The Purple Filter of Paterno
By Lake The Posts on
With tributes, commentary and questions being lobbied from all corners of the media, LTP attempts to take a purple perspective.
I’ve been putting off this post for several days. However, with services for Joe Paterno continuing throughout the week, the time feels appropriate. BTN is dedicating some significant airtime by airing tomorrow’s public service live at 2pm in their ongoing “Tribute to Joe” programs. You don’t need to be a New York Times op-ed reader to realize the opinions on Joe Paterno’s legacy are polarizing.
I have no doubt that some of you will take exception to words I write here today. The comments section will evolve in to a ping-pong match of varying opinions, disagreements and perspective. And that is a very good thing. I wrote on Sunday that the media coverage of Joe Paterno’s legacy will become one of the more interesting case studies in years to come. While you can distill it down to a simple angle of a lifetime of incredible good impacting thousands of people, one decision to be inactive has played a role in irreperable harm to several families. The irony, the tragedy of the man who seemingly practiced what he preached instilling the “success with honor” mantra, has had his legacy tainted by not practicing what he preached.
I’ve consumed quite a bit of the coverage. It ranges from the current ESPN coverage of the family and the dignitaries paying respect, which falls right from the Medill AP Style Guide approach, to the pontification of Bryant Gumbel to literally thousands of scripes with an opinion. You can even categorize the coverage simply by NU alums who are well represented in nearly every sports and news organization in the country. Take, for example, fellow alum, Jamie Samuelson, who was doing WNUR football play-by-play when Penn State entered the B1G. He writes for the Detroit Free Press and I could simply direct you to his blog here which I felt covered about 80% of what I wanted to hit upon. Samuelson digs in the contradiction within the legacy, praising the good and acknowledging the bad. He even ventures in to the “retirement” of Jerry Sandusky in 1999 and answers the question he poses of whether or not Joe knew what was going on. I think it is a good read.
But, I want to take this post in a slightly different tact. Just weeks before the Sandusky scandal broke, I was fielding all sorts of email and in-person questions from some pretty powerful folks seeking my opinion on whether or not Pat Fitzgerald would go to Penn State. We were in the middle of a 2-5 start to the season and my short-sightedness response was one that I thought it was risky for him. Fitz is still learning on the job and the Penn State expectations would be far less forgiving than they are at Northwestern. The essence of what Penn State folks were inquiring about had much more to do with “success with honor” than the wins and losses. This isn’t some type of marketing ploy, Penn State truly believed that Penn State did things the right way. They are proud of their top of the charts APR rankings – right behind Northwestern. Joe Paterno’s all-time wins total, pair of national titles and bowl appearances were built on a foundation of this approach.
You might think I’m forcing this perceived connection. I’m not. Just ask a Penn State fan. While Pat Fitzgerald has suffered some significant criticism for in-game decision-making and specific staff members, no one questions his brand ambassadorship for NU doing it the right way. Penn State fans I talk to love Fitz. Many wanted him to be JoePa’s successor. However, my fondest memory of JoePa had to do when Fitz was on the field as our linebacker.
The Penn State 1995 game at Ryan Field has become borderline mystical in my memory banks. The inadequate lighting for the ABC featured game was interrupted by a ref asking fans to sitdown as they were blocking the game clock. Keith Jackson was in the house and joked about the fact Dyche Stadium didn’t quite know how to accommodate a full house. It was the final stake of legitimacy in a season of felling historical giants like Notre Dame and Michigan. The darkness that would set in made Darnell Autry’s TDs seem like homers in the gloamin’. Yet, there was Penn State in their all white, no name on the back of the jersey iconic uniforms. And there was JoePa, sporting the black shoes and seemingly having a stage light cast on him as he paced the sidelines. You knew you’d be talking about this in 40 years the same way opponents to Alabama discuss how they say Bear Bryant in person – and beat him.
