Head of Pac-12 officiating resigns

Being an official or a referee is not an easy job. It's very easy to make a mistake in any job and when your job is to officiate spots and you make a mistake, it doesn't go unnoticed. Being the person who is in charge of making sure those officials do accurate work can't be a very easy job either and as of Wednesday night, it's no longer Tony Corrente's. Corrente resigned from his position as the Pac-12 Coordinator of Football Officiating, according to the conference.

Pac-12 officials have long been criticized. Corrente joined the conference in 2011 in an attempt to clean up the issues. While the overall officiating product may be better, a series of blown calls this season have cast a negative microscope on Pac-12 officiating once again. Resignation doesn't always mean resignation. That word is frequently used as a bow on a package of garbage to mask a person being fired. That may not be the case in this situation, however, at least according to Jon Wilner.

Talked to Pac-12 source: Corrente’s resignation caught league by surprise; not forced out; conf had been hoping to extend contract. #Pac12

— Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) October 9, 2014

The immediate solution to the move was for the Pac-12 to promote Jim Blackwood to interim coordinator. The conference will hire a new coordinator in the offseason. Blackwood will be first, but soon someone else will be tasked with fixing what might be an unfixable problem. Officiating is a thankless profession that requires thick skin and a lot of work to move up the chain while slogging through low paying gigs. How many people set out to become football officials? Of those, how many of the really talented ones stick with it long enough to rise to the collegiate level? The conference has in the neighborhood of 50 officials and competes with the other college conferences and the NFL for a talent pool. That pool is made up of people who call football games on the side. Even Corrente had another job, continuing to work as a NFL on-field official.

This won't be the first change at the top of Pac-12 officiating. Mike Pereira tried to implement changes to fix it before the job went to Corrente. Dave Cutaia held the job before that. Pac-12 officiating was much maligned then and it is much maligned now. Will Blackwood or the next coordinator change things? Probably not. But hey, maybe if you shuffle the cards enough you'll eventually turn up an ace.

Football:

Top Pac-12 football official resigns - ESPN
In the wake of a tumultuous couple of weeks for Pac-12 officials, the league's coordinator of football officiating has resigned. The Pac-12 announced Tony Corrente's resignation in a release Wednesday night, citing personal and professional reasons.

Cougars finish final practice before Stanford - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - Oct. 8, 2014

It's only Wednesday but the Cougars have already finished the week's practices save for tomorrow's walk-through. The short week also means that today was Thursday Night Football for the young players who mostly won't be making the trip to the Bay Area.

Washington State (2-4) at (25) Stanford (3-2) (ET) | College Football | Columbus Ledger Enquirer

An unstoppable force will meet an immovable object on Friday night, as the aerial assault of Washington State matches up with the defensive might of the Stanford Cardinal.

Halliday thrives in Washington State’s free-wheeling system - SFGate

Before 2012, Washington State’s first season under head coach Mike Leach, there was a difficult initiation period. As senior quarterback Connor Halliday describes it, "That offseason was awful, the things we had to go through."

Stanford, hosting WSU on Friday, can’t dwell on loss to Irish - SFGate

Stanford’s players had gotten over the loss at Notre Dame by the time they returned to California, according to head coach David Shaw.

Cougars receiver Vince Mayle has made tremendous progress - Spokesman.com - Oct. 9, 2014

Many young athletes dream of playing professional sports while growing up. Practically none of them pass the athletic litmus test to have a shot.

Recruiting:

Gonzaga DB Marcus Lewis talks Washington State visit, reopening recruitment - The Washington Post

"I loved it, a lot of people will probably be surprised," Lewis said of his trip to the Cougars’ Pullman, Wash. campus. "It’s a nice school and the campus and football facilities are tops in the country. I think next to Oregon, they’re the best I’ve seen."

Soccer:

Washington State Soccer Returns Home - Washington State University Official Athletic Site

Washington State (7-1-2, 2-1-0 Pac-12) plays its first Pac-12 Conference matches at home this season when it host Arizona and Arizona State