Time to Leave the PSAC?

[Horror Child]

Re: Time to Leave the PSAC?

Yes, and it irritates just as much when they mispronounce the OPPOSING players' names.

It's MUSSINA, Bloomsburg. Not MUSSINI. MUSSINA. You know. The son of the 15-year MLB pitcher.

OMG that was so annoying. The color guy must have given him a good talking to at halftime, since his first half hints sure didn't help.

[Horror Child]

Re: Time to Leave the PSAC?

There's no doubt about those points. But, this is a football (and basketball) web site. Many of the comments made in these four pages were directly related to football. This site has an 'other sports' thread if you want to discuss PSAC swimming.

Does it bother me to see the PSAC name get drug through the mud every time Lock Haven plays a money blood bath? Yes, it does. But, to each his own. That's just my opinion.

I've said for years on here that D2 football (specifically) is not an even playing field. You have the schools who want to win and you have the schools who like having a team. There's a gigantic difference. Hence, when you look at the scores every week you see the lopsided beatdowns week after week.

On the other hand, if you make this mythical PSAC super tier, guess what ... you just beat each other up and finish with a bunch of .500 (or near) records. The Yankees need the Royals, too.

I don't get how this thread and conversation keeps coming back to IUP?

That's why it's a D2 issue and not just a PSAC issue. It's why there's now FCS and FBS in D1.

[jrshooter]

Re: Time to Leave the PSAC?

Look, many of us have heard all these arguments before -ad nauseum. A lot of the most assertive comments are based on pipe dreams about what you want PSAC football or more specifically, IUP football, to look like. Bashing the worst teams like this seems pointless to me. These are state universities. Having a winning record in football is not the biggest thing on their plate. I am an IUP fan and being in the hunt for a D2 NC is important to me. It's just the way we were all raised on this. At Millersville, Lock Haven, East Stroudsburg I don't think the Prez and School Deans are meeting today on this topic. If they make a decision like Mansfield did that's fine with me. If they don't, that's fine with me.

I would like to see a more competitive, football-centric set up in the PSAC but it isn't going to happen. Not now. It's cost. Travel costs, mainly. When Seton Hill joined the main factor mentioned by the PSAC was travel cost savings. I am happy IUP is so good on the D2 level. We have tried being independent and looked at D1 but it's just not reality.


Now, as far as bashing some of these schools for not being IUP in football. Maybe it's because I grew up on ABC's Wide World of Sports (Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport ...) or maybe because I grew up in LH rooting for LH and PSU teams, across the board from FB to wrestling and soccer, gymnastics, women's sports and everything in between and throughout my life I have competed in a wide range of sports from the basic scholastic sports to racket sports and cycling but I respect diverse athletics programs. There are people at LHU, for example (less vocal) who can criticize IUP athletics and make a lot of valid points. With their large number of NC's across many men's and women's sports, with their 2 highly successful D1 teams (wrestling and field hockey), and the superior support from the community. We have been conditioned to expect IUP to be good in football and basketball but there is a bigger world out there and the IUP values are not universal.

Have you met IUPNation? You two should have a nice conversation on this point. :laugh:

[iupgroundhog]

Re: Time to Leave the PSAC?

There's no doubt about those points. But, this is a football (and basketball) web site. Many of the comments made in these four pages were directly related to football. This site has an 'other sports' thread if you want to discuss PSAC swimming.

I think the points you are making have to be viewed in a wider context. (Plus, there are only a handful of people who care if a PSAC team loses by 50 points per game. Hardly anybody)

[jrshooter]

Re: Time to Leave the PSAC?

There's no doubt about those points. But, this is a football (and basketball) web site. Many of the comments made in these four pages were directly related to football. This site has an 'other sports' thread if you want to discuss PSAC swimming.

This particular issue can't be addressed in a vacuum, though. Either you think football and basketball are all that matters, or you don't.

[iupgroundhog]

Re: Time to Leave the PSAC?

That decision IS something that PASSHE presidents are paying attention to. When Mansfield dropped football, male applications and enrollments declined. That's the only reason they started the sprint football team, which has had the same amount of success as their previous D2 team.

If your enrollment is 1800 taking away football probably is going to impact male enrollment. They would have to decide if that's a bad thing, overall. But I thought they announced the sprint team when they announced dropping football?

[iupgroundhog]

Re: Time to Leave the PSAC?

Have you met IUPNation? You two should have a nice conversation on this point. :laugh:

He and I have been having this conversation for about 15 years. We know each other's every move.
(We agree on politics so it doesn't matter) :smile-big:

[Horror Child]

Re: Time to Leave the PSAC?

If your enrollment is 1800 taking away football probably is going to impact male enrollment. They would have to decide if that's a bad thing, overall. But I thought they announced the sprint team when they announced dropping football?

From November 2006:

Mansfield University President Dr. Maravene Loeschke announced today the elimination of the football program.The following is a email distributed to the campus this morning from the Presidents Office.It is with great sadness that I announce the elimination of the football program at Mansfield University. There are very few more difficult decisions that have had to be made at this wonderful institution. This decision is particularly sad in light of the long football history at Mansfield.Mansfield University is too small an institution to support a football program in the manner it deserves. Although enrollment at the institution has generally remained steady, costs of running the university have escalated each year. It is no longer possible to continue to do well all of the things we have done for many years.Because Mansfields academic programs form the foundation for educating every student, preserving and enhancing the quality of these programs will always be our first priority. In this challenging budget climate, academic excellence requires making difficult choices. In making these choices now, however, we move toward a bright future for the excellent Mansfield education we provide to the next generation of Pennsylvanias leaders.This decision is especially troubling for many Mansfield alumni who played football because they understand better than anyone the many benefits that football provides for student athletes. We will immediately establish a task force of football alumni and other interested people who will work with our Advancement Office to create a strategy for raising an endowment that would be sufficient to support a competitive football program. If we are able to raise sufficient funds in this way, we will open discussion about reestablishing a football program at whatever level-Division II, Division III, or Independent League-we can properly support.I encourage us all to work together to help the members of this years team who are most affected by this decision. These young men have conducted themselves with understanding, character, integrity, and civility. They are a source of tremendous pride to Mansfield.

They played four games of sprint in 2008 and are 16-53.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: Time to Leave the PSAC?

This particular issue can't be addressed in a vacuum, though. Either you think football and basketball are all that matters, or you don't.

Other point of view:

A school like Lock Haven could drop football and invest all the money in the other sports?

I can't be sold on the merits of how bad that program is and has been for eternity. It's just not some stars aligned curse of misery. They don't care about it so why not dump all that money in to sports they do care about and perhaps get very, very good in some of them? Kind of like what some allege the previous regime did there with the women's sports.

That's just an idea. I'm not going to really lose sleep over it one way or another.

To answer the above question, obviously, yes, I'm in the 'football and basketball' camp and donate to both. I'd consider myself more pro-(men's) basketball but football isn't too far behind.


This is actually a good topic for once and a break from the "Lenny Williams is 32-4 as a starter but actually he sucks' normal gibberish.

[jrshooter]

Re: Time to Leave the PSAC?

This is actually a good topic for once and a break from the "Lenny Williams is 32-4 as a starter but actually he sucks' normal gibberish.

Couldn't agree more. It is interesting.