Make that 12 bowl games in a row.
Bill LeMonnier, USA Football's Officiating Consultant, has been selected to officiate the Liberty Bowl on Jan. 2 in Memphis. LeMonnier has been a Big Ten Conference official for 15 years, and it's the 12th year in a row in which he's been picked to work a bowl game.
"I've been fortunate," said LeMonnier, who will see East Carolina meet Kentucky (4 p.m. CST, ESPN). "I thought the crew had a real nice year. We had some tough, challenging games. It's the 50th anniversary of the Liberty Bowl, and I'm certainly proud to be a part of that. There's a lot of tradition and history that goes along with it."
LeMonnier is making some history himself as one of the top-flight officials in the nation, as his selection signifies. It's no easy feat to make a bowl game officiating staff. Only officials that are rated among the best in the nation by officiating observers, supervisors of officials and college coaches make the cut.
"Each conference is allotted so many bowl games for its officials," said LeMonnier, who will serve as head referee at the Liberty Bowl. "And you can only work neutral sites. You can't work in a bowl game involving a team from your conference."
LeMonnier's schedule of games this season included these gems: Illinois-Missouri, Ohio State-Wisconsin, Purdue-Notre Dame and Ohio State-Michigan.
"The year went by fast. That's probably a sign that things are going real well," LeMonnier said.
LeMonnier, also an Arena Football League official, will add to a list of postseason games that includes three Fiesta Bowls, two Orange Bowls and a Cotton Bowl, among many others. That includes the 43-42 trick play thriller in overtime that saw Boise State shock Oklahoma in the 2007 BCS championship game.
"I've been blessed to have worked a lot of great games," LeMonnier said. "I've talked to some officials who have worked the Liberty Bowl and they say the hospitality and how you get treated down there in Memphis is fantastic. It should be a good trip."
LeMonnier has had East Carolina as a participant twice in bowl games, most recently in the 2001 GMAC Bowl against Marshall. In that game, Byron Leftwich (Marshall) and David Garrard (East Carolina) squared off at quarterback. Down 38-8, Leftwich rallied Marshall to a 64-61 thriller in double overtime.
"We thought the teams had switched uniforms at halftime," LeMonnier joked. "Those are a couple of quarterbacks who went on to have outstanding success. That means you're getting to the end of your career when you have a lot of good memories."
In the meantime, LeMonnier will continue working to be the best he can be at his profession. Even if coaches sometimes disagree with him and show it in their postgame ratings.
"The guy who wins, you'll do OK with," LeMonnier said. "You don't do as well with the guy who loses. We never see the ratings. Some people say the coaches shouldn't even be doing the ratings, but it's a way for them to have some say, some involvement, maybe vent. I think it all balances out in the end."
Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