JoePa’s presence added pixie dust to the game, the win and the season. His postgame comments complimenting Northwestern as the better team and his respect was like water being thrown to fans in the Sahara desert looking to quench our need for respect. The ensuing Sports Illustrated cover featured Darnell Autry and sported “The Real Deal” headline at a time when being on the cover of SI still meant something big. But no one was bigger on that day than Fitz. Go back and watch the game. He put on a clinic and knew the play before the ball was snapped and consistently was in the backfield making tackles before the play got going. I believe it was his best game ever. During the past few years when Fitz began to roam the sidelines as our head man building “success with honor” for Northwestern, I’m always brought back to the context of time as JoePa hadn’t moved from his perch and Fitz had progressed to JoePa peer. The “JoePa of Northwestern” has been a phrase that is constantly brought up when periscoping down the future of Northwestern football. Right now, that line doesn’t feel so right. Perhaps that will change.
Fast forward 17 years and the governor of Pennsylvania has ordered flags to be at half mast and services fit for a king are underway. Some will point to the power and influence that JoePa earned through his honorable ways of building one of the most respected brands in sports as ultimately blinding his decision-making and leadership that led to his firing in the Sandusky debacle. For me, as an NU fan, it is a smack in the face reminder that we can never let the priorities of football get out of whack to where the man with a whistle has the ultimate say over the university.
You’ve heard the term “no one is bigger than the program”. Well, “no one is bigger than the school”. This past year of scandals has highlighted the cesspool that still exists since the stakes are so darn high. Blue chip athletic programs are ATM machines for the school and as president Schapiro always notes “the front porch to a university”. There is an addage that if you want a great academic school don’t go to a school where the football coach makes more than the university. Well, that truism is going to be tested as Northwestern tries to win the right way, balancing the act of trying to be elite without being elitist. Trying to compete at the highest level of collegiate sports by playing by the rules and testing the limits of academic requirements with the student body at a time when NU is breaking records for applications.
As long as Morty Schapiro is running the show, I’m confident we’ve got that perspective in place. It’s going to continue to get increasingly challenging with the stakes and dollars escalating. The temptation to rationalize a move here an indecision there and hope something can be swept under the rug to preserve reputation there. Let’s hope the good that JoePa has done can be separated from the bad that was caused by his lack of more action in the Sandusky situation. Let’s hope that we never lose perspective that football is not bigger than life. Easier said than done.
@LTP-
As you know, for my nickel, the greatest moment I’ve ever had at Ryan/Dyche was Darnell Autry going in for the TD against Penn State. Joe Pa was indeed gracious that night to Northwestern Football, as he had been and would be the balance of his career. That said, keeping the Northwestern filter on this topic, I remember thinking that night in 95– that NU Football had arrived at the Top 25 level in earnest, and while some ups and downs might exist in the years to come, NEVER, would I have thought more than 15 years later– the program and many fans and “pretty powerful people” as you call them, would be accpeting of mediocrity and still debating Northwestern’s capability to field a Top 25 level football program given academic standards and commitment to intellectual pursuit by student athletes…
Net/net, Northwestern Football is capable of more in every aspect related to the football program– and all the powers that be, from President Schapiro, to Dr. Phillips, to the young man being afforded, as you call it , “on the job training”, need to step up and get the program back where it was when Paterno and the country et al were in awe… All the excuses and “get em next year” stuff is acceptance of losing and embracing mediocrity… Hopium only goes so far including at the ticket window…
thank you, summed up perfectly
Refresh my memory concerning those heady days of the mid-90s when mediocrity was no longer tolerated. Yes, two Big 10 Champs in a row (and two bowl losses), followed by three losing seasons, an 8-4 Co-Champ in a down Big 10 year (Bowl total smackdown loss), followed by 4 more cruddy seasons (yes, one 6-6 bowl appearance — LOSS). We remember Saint Gary so fondly, yet he never won a bowl game, and couldn’t field a winning team after the two great memorable years.
Yes, these current four consecutive bowl seasons of “mediocrity” pale in comparison to those days when mediocrity was not tolerated.
And, yes, I was one of those who checked “livid.” But let’s not pretend there was sustained excellence in the mid-90s or that the standard was higher. There were two great seasons (no bowl wins) that were not sustained. Under the standard being applied to Fitz, Barnett should have been on the way out after two losing seasons (or at least on the hotseat) before he left for Colorado. And the losing 1999 season after he left would have sealed his fate had he stayed.
Net/Net we should all be thankful that the DT/DB Mutual Admiration Society continues to beat the drum on a sometimes twice-daily basis that mediocrity is unacceptable.
