I tried really really hard to understand the point about MJ and I jsut don't see any correlation.... Can you explain it?
SO- I if understand you correctly, the assumption was made that teh people playing MJ were in fact taunting Paterno supporters? Ya gotta reach deep to make that connection.. but ok....
No, they were our own fans but were insensitve to the situation. Playing music from someone accused of the same thing Sandusky did just after the news broke isn't very smart, IMHO. But let's get back to the thread topic at hand.
Penn State is still not getting many recruits from the top soccer area of PA., the Southestern section, most fo the Pa. recruits are oming from the weaker areas of the state. That said, it is still much better than 4-5 years ago when the program did not even bother trying to recxruit the top players in the state
I would have to disagree with this. Without question, for the 2012 class, the top teams in SE PA were the two DA teams. Those two teams on a weekly basis also played the top teams in the east. Again, for this year, without question. PSU landed a defender that started just about every game for an FC Delco team that advanced to the DA playoffs. They landed a kid that co-captained his PA Classics DA team to the U-16 national championship last year and did not play DA this year because he enrolled in PSU in Sept. They also landed kid that played DA for four years and was the leading scorer for this years Classics team that just missed the playoffs. Those 3 kids have also been heavily involved with Philly Union's U-16/U-18 teams. The kid from the west they landed was considered the best kid in Western PA and had some national team experience through ODP. Where the guys lived is not as important as the level of competition they played in. PSU didn't capture all of the PA talent, but the potential for this class doing well at PSU is high. Their youth resumes are certainly not shameful by comparison with the other players from SE PA.
I agree that Penn State is doing much beeter than in the past in recruiting PA. The previous coach had a history of not even recruiting from the top PA club teams and when he did, giving the players low ball offers like " I can make you a preferred walk on" which really turned the top players off. With the money available at Penn State, including athletic money and large discounts in tuition for students whose parents work for Penn State. Plus having a huge amount of alumni in the state, Penn State should dominate recruiting each year in Pa., I agree that they are showing progress in getting there.
the NCAA released these "penalties" on Penn State football (I think it's weak): 4 year postseason ban loss of 20 scholarships each of the next four years 5 years probation all wins since 1998 vacated (Paterno is no longer the all-time winningest coach) $60 million fine, which equals one year of gross revenue. NCAA pres Mark Emmert also said that the $60 million cannot be taken from scholarships and the like, so soccer and all the other sports can breathe a sigh of relief there.
Um if you lose 20 schollies per year, that's 80 over 4 years. You are only allowed 25 per year and 85 total. That means, unless I am reading it wrong, that Penn State will only be able to give 5 scholarships per year. The rest will have to be walk-ons. That's not only insane but dangerous. Emmert can yak all he likes, but loss of 60 million is death to the other programs. The athletic department takes no money from the University. He can tell Penn State to continue to give scholarships, but you cannot give what you do not have money for. A total ban would have been more merciful. In the end, I expect Penn State to have (as men's sports). Football, Basketball, Wrestling (as it is supported by donations), and Ice Hockey (ditto). Baseball is probably safe too. After that, who knows. And the Big Ten has yet to speak. I would not be shocked if Penn State is kicked out.
don't think soccer will be dropped just because of this. At least one or two women's sports will have to be dropped as well. But being kicked out of the Big Ten would hurt more than anything else.
Penn State really cannot drop any women's sports right now--the Title IX folks will be all over them. But few men's sports will be safe. With the loss of bowl money, there will simply be no money for the other teams. And that money will not be made up by donations. I'm certainly not giving a cent. Why would I want to support the NCAA in any way, shape, or form now??
I think the schollie punishment was 10 a year, not 20. Less than reported here, but still a kick a nuts for the program. Dropping a soccer program that just celebrated 100 years would signify flooding in the attic. I could see being forced to reduce the 9.9 funding for soccer as a more realistic reaction, and that would even be extreme. My feeling is, the most immediate effect on soccer will come from the new compliance department that has to be established and the new NCAA intergrity oversight person put into place.
I should have been clearer earlier. The amount of scholarships given out is reduced to 15. the total number overall is cut to 65.
if any men's sport is in danger, I would say baseball. outside of Nebraska no one in the conference really cares about it
it's 20. "FBS" teams are allotted a maximum of 85 schollies overall in any given year. for PSU the next four years it will be 65
Well, I shot the Big 10 baseball tourney this spring, and you would be wrong. Not huge numbers of fans but knowledgable and the schools care about the sport and are well represented in the Bigs. Think Kirk Gibson and Michigan State for one. OSU has really nice and new facilities--though the tourney was held at our (I live in Columbus) brand new AAA stadium downtown. Penn State just spent a lot of $$ on facilities. Mens gymnastics is on life support. Ony 17 teams, one of which is D3--and 7 are in the Big 10.
Yes, let's talk about college baseball and gymnastics today. Pay no attention to that elephant in the room.
And with that comment, I take my leave of this thread. See you somewhere else on the pitch someday.... You all are welcome to leave me a PM, though. But I won't be reading or responding to this thread anymore.
You are welcome to feel how you wish about the program and you are also, obviously, free to post on whatever threads you wish. But the athletic department just took a HUGE financial hit today, not to mention the further blighting on the school's image. And you don't think that's going to have an impact on the soccer program and the other non-revenue sports and is thus relevant for discussion here? Look, I wish no ill-will to your or Penn State or its supporters and I know this is rough on you guys. But to act like this doesn't have an impact on the programs is naive and even if it doesn't, the potential for doing so is definitely a relevant and fair discussion. That said, I wish you well.
It would have been best if you had gone back and read my original comment: I take it very seriously. I think my own comment shows that. After that, I was replying in a specific manner to specific comments by other posters. And I'm done.
I owe you an apology. For some reason, the only "new post" that showed up on my computer when I clicked on this thread was the comments about the baseball and gymnastics programs. It wasn't till just not that the previous comments on today's penalties showed up. I take full responsibility for the miscommunication and wouldn't have made my previous snarky comments had I seen the ones I missed. Again, a sincere my bad.
Apology fully and sincerely accepted. We've all been a bit raw the past few days. I'll hang around for a bit. But it isn't easy. One quick thought. Think what would have happened had Emmert been in charge during the Duke thing. I'm also not sure why they felt the need to go back to 1998. That was fully investigated by the university, law enforcement, the DA, and other state agencies and in that case there was no coverup or anything. They just weren't able to try the guy for lack of evidence (and they interviewed the victim in that case)--and that happens. That has set a very bad but not surprising precident for the NCAA--the Memphis case is one where Memphis had the guy cleared by the NCAA before letting him play--and then after the games were played and the NCAA got their "cut", they said "never mind" and blamed it all on Memphis. I can't argue with 2001 and forward. But between that time? The PSU president should have argued that one. Instead he rolled over and played dead.