ESPN remains ignorant about conflict of interest

According to a few other folks in the blogosphere, ESPN analyst Craig James has been pulled from the broadcast booth for the Alamo Bowl following allegations that his son was disrespected by Texas Tech coach Mike Leach.

But why was he ever scheduled to be part of this broadcast team?

For some reason, ESPN doesn't grasp the concept of a conflict of interest. Having James provide analysis for a game that includes his son is simply wrong. The WWL has ignored this simple contest many times, including allowing Lou Holtz to broadcast his son's games at East Carolina.

Leach has been suspended for the game, but his lawyer is fighting to get him back on the sidelines for Saturday's game against Michigan State.

James was supposed to work with play-by-play man Mike Patrick and sideline reporter Heather Cox. ESPN made the right call, just a little too late.

Pac-10 catches SEC ref fever

It is now the Pac-10's turn to suspend an official (or officials). Following the footsteps of the SEC, the Pac-10 isn't naming names, but league representatives have said the following about Taylor Mays' decapitation of Oregon State's James Rodgers:

“Our members expect a high level of officiating in all our sports and the Conference office shares that expectation. We have taken this action in light of the blatant and dangerous nature of the missed call. We have full confidence in our highly trained and qualified staff of football officials, but they, like the coaches and players, are accountable and must meet the high expectations placed upon them.”

Suspension may be the right call, but let's not forget these guys are not like Major League umpires. There's no union and just a weekly paycheck. Sure, most of them have other jobs, but this is a cut in pay. We all want them to do a better job, but they are also human.