If you were on the dock after the Army game and saw the look on people’s faces (including Schapiro’s), I’d hope you’d think twice about accusing any true Wildcat fan of “cavalier indifference” to losing… even those of us who happen to take into account the real-world limitations that hinder our efforts.
Keep on unduly dominating this board, shouting essentially that we should be ashamed at our inability to re-invent the wheel. Who cares that a true academic institution has never had sustained D1 football success in the modern era? We are NU and market conditions don’t apply to us. Right?
DT and I hardly agree on everything, in fact I think we have probably had more sqabbles than agreed. DT believes there is a coach out there that is a better, longer-term answer than Fitz and I do not. DT feels that it is marketing’s job to keep other colors out of Dyche, while I think that is a foregone conclusion given we have the only destination location in the conference and alumni of other schools dominate Chicago. DT rails on Phillips and hates the lifetime extension for Fitz, and I don’t mind either given any school would hire Phillips tomorrow, and Fitz would walk before he held up his alma mater for 5 years. DT said this was a 6 win team coming into this year, and I thought that was ludicrous. I disagree with him, but I do respect those opinions and his right to post them.
And by the way, his takes are exactly what you want on a message board, and actually in a fan base. If everyone had the lame take you do – that we are resigned to mediocrity, accept everything, be sad about losses but awe shucks – where would this ever lead? What would we ever talk about? Why would we even watch?
I do think the school thinks/believes it is building football the right way. It has embraced the limitations that you reference. We could argue about academic leniency all day but lets just assume that doesn’t happen. I think the frustration part is when we see fixable things out there being ignored, we don’t want to slide backwards. There is no case – practical or impractical – to change football coaches, but how can you not debate the topic? What are fans supposed to do? Dt is cutting edge, but why can’t we all critique intent…
I am afraid that football turns into basketball – where literally NO ONE cares. I don’t care if Schapiro rips off his shirt at midcourt and goes Byrdsong, NO ONE cares. How do I know? Because there arent 20 people that comment regularly. Because we have a team that not only has never made the tournament, they have never even been a bubble team! And NO ONE cares.
Why again do you think it is impossible to make a single NCAA tournament? I know you think we shouldn’t aspire to it, but why do you think it cant happen? If we make the NIT this year it will be 4 years in a row – and that’s with no size, a razor thin roster, injuries, horrible scheduling…with that as a backdrop, and all of the changes in collegiate regulations / practicalities noted in a previous post, we absolutely can make a tournament every 4 years, and shame on us if we don’t expect it, you know?
@db-
I would clarify my point with marketing is not to keep the other teams fans out as such, as much as to create a demand and value prop in a market of 6 million+ potential new NU Fans– where say Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and as we will soon witness, Nebraska fans find it more difficult to purchase tickets given folks in Purple and Black using them… Agree to disagree on this one as well…
Pretty accurate on your take per the other elements of my manifesto! Where do you stand on June Jones and Mike Leach! L ;-) enough…
Peace-
@DT – thank you for starting the comment section this way…I dont have the energy or stomach to read more of the garbage coming out of sportswriters’ mouths on the topic. Glen Mason is the latest piece of garbage on the heap.
If you want to read a good article on the topic though:
http://www.startribune.com/sports/137864548.html
Per @DT – I agree, and demanding excellence would be nice, but if we can’t even get a grown-up D backs coach, should we really be thinking bigger? Don’t we have to start with a step more achievable? Our f’ing bball program is the joke of D1 and we can’t even get a new coach there…
@db-
Great question… At this point, despite what LTP and other like minded folks might say, I don’t feel the powers that be, related to either football or basketball are dedicated to winning at any significant level. The network television and BTN bucks roll in either way… Really, I don’t want to go down the path of discussing Jerry Brown again, in that he is a nice man, who many have justifiably been calling for getting a pink slip dating back to the late 90′s… We could discuss Hankwitz again, or for that matter, McCall on the “O” side and the matter of his earnest capability beyond the development of QB’s… Much like yourself ( I think it was…) I question why Evan Watkins was ever recruited for instance and why they thought a kid with his skill set could go seamless into a spread ala what happened when Danny went down last year… All this stuff would seem to have coaching implications, and to my way of thinking after six years, this so called, “on the job training” with The Head Coach should be over, particulary at 1.5 miliion+ per year… Anyway, I feel your pain and respect your candor.. Northwestern should as well… On that basis, my input would be to keep callin’ it the way you see it related to both football and hoops… About the only thing we can do as fans is to voice concern and call them out where need be… The problem for years, was either way to much Kool Aid or cavalier indifference in the fanbase… I would say, as many comments (and the 53% of folks who answered the LTP poll indicating they were “livid” with the direction of the football program) here indicate, folks can and will voice opinions and demand earnest attempts and leadership from Schapiro and Phillips. To my way of thinking, all starts with those two guys… Fitz and Carmody serve at their approval…
LTP, I really appreciate this– it’s a thoughtful take on the whole situation. What happened at Penn State I think has made a lot of us rethink our Northwestern fandom, but even though the scandal is several months old now, in a lot of ways it still feels too raw to reach any real conclusions.
