Thursday, September 26, 2013

Bye Week Randomness

It's the bye week, so no game.  But, a few things have been on my mind.  So let's take some time and explore the mind of Optimus:

The NCAA sanctions
I'm sure that there is a time and a place to hash out the awful and complex details behind what Jerry Sandusky did at Penn State.  This blog is neither.  However, I do feel it necessary to express my thoughts on the football sanctions, seeing as this is a football blog, and in light of the recent actions taken by the NCAA.  Obviously, what Sandusky did was heinous and he is paying for it.  On the other hand, what a few Penn State officials knew about it, no matter what narrative you believe, is still a criminal matter.  It has absolutely nothing to do with the academic or athletic endeavors of Penn State students.  It should be noted that never in its history has the NCAA involved itself in criminal matters, although unfortunately there have been plenty of opportunities to do so (like the murder of a basketball player at Baylor by another player that was then covered up by the coaching staff).  Yet, in a time of intense internal friction and heavy external criticism, the NCAA decided to prove how tough they were by kicking Penn State while they were down.  It was nothing more than a school yard bullying tactic.  And that is precisely why the sanctions against Penn State were wrong from the beginning.  Penn State was tried by the media, given no due process, and severely punished without justification or proof.  Additionally, the sanctions did nothing to punish the people responsible nor help a single victim.  All these sanctions did was punish the wrong people in the most ineffective way possible.  We teach young children a phrase so simple even they are expected to understand it, "two wrongs don't make a right."  What the NCAA did was wrong, and it did not make things right.  Tuesday's decision, however small, was at least a step in the right direction towards correcting that wrong.

The NCAA sanctions reduction
I'm going to use my robotic computational abilities to fully explain how the NCAA is reducing the scholarship portion of their sanctions against Penn State.  Remember, this is just the scholarship portion.  All other sanctions remain in place.  This information has been surprisingly distorted by the media... well, maybe not so surprisingly.

Old sanctions:
- Penn State is only allowed to give 15 initial (recruiting) scholarships, instead of the normal 25, for the next 3 recruiting classes, including this current one.
- Penn State can only have 65 total scholarship players on their roster, instead of the normal 85.  This would have taken effect next season and lasted 4 years (up through 2017)

New sanctions:
- Penn State is now allowed to give 20 initial (recruiting) scholarships, instead of the normal 25, for next year's recruiting class, and a full 25 scholarships for every class after that.
- Penn State can now have 75 total scholarship players on their roster for next season (2014), 80 scholarship players in 2015, and a full 85 scholarships by 2016.

The rumor:
- The NCAA will remove the bowl ban for next season as a continuation of reducing the sanctions.  This is provided that Penn State stays on their best behavior (like we ever weren't).

The impact:
- Players good enough to earn a scholarship are almost always better than non-scholarship players (called "walk ons").  By only allowing Penn State to have 65 scholarship players, the NCAA was putting the current players in danger, as walk ons would be expected to play against bigger and stronger scholarship athletes at other schools.  Additionally, the NCAA was effectively denying 20 young men a college education per year.  Reducing this part of the sanctions was the right call for the NCAA to actually aid in fulfilling their mission statement.

UCF vs South Carolina
Remember that team that beat us a few weeks ago?  I know, bad memories.  But as tough as it was to lose, that team is doing really well and is undefeated going into this weekend's game against the South Carolina Gamecocks.  When your team loses to an easy opponent, it looks bad.  But when your team loses to a really strong opponent, it can almost be a good thing.  South Carolina is really good, and if UCF can beat them, the story changes from "Penn State loses to unranked easy team" to "Penn State's only loss to very good ranked team."  So, if you've turned into a Golden Knights fan like me, the game will be on ABC at noon this Saturday.

Here's what the SEC bloggers think about the matchup:
Chris Low - Talk about a game that has danger written all over it.  The Gamecocks had betetr clean up their mistakes and take their A-game to UCF, or they're going to be in trouble.  They've had an extra week to prepare, and Connor Shaw and the offense are clicking right now... South Carolina 31, UCF 21

Edward Aschoff -  This isn't an easy road trip for the Gamecocks.  UCF is undefeated and averaging more than 30 points a game.  The bye week gave South Carolina time to rest, but this one will be closer than Steve Spurrier will like... South Carolina 31, UCF 24

And here's what South Carolina's head coach, Steve Spurrier, wants to fix in preparation:
http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/70854/video-spurrier-wants-to-fix-mistakes

Hockey in Happy Valley #OneTeam
In case you've been under a rock, Penn State got a $100 million donation from Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula to build the brand new, state of the art, Pegula Ice Arena.  This money also helped upgrade Penn State's men's and women's hockey programs to the Division I level.  The new arena seats around 6,000 spectators and features a student section behind the visiting goalie's net that has the steepest stands allowed by code.  That way the students are like a wall right behind poor visiting goalies (*evil laugh*)!  Here is Penn State's very own goalie giving a tour of the new facilities:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LXcXdJLIKo

Even better, there are apparently serious talks to bring a professional hockey game to Beaver Stadium!
http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2013/09/a_hockey_game_at_beaver_stadiu.html

Unless, Terry Pegula has something to say about it...
http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2013/9/25/4770256/winter-classic-penn-state-beaver-stadium-flyers-penguins


Alright, enjoy the bye week, watch some other teams play for a change, and be sure to follow me on Twitter @PSUOptimus for all the latest updates on Penn State football!

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