat the boys three times.
• He allegedly was fired by the Chicago Police Department in 1996 after two female officers accused him of sexual harassment, according to published reports that cited law-enforcement officials as sources.
• One of Pamon's former wives accused him during a court hearing in 1994 of striking her and sexually assaulting her 19-year-old niece, according to court records.

These facts came to light after Purdue coach Joe Tiller complained about some calls from Pamon's crew during a November 3 game at Penn State. The Big 10 suspended the crew for the last week of the regular season, but they still refereed Ohio State's only loss, along with the biggest reason Illinois is in a BCS Bowl.

I can walk into any major chain electronics store in the United States right now and find at least 10 guys who can referee a football game. How can they not be a little more choosy in the Big 10? It absurdly easy to check if someone has filed for bankruptcy; it would seem to me that not owing six figures to casinos would be a desirable quality for someone who can easily determine the outcome of a game.