I am astonished, however, that others could take “Let’s hope that we never lose perspective that football is not bigger than life” and turn it into a rehash of the same grievances that people have been talking about non-stop since the bowl game. I’m not sure if that says more about me or about them.
What does this even mean? We have had a discussion all week on a previous post about this bastard and the implications of psu. You cared so much about the topic that you commented zero times.
I’m exhausted from listening to the garbage being spewed on this topic. No one read the presentment, no one knows the facts of what we know and don’t even though they are readily available, everyone references a rush to judgment (actually, confirmed with his own sworn testimony) or some good, some bad nonsense (actually, he covered up a child rape scandal for years). It has become a tired subject, and I thought @dt took it in a legit direction, as like I said, we already had a discussion about it and no one has said anything there for days.
Implying absolutely nothing about our coach whatsoever, this situation is completely applicable to us. People trust fitz unequivocally. Maybe not because he built a library, hid arrests, and stuffed kids grades thru the system for 60 years. But because he was the best defensive football player we have ever seen play college football on our field. Because of that, he can do what he wants. No changes to a coaching staff that is screaming for help? Sure, coach knows best. Call timeouts for no reason? Oh give him a pass! Be ill prepared for a running qb getting hurt and thus destroying a season? Boy, bad luck!
Obviously these situations arent directly analogous to psu, but i think that’s where ltp was going with this, and why I liked dt’s angle. Whats the use in discussing everything else, again? We have some hero worship right in front of us. Not necessarily bad, but when it obstructs simple decisions I guess it’s worth kicking around.
You want something to worry about? How about fitz’s hero worship of a guy who let down kids? The pictures of his kids with Paterno on his Facebook page. How would one of the 50 victims feel if they saw those pics? How do we as a community feel about the face of our organization not only leaving the trail in late jan to pay his respects to this fraud, but also go over the top in his praise and admiration for the guy that let so may kids down?
Like I said, I’m exhausted
No one wants to touch this one huh? Ltp, how do u feel abt the face of northwestern’s continued tribute to a guy that at best turned his back on kids?
Hey, Dozer-
Since I’m among “others”- here, let me assure you I don’t feel football is bigger than life… I’d also ad, until NU can win a bowl game and the basketball team qualifies for the NCAA Tourney, probably with a new coach- many here will be expressing views and opinions related to NU sports that might not sync up with yours, shocked as you might be in the context or repetitive nature.
Bottom line, I for one have nothing to ad about the Penn State situation or legacy of Joe Paterno that has not been broached and disected twenty ways to Saturday in various forms of media, social and otherwise including Lake The Posts… I took an element of LTP’s blog comments and framed it for some type response. A conversation with another good fan in db started, and away we go… This is an NU fan site and the scope of what LTP broached was far beyond the little slice of altruism you are running to the endzone with in this case as a champion of virtue. Have at it…
DT, I’d never call myself a champion of virtue, and you certainly should feel free to put whatever spin you’d like on all of this. It just strikes me as a bit of a leap for people to go from thoughts on the life and legacy of Joe Paterno to which assistants should or shouldn’t be fired. I honestly don’t see the connection.
I hope that’s not too embracing of mediocrity, or whatever it is that fans like me are doing wrong. Perhaps winners take a different attitude than I do.
Will never forget that game!
RIP Jo Pa
I would say based on this we are not even accepting mediocrity, maybe the facilities plan is a can of paint and some new signs….
