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They showed [well parts of anyway..]the classic 1966 war between Notre Dame and Michigan..possibly the oldest football game you will ever see on TV..First before getting on topic,it was amazing of the number of quality pro players that came out of that game: Bubba Smith, Rocky Bleier, Alan Page, Terry Hanratty, Gene Washington..and to get this ON topic, working at back judge in only his first full season as a Big Ten official: Jerry Markbreit!** Now for some observations:
1. Boy was the game better then! No fifty million commercial timeouts...it just SEEMS like that crew was moving at double time-setting that ball,and winding that play clock...what a nice pace that game had! Especially after sitting through an afternoon of 3 1/2 hour NFL garbage....
2. I know the Big Ten is a conservative league,after all they were the last major conference to go to ref mics,and probably the last to have their officials identified by position...BUT in 1966 their officials were STILL only raising one arm or pointing to signal a score..with only the R raising both arms..VERY strange to see...and oh yes....everyone bending WAY low while indicating incomplete passes or refused penalties
3. To show you how diluted the bowl thing is nowadays- Michigan State went 9-0-1...ND went 9-0-1 that year..and neither went to a bowl! That was in the middle of ND's 'no bowl' policy and The Big Ten's 'You can't go to a bowl two years in a row' policy...can you imagine THAT today???
I only wish ESPN had extended the program slot to 3 hours so we could have seen the whole game AND have the interviews with Rocky Bleier...and maybe an interview with Markbreit too! Ill bet they didnt evenrealize he was there...he surely is as recognizable to people today as Bubba or Bleier these days! Was very strange to see him working that game....as it is strange whenever Classic reruns any of the Ohio State-Michigan games he worked ..or the Rose Bowl he worked or....
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