OT: D1

[IUP24]

The fact that the biggest goal of those OUTRAGED about the scandal was to take down the program. Thry forgot about the victims at that moment.

Had the focus just been on the criminal aspect of it and let that he the focus the victims would be getting their Justice. The only Justice was making those pay who did and enabled the crimes to happen.

I doubt one victim felt better that scholarships were reduced and bowls opportunities taken away.

It’s the institutional control component. It’s what was knowingly going on inside the doors of that program for decades. There can be criminal and NCAA issues.

The NCAA destroyed SMU for doing what’s considered legal now. I’ll get back to what I said before… The NCAA doesn’t equally hand out punishment to schools.

[IUPNation]

It’s the institutional control component. It’s what was knowingly going on inside the doors of that program for decades. There can be criminal and NCAA issues.

The NCAA destroyed SMU for doing what’s considered legal now. I’ll get back to what I said before… The NCAA doesn’t equally hand out punishment to schools.

SMU was cheating to get an unfair advantage. It is a dinky school compared to it's old Southwest Conference members. How do you think Eric Dickerson chose to go to some dinky school in Dallas over going to Austin or Norman? He got a brand new car...that's how.

Penn State was not cheating. A handful of administrators were covering up criminal behavior that had no direct influence on what Penn State was doing on the field. Doing that to protect a "brand" was idiotic. Had the University notified authorities of what Sandusky...a Registered Republican...was doing...they would have actually backed up their reputation of a school who plays by the rules. I have no idea why JoePa didn't do more. He is the same generation as my Italian dad. That generation of Italian men would rather ignore something uncomfortable or gross than having to deal with it. It's just how they were raised...good or bad.

99.99% of the people on the Penn State campus had no idea Sandusky was banging teen aged boys in the shower. I imagine if hundreds knew that somebody far from the circle of handful of people who covered it up would have called the cops. It's not like the Board of Trustees were having meetings about how to keep this from getting out and not doing a thing to the Republican pervert. Why they would keep doing it to protect somebody who was not on staff is still mind boggling. This is a good case on how to handle something horrible in the most absolute worst way possible.

SMU went from a perennial doormat to a Top 5 program in a blink of an eye. They did so by paying players who would have gone to Texas, Oklahoma or Nebraska in those days.

Craig James is still butthurt that his bunch of cheaters didn't get voted #1 in 1982 and why he has hated Penn State ever since.

This was a institutional effort to put that program on the map. They were breaking the rules of the NCAA.

Was the Death Penalty necessary? I don't think so. The schools kept repeating infractions. I guess they thought it was the only way to stop the cheating.

The old Southwest Conference was just the biggest bunch of cheaters....they were always getting caught doing something shady.

[Chuck Norris]

Just remember Pitt has a legit history of winning games it shouldn't - especially after they've been counted out.

That said, their QB may not start at good D2 programs right now.

Yeah I can see Pitt either rising up and finding a way to win this one, or getting absolutely destroyed. I think we’ll know which one it’s going to be within the first 5 or 10 minutes.

[IUPNation]

Yeah I can see Pitt either rising up and finding a way to win this one, or getting absolutely destroyed. I think we’ll know which one it’s going to be within the first 5 or 10 minutes.

I almost feel sorry for the kid at QB. I am not a fan of Pitt but I hope he does well.

[Chuck Norris]

I almost feel sorry for the kid at QB. I am not a fan of Pitt but I hope he does well.

He hasn’t done himself any favors on or off the field, but yeah it’s rough. When Pittsburgh fans decide they don’t like you, they are merciless.

[IUPNation]

He hasn’t done himself any favors on or off the field, but yeah it’s rough. When Pittsburgh fans decide they don’t like you, they are merciless.

I’m from the Philadelphia area. We invented merciless sports fandom.

:-)

Didnt you know our ancestors threw snowballs at a stand in Santa Claus during a Nor’easter 55 years ago to vent their anger on how bad the Iggles were that season. :::wink::;

[Ship69]

He hasn’t done himself any favors on or off the field, but yeah it’s rough. When Pittsburgh fans decide they don’t like you, they are merciless.

That's pretty much true of fans in most cities nowadays. With all the player movement and NIL stuff in college and free agency and big salaries in pro sports, fans don't feel the connection to players that they used to. When I was a Cubs fan as a kid, players such as Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams and Fergie Jenkins played for the team for years. You got to know the players, they were your team, and you usually stuck with them. Today, the Cubs have exactly one player on the roster who was on their 2016 championship team, and that's not unusual. Despite the team improving significantly over last year, the online element has been brutal to Cubs manager David Ross all year. Fans paying today's ticket prices want performance or else.

[IUP24]

That's pretty much true of fans in most cities nowadays. With all the player movement and NIL stuff in college and free agency and big salaries in pro sports, fans don't feel the connection to players that they used to. When I was a Cubs fan as a kid, players such as Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams and Fergie Jenkins played for the team for years. You got to know the players, they were your team, and you usually stuck with them. Today, the Cubs have exactly one player on the roster who was on their 2016 championship team, and that's not unusual. Despite the team improving significantly over last year, the online element has been brutal to Cubs manager David Ross all year. Fans paying today's ticket prices want performance or else.

I hate to say this, but these “kids” are fair game now.

They wanted freedom of movement. They got it.

They wanted paid. They are getting paid.