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/24/4210825/bmo-harris-bank-hits-the-court.html
Joe Pa´s legacy:
He was a super coach. But he was not super human.
What Joe Pa did or did not do in 1998, 2002, and thereafter regarding the allegations and suspicions surrounding Sandusky, and risks to children, confirm Joe Pa´s ordinary humanness.
The reality is, he did or did not do exactly what the majority of us probably would have or not have done if we had walked in his shoes at those times. But, and it´s a big ¨but,¨ this is not to say that this would have been right.
The right thing, of course, for the sake of children potentially at risk, Joe Pa should have called public police, independent from the university. He, with his enormous status and power, should have had Sandusky banned from campus and having connections or contacts with athletics at the school.
Yes, the safety of children should have come first and the best interests of the university and its football program, second at best.
But the human thing that the majority of us likely would done would have been exactly what Joe Pa did or did not do……..go with the flow. It´s so easy to get caught up in the seemingly transcendent importance of an institution that you have served and revered for x years. It can blind as to you as to morality. Again, you go with the flow and go along to get along. You don´t make waves.
Sure, each of us would like to think that we would have been in a screaming minority that for the sake of kids would have publicly blown the whistle. But how can any of us possibly know that for sure. We cannot.
Finally, Penn State does not stand alone in having permitted, for the sake of its football program, its values to become distorted. Though not involving the gravity of sexual abuse of children, there are other schools that place their football programs on pedestals of untouchability. . . they make their programs only minimally accountable for wrongs against the public. But in all the clamor about PSU and Joe Pa, no one has said beans about these other schools and their immoral protective policies.
But back to Joe Pa:
To sum up, he was not super-human. Because of this, he was caught up in Penn State´s institutional godliness and made a humongous-human mistake in judgment.
It was morally wrong and could have resulted in the abuse of children that would not have happened but for his mistake.
But may God forgive him, because in all other respects he was a wonderful person.
Um, no. Paterno walked by that monster for 10-15 years, every day, and didn’t do jack. If that was his kid in the shower, or his grand kid, or frankly anyone he gave a rat’s ass about, he would have done something about it. Period. But he didn’t care about the kid, he cared about his program and legacy, and swallowed the whistle.
Your notion that we all would have done the same? Holy crap I hope not. I think you might be able to apply that twisted logic to mcqueary when he heard rhythmic slapping and saw a boy being anally raped and didn’t physically confront him. Everyone says they would have jumped Sandusky in that shower, but like you said who knows what we do at a single moment of duress.
But Paterno didn’t make a single mistake. He consciously avoided telling the police for 15 years that he had knowledge of kids being raped. He saw sandusky daily in those facilities and did nothing, every time. That is vulgar, disgusting and reprehensible. I hope his library was built with asbestos and they have to tear it down some day.
Stop making excuses for him. He was a guy who in his biggest moment failed, and that failure cost children their lives. He did nothing because they meant nothing to him, they were just shrapnel. And high graduation rates and libraries don’t balance out on my scale of justice, when the other side is facilitating child rape.
This doesn’t even touch on the other stuff that hasn’t been proven yet, like sandusky’s sudden removal from his job, like the former AG and current governor burying the investigation, like oh by the way, everyone in a senior admin position at psu burying this, like the chairman of the bot at psu not reading the presentment for 24 hours (wonder why mr garban, maybe because you had an idea as to what it would say?)
In any event, I thought my confidence in the human condition had been shaken to its core by all the people lauding this con man, this fraud. But if you think we all would have buried that info, you my friend have even a lower opinion of people and what we are capable of.
+1!!!! thumbs way up for your commentary!!!!!
Wow DB……Well said….disgusting it was….for us that have kid’s maybe it hits home a lot more………When people think of Penn St for years to come they won’t think about football…..
If anyone is interested in reading a big boy article on the topic, have at it:
http://www.startribune.com/sports/137864548.html
But thank you to the rip joe pa comment above. I didn’t know Ashton kutcher waxed poetic on this blog.
Thank you-excellent link
@Memory Lane-
Trust me when I say, I’d never advocate the Vatican canonize Gary Barnett. My last recollection of Gary as NU Head Coach, was sitting in Honolulu where his 98 team that finished 0-8 in The Ten, was trying to end the season with a win against a UH Team in the throws of a 19 game losing streak (I think it was…) in what would be his last game at NU. On that basis alone, I’d agree with you that sustained excellence as you call it, did not continue in terms of W-L… Obviously, the events that took place over the next few weeks pursuant to Barnett’s leaving NU, stained a legacy that included possibly the greatest coaching job and turnaround in the history of college football all things considered.
