Big Ten won't comment on injured referee

By MARK SNYDER
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

It is uncertain when Big Ten official Jim Burr, who left the Michigan-Michigan State game with an injury late in the first half Tuesday night, will return to the floor.

Big Ten coordinator of officials Rich Falk wrote in an e-mail today that it is Big Ten policy not to comment “on his injury or how long he will be out.”

“We, of course, hope he is well enough to return soon,” Falk wrote.

Burr's absence left Ed Corbett and Antonio Petty to finish the game, including the decisive, final-play alley-oop, on which TV replays showed Michigan forward DeShawn Sims’ jersey being held. Sims missed, no call was made, and MSU won by a point.

“I thought, on the way in, I probably should have questioned it, but I didn’t think so; I didn’t see anything,” U-M coach John Beilein said after the game. “The tape will show more. But under the circumstances, the crew did a great job with two men. Certianly, who know if the third guy was there, if they would have seen more than they saw? I’m sure I’ll see things on film, so will Tom (Izzo). But the crew did their best.”

The difference between two and three officials can be dramatic or inconsequential, Beilein said.

“It depends on people’s style of play,” he said. “I also coached a long time when there were only two of them. Sometimes that third official might not be calling anything anyhow, or sometimes he might be trying to control the game, you don’t know. But losing Jim Burr, you do not want to lose him in any game. There are some other games that I would have liked to lose a guy like that, but not Jim Burr.”

Incidentally, Burr has officiated Michigan this season more than any other team (seven), according to statsheet.com.

Contact MARK SNYDER: 313-223-3210 or msnyder@freepress.com.