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 2013 Archives for February 2013

Archives for February 2013

BoB’s a Keeper

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Penn State University football head coach Bill O’Brien speaks at the 2013 Greater Carlisle Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting and 100th Anniversary Kick-Off event on Tuesday morning at the Carlisle Expo building.

Big thanks to our favorite Penn State news junkie, Joe.

A Sad State of Affairs in College Athletics

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Paul Finebaum of Sports Illustrated wrote in an article entitled “Under Emmert, NCAA has sunk deeper, lost even more credibility“:

It’s a sad state of affairs in college athletics. The organization that will easily — and without a conscience — destroy a coach for not following the letter of the antediluvian rule book or take away a young man’s eligibility because of an honest mistake has literally made it up as it goes along.

Meanwhile, the man behind the curtain, Mark Emmert, smiles for the cameras in his shiny suit as his organization and its credibility and integrity seemingly go up in smoke.

Truer words were never spoken. The hypocrisy of it all!

Here’s a little thing, though. Those words were written on September 1, 2011, long before the Penn State scandal, long before news of UNC’s transgressions broke, long before the Shabazz Muhammad debacle, and long before the botched Miami investigation. But Ohio State and Cam Newton were still fresh in everyone’s minds. Tresselgate (Tattoogate) and Camgate (Newtongate).

Of course, Finebaum expressed himself from a frustrated sports reporter’s viewpoint:

Instead of being honest about the cesspool he swims in daily, Emmert’s game lately has been to run off to ESPN for another doleful defense of the indefensible — the state of college athletics.

It’s too bad Oprah quit because I can’t think of a better forum for Emmert and his crocodile tears and vapid promises.

That was then and this is now, you say? Well, you probably didn’t read this piece back then because you never thought it would be an issue for Penn State. NCAA rules violations were problems for the rest of them; Penn State stood alone at the top of the heap, unassailable and clean. But that made us a big target for the NCAA vindicators, as we know now.

So, just for laughs give it a read.

 

Fire Mark Emmert: the petition

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It was inevitable that someone would create a petition to fire Mark Emmert, president of the NCAA and legend in his own mind. Change.org, a bastion of petitioners, gets the prize for being the vehicle for a petition by “Josh O” of Fairfax, Virginia entitled “NCAA: Fire Mark Emmert as President of the NCAA“. It is addressed to David Leebron, Nathan Hatch, Gene Block, Lou Anna Simon, and Judy Genshaft — the NCAA Board of Directors.

You can follow the link above and sign the petition by filling out a brief form on the same page. The Turkey endorses this petition, and thinks you should strongly consider signing it. When last I looked, they had 305 supporters and needed 195 to make it over the first hurdle.

Can the Board of Directors fire Emmert, or has he amassed too much power and become Emperor for Life?

In order to determine exactly what would be involved in shitcanning Emmert, I tried to find the NCAA by-laws on the NCAA.org site, but they’re not published there for us mere mortals. Perhaps someone with Lexis Nexus access can find them for me, as the Turkey lacks the finances to employ such tools, but I digress. It is interesting that the NCAA site is replete with rule books for each division of member institutions, posted in very prominent places, but when it comes to its own framework of rules, it keeps them secret. (Incidentally, they devote an entire page to Penn State sanctions on that site.)

Emmert, the hypocrite, is running a dirty organization but he has thus far kept his hands squeaky clean. As the scandals and internal malfeasance mount, he won’t be able to remain aloof much longer. It is time for the media to turn their negative death rays toward the NCAA in general and Mark Emmert in particular. We’ve seen some of it happening in the past day or two, so there is hope. Come on, sports writers and writerettes, commentators and commentatettes, you don’t want to be left out! Join the media firestorm today!