That said, you have selective memory if you don’t think a higher standard of performance for the football program existed under Gary Barnett. Let’s not forget, NU had not had a winning season going into 1995, since 1971. Further, the last bowl game NU appeared in, was the venerable 49 Rose Bowl… I’ll save you any more obvious historical footnotes sans to say NU’s most notable gridiron achievements the previous 30 years were the Streak and glib elitism of the You will work for us someday crowd, while NU was getting its head handed to them by just about any Big Ten program in that era… Then, this guy from Mizzou/Colorado comes in, tells the student body he is taking the school colors to The Rose Bowl, and engages us as fans, (and the few of us who were season ticket holders) to Expect Victory… The guy does just that, going 15-1 over two years and Back to Back Conference Championships… I’m still hurting on the bowl losses by the way… The next seven in far less competitve environments no less still sting as well via subsequent Head Coaches.
Net/net, Gary Barnett saved NU Football, made it relevant, and proved NU could play at the highest levels in the modern age- utilizing earnest student athletes. There are no upgrades at
Dyche Stadium, indoor facilities, recruits for Randy Walker enabling the 2000 team, and more relevant today, Pat Fitzgerald- the player or Coach without him…
Please remember that….
DT:
I graduated from NU before Barnett arrived so I am well aware of how things were before he arrived. I am not trying to take away from his near miracle turnaround of the program in 1995-1996. However, if we take Barnett as the exemplar of “Expect Victory” or “Never Accept Mediocrity,” then why was he unable to post a winning season after 1996? I don’t expect anyone to win Big 10 Championships every year at NU, but he wasn’t even posting bowl-eligible seasons after 1996. If all that is needed to succeed at NU is a very good coach that won’t accept mediocrity, and we accept that Barnett fit both categories, why couldn’t he field a winning team his last two years (and the next three years, led by largely Barnett recruits, had one winning year out of three)?
Is it possible, just possible, that Barnett had one or two recruiting classes where he won the jackpot in terms of players ending up much better than projected? I don’t recall Autry, Schnur, Fitzgerald, Bates, Martin, etc. being highly regarded recruits, yet Autry was a Heisman finalist, Fitzgerald a two-time A-A (and two-time Nat’l Defensive Player of the Year), Bates played pro ball, etc. If it was just Barnett’s keen recruiting eye, he should have been able to sustain at least winning seasons, but he didn’t.
Fitz, on the other hand, who so many want at least on the hotseat, if not gone, has put together a good run of 4 Bowl appearances. Barnett didn’t accomplish this, Walker didn’t either. I am not accepting non-BCS bowl loss seasons as the standard for greatness, but I don’t call this accepting mediocrity either. Fitz is starting to get better and better recruits (this year’s recruits looks especially promising). All he needs is that one group that exceeds expectations to really push NU over the top.
Now if you want to talk about some of the football assistant coaches or Carmody, that is a different story.
@Memory Lane-
I apologize for the de facto history lesson of sorts but my main point obviously is that Barnett started with pretty much nothing with huge obstacles and poor perception– and had NU top 20 level for two years working within the constraints of academics, facility, and other variables many feel are prohibitive of the program being BCS/Top 20-25 level today.
Really, I get your point and respect it. That said, I think you sell Barnett short for his efforts and give Fitzgerald too much credit… I’d hope we could agree, Fitz inherited a program with much more tangible succcess and track record than when Barnett came in.
BTW- Today would have been the 103rd Birthday of Jimmy VanHeusen.. You might remember him as the composer of “High Hopes”…
Penn State´s legacy:
After a few years down the pike and a number of victories, maybe even a conference championship, it will be business as usual. ¨Just win, Baby” and the Sandusky debacle will be ancient history and forgotten.
And the late Vince Lombardi will have even more believers in and followers of his creed: “Winning isn´t everything, it´s the only thing.”
