The league opted not to ask “TV Teddy” to come back.
The Big Ten has put “TV Teddy” on the bench.
Ted Valentine, the longtime referee better known for his on-court dramatics while officiating a game, has been told by the league he won’t be used this season.
The 60-year-old Valentine was disciplined after showing up North Carolina’s Joel Barry in a game last year, and was not assigned to an NCAA Tournament game.
And now this.
“I’ll miss the (Big Ten) coaches,” Valentine told Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune . “I’ll probably shed a tear when I see a couple of them… Izzo because he’s a funny dude and he has called me his friend. Bo Ryan was zany and cool and I understood him. Thad Matta, Gary Williams, Clem Haskins. I had Lou Henson’s last game. Gene Keady, Dr. Tom Davis.
“I was 26 years old when I started, and the Big Ten made me tough.”
The Big Ten removed Valentine from two games as a result of the Berry incident. It prompted him to even consider retirement. He’s done 28 NCAA Tournaments and 10 Final Fours in his career.
“Hey, it’s not my doing, not my choosing, but it is what it is. My body of work is what I stand for,” Valentine told the Chicago Tribune.
(Don’t worry, “TV Teddy” fans. You can still find him working ACC and SEC games.)
