The Nittany Turkey

Primarily about Penn State football, this is a tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

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Home 2012 Archives for August 2012

Archives for August 2012

We Were????

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Hey, Sports Illustrated. You’ve got another thing coming and we’re here to deal you a large load of Turkey poop. Your July 30 cover bites the big one.

“Is this the end for Penn State? Hardly. We aren’t going anywhere. We are, and always will be, Penn State.” —Rodney Erickson, Dave Joyner, and Bill O’Brien in a letter to Sports Illustrated

The blackness, the beat up helmet, and the prominent presence of the four words “We Were Penn State”, along with a quote fragment from the NCAA’s Mark Emmert’s pontification, “An unprecedented failure of institutional integrity…”, publicize the feature article by Alexander Wolff. It is entitled “Is This the End for Penn State.”

Wolff howls the following (the “moon” is implicit):

“With its loyal fan base and location in the heart of a state that loves the game, the program has a chance of recovering. But it’s going to take at least a decade, and in the meantime Penn State football will look a lot like Indiana football.”

Reports of our death are greatly exaggerated. This fine institution is not about to die because of a few football sanctions levied by the sinister NCAA after a rush to judgment. What a bunch of baloney! You’re just fueling the fire with the Penn State haters out there. You want to sell magazines? Put some 98% naked babes on the cover. (Oh, wait. You’ve done that for decades with the Annual Swimsuit Issue.) Leave Penn State out of the sensationalism.

Penn State has responded to this slur in a letter to Sports Illustrated by President Rod Erickson, AD Dave Joyner, and head football coach Bill O’Brien. Read more in StateCollege.com.

 

O’Brien Post-Practice #1 Media Meet

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“It’s a new Penn State. It’s a new Penn State football program. ????? ?????? ???????? ” —Bill O’Brien

Bill O’Brien discussed the first day of practice with the media yesterday, revealing his thoughts about the team, the defections, the nature of practice, injuries, Bill Belton, Penn State’s future, potential uniform changes, what time he woke up, and a plethora of other issues. Fortunately, no one asked him how coaching the Nittany Lions compared with coaching Tom Brady. Watch O’Brien under siege by the media in this ten minute video.

Four PSU Trustees Appeal Sanctions

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Even though NCAA spokesman Bob Williams declared last week that the Penn State sanctions are not subject to appeal, four trustees, led by retired Navy SEAL Ryan J. McCombie, who was elected to the board in June have filed a letter of appeal with the NCAA. ESPN is reporting:

Trustees and a person with first-hand knowledge of the discussions said the move is a precursor to a federal lawsuit asking a judge to invalidate the sanctions, because trustees expect the NCAA to reject the appeal.

Essentially, McCombie is saying that the NCAA did not follow its usual investigation and enforcement procedures with Penn State, that the consent decree is unfair because it relies on the Freeh report (which contains some disputed unproven conjectures) and that the sanctions are “excessive and unreasonable”, inflicting “permanent damage to an entire generation of student athletes and coaches who were innocent of any wrongdoing during their time on campus…”

McCombie retained the Boston law firm of Jackson Lewis to file the appeal. He wrote a letter to trustees Monday afternoon asking for their concurrence. Three immediately hopped on board. There was no comment as to whom, but I think we can probably guess at least three of them pretty quickly.

McCombie wrote to the trustees that it was his belief that the matter required board approval and that the board should engage in a full and complete review.  He went on to write, “Furthermore, only after we have given all involved the opportunity to be heard can we move forward together as one university.”

No comments were to be had from either Penn State or the NCAA.

Well, this should drive a wedge into the board. These are interesting times. If the NCAA does shut down the appeal, which is I think about 105% likely, and the federal courts get involved, the case could broaden and get into all kinds of great anti-trust issues with the NCAA. They deserve to be slapped down by somebody, and who better than a Federal court to do it? Maybe pay liquidated damages to all the members and then reorganize into a helpful adjunct, rather than a dictatorial Kindergarten teacher.

I’m going to have my cookies and milk and think about this a little more.

Meanwhile, for those who want to read the actual appeal, I have it available here for downloading. PSU_trustee_appeal (pdf – 174K).