Manager-
In that I was not on the dock at West Point I’ll take your word that Dr. Schapiro did not have a smiley face after that game… I’d imagine you and your posse put on life vests and embibed Grey Goose spiked Purple Kool Aid to make the cruise back to Chelsea Pier just that much more tolerable as you pondered being defeated by a program with a higher graduation rate and exacting admissions policy than NU… Playing a service academy provides that reality check for many…
I’d further explain my comment regarding cavalier indifference among fans and the context that was used in, but I’d steal your self righteous thunder… That -and my no means do I want to unduly dominate the board or suggest NU is capable of more as a football program given all the obstacles it faces currently at the 60-70 level or being the #3 AQ program in the state no less…
Manage on!
@Manager-
Clarification if you will… NU is the #3 FBS team in the State Of Illinois… Northern Illinois is not an AQ… My bad…
@DT I know you love pumping up the juggernaut that is Illinois, but that program stinks. We are neck and neck with Northern for supremity.
@db-
I know it seems like ions ago, but, what was the score of that game in Champaign with U of I? How many bowl games have they won in the last 13 months? ,
With the NU “D”, we would not want any part of Northern before or after Harnisch… They’d beat NU by at least 2 TD’s.. That Arkansas State team they beat a couple weeks back was a good team… Legit Top 30 level… Forget the Kansas loss and beatdown against Wisconsin… Hard for any program to go seamless in system or performance with the change of a Head Coach like NIU had…
I’ll stick to my in state ranking… The way things are going, we better not look beyond FCS programs as well going forward…
Contrary to the opinion of some on this blog, I think we do indeed disagree on this as well! So be it…
Yes that’s right…I forgot that you also put great stock in the outcomes of innocuous and irrelevant lower tier bowls.
I think it’s odd that Ron Zook was the coach and the answer to the question isn’t a slam dunk, but 20 pt comeback and Evan Watkins win notwithstanding, I would buy NU stock all day vs Urbana. When was the last time they won a a recruiting contest vs us?
I am not verse in Ark State football.
Hoops? Different story.
@db-
Hey, I wish it were different but lets call it the way it is the last two years…
U of I- 2-0 vs. NU and 2-0 in bowl games including a win against Baylor and RG3 in the innocuous and irrelevant Texas Bowl, where we last saw Fitz kicking a stuffed Monkey in lieu of winning the game… If I’m not mistaken, you certainly had some strong opinions about the monkey, right? I think I agreed with you no less on that topic..
Yes, you are correct. The monkey stunt for me was the low point of NU Athletics since Carmody’s 2-16 / 1-17 Daily Double
manager should stop trying to shut down freedom of expression. there’s nothing over the top going on with comments from DT and db. write on!
Love the photo. What could they be saying to each otehr?
Fitz: Coach what do you know about rape and men?
Joe Pa: Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Phil Knight lovin’ him some some child neglect at the Joe Pa Gala today. Makes me nauseas. Go Under Armour.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7506640/joe-paterno-penn-state-nittany-lions-thousands-gather-memorial-service
By the way, I love that the PSU BOT is now getting ripped from the pro-Paterno side. Their neglect and unwillingness to police their own campus and athletic programs is half the reason we are where we are. The Chairman knew about it and sat on it. The Board sat silent for 4 days while the victims likely melted. The Governor of the whole freaking State is on the Board, ran an investigation into it as the AG – an investigation where Sandusky admitted he did it and that he wanted to kill himself. Then he didn’t pursue it!! They all buried this to let Paterno fight on. And now the Paternos have it out for them? And the BOT is seen as the conservative voice, the moral compass of PSU??? What an f’d up story.
And I quote the great philosopher Todd Blackledge:
“when they couldn’t coach anymore or didn’t have the energy to coach anymore, he’d find other things for them to do.”
oh boy. i’m done complaining about our secondary coach.
Nike and the other apparel companies are a major reason athletic programs have grown into uncontrollable behemoths.
As for Knight, it seems that he went into brand crisis management during that speech. After all, JoePa’s iconic black shoes were Nikes and Penn State apparel sales did dip immediately following the scandal coming to light. Also, no executive would want their product donned by a molestation enabler. Knight’s speech is in line with those who will continue to portray Paterno a modern-day martyr who was axed by a priggish board without due process.
Reports are that the speech got a standing ovation. I would like to think Fitz didn’t stand, but I would not be surprised if he did.