These are no longer amateurs. They are paid professionals. So if a paying customer wants to boo a 20 year, or whatever age, then so be it. Phil Jurkovec is getting paid a very nice NIL deal to play at Pitt on top of getting a master’s degree for free. So yeah, he better perform. These guys all got what they want. You can’t have it both ways now.

[Ship69]

I hate to say this, but these “kids” are fair game now.

They wanted freedom of movement. They got it.

They wanted paid. They are getting paid.

These are no longer amateurs. They are paid professionals. So if a paying customer wants to boo a 20 year, or whatever age, then so be it. Phil Jurkovec is getting paid a very nice NIL deal to play at Pitt on top of getting a master’s degree for free. So yeah, he better perform. These guys all got what they want. You can’t have it both ways now.

Watch shows such as "Last Chance U." and "Titletown" on Netflix, and you can see that a lot of this has filtered down to the juco and high school levels of football. It really is a shame. The days when you had three-sport athletes and high schools and kids played for the sheer love of the game are a thing of the past at many places.

[IUP24]

Watch shows such as "Last Chance U." and "Titletown" on Netflix, and you can see that a lot of this has filtered down to the juco and high school levels of football. It really is a shame. The days when you had three-sport athletes and high schools and kids played for the sheer love of the game are a thing of the past at many places.

I don’t care about the underlying message of those shows. These guys got everything they wanted. They’re paid professionals now. If a paying customer wants to boo, then so be it. I don’t care anymore.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Watch shows such as "Last Chance U." and "Titletown" on Netflix, and you can see that a lot of this has filtered down to the juco and high school levels of football. It really is a shame. The days when you had three-sport athletes and high schools and kids played for the sheer love of the game are a thing of the past at many places.

This subject drives me up a freaking wall. I don't need to see a 'specialized' baseball player who is 9 years old and in third grade. These kids don't want to play baseball year round. They want to try all the sports. The parents get brainwashed by too many weekend warrior, living-in-the-past youth coaches.

My high school used to have 80 kids try out for the varsity basketball team (25 years ago). Today, they average about 15-18 for tryouts. My alma mater used to dress more for a JV football game than it does today for varsity. They don't even have a 'freshmen' team any more. Those kids all get bumped up to JV/Varsity -- and 99% aren't close to physically ready at age 14/15.

Looking back, I'd have hated my parents if they forced me to play just one sport. Perhaps I always knew that sports were going to end for me when I graduated high school (although I could have played D3 football). Each sport is different and teaches different things.

Unfortunately for these year-round, one-sport, robot parents, there's some bad news coming.

I see the 'full time' basketball players every year. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to look at Mom and Dad (Mom is 5'1" and Dad is 5'10") and realize thier precious little Johnny isn't going to be an NBA player. Absolute best case, maybe he'll be 5'10" and pay full tuition to 'ball' at Geneva. All the while, perhaps soccer or golf would have been his meal ticket. But, I know. He was chucking treys and had mad hops in 4th grade. He was the next Lebron, made it rain, and North Carolina was looking at him during his spelling bee.

Kids are only 'kids' for a short time. Athletics is over for about 99.8% of them the day they graduate high school.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I don’t care about the underlying message of those shows. These guys got everything they wanted. They’re paid professionals now. If a paying customer wants to boo, then so be it. I don’t care anymore.

Pine-Richland Phil was the one butt-hurt about Yinzers booing him (calling them 'pathetic, grown-a$$ men'). His HC did no favors by calling it 'Boo City, Pa'. I know you're a Pitt homer, but Narduzzi and his act is old. I'd love to see him pursue the Michigan State job, but I think he's too old for them at this point. Yes, he's brought Pitt back to being slightly above mediocrity, but, my opinion, he's reached his ceiling. Making it even better, he's saying the QB decision is up to Cignetti. What a freaking cop out. How many HCs in the world defer their teams biggest decision to the OC?

I like Pitt. But, being honest, part of me hopes they get blown out of the stadium tomorrow night.

The walking cliche (Tomlin) spun the booing perfectly ... saying he values how passionate the fans are, etc.

[jrshooter]

I have no idea why JoePa didn't do more. He is the same generation as my Italian dad. That generation of Italian men would rather ignore something uncomfortable or gross than having to deal with it. It's just how they were raised...good or bad.

This is a huge point, and it wasn't just Italian men. This was something that permeated every part of society in earlier generations, and people who didn't live in that time might not be able to wrap their heads around it.

A lot of families had a creepy Uncle Jerry, and they knew it. They just didn't talk about it. And like IUPNation says, it's just how they were raised, for better or worse.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

This is a huge point, and it wasn't just Italian men. This was something that permeated every part of society in earlier generations, and people who didn't live in that time might not be able to wrap their heads around it.

A lot of families had a creepy Uncle Jerry, and they knew it. They just didn't talk about it. And like IUPNation says, it's just how they were raised, for better or worse.

In this case, Tony Soprano just rolled over in his grave.

[Fightingscot82]

This is a huge point, and it wasn't just Italian men. This was something that permeated every part of society in earlier generations, and people who didn't live in that time might not be able to wrap their heads around it.

A lot of families had a creepy Uncle Jerry, and they knew it. They just didn't talk about it. And like IUPNation says, it's just how they were raised, for better or worse.

Yep. Unfortunately my mother in law was targeted by her creepy Uncle Chet until she was 15. And her mom knew. Her aunts knew. Her grandma knew. But it was the 60s and 70s. So they let the drunk sicko molest.