Tag Archives: NCAA

Apr 1 2013

Mark Emmert Declares “Eternal Winter in Happy Valley”


Big 12 Meetings Emmert Football

This is funny, but you must read the WHOLE Thing!!  Onward State‘s April Fool’s Joke!!  (it made many of us very angry today when we misunderstood a shortened version).

Earlier today, NCAA President Mark Emmert made an addition to the sanctions levied against Penn State this past July. In an uncharacteristic abuse of power, Emmert bypassed his publicist and decided to write the press release himself. Read the full document obtained by Onward State below:

Mark Emmert National Collegiate Athletic Association Indianapolis, IN April 1, 2013

My Fellow Americans,

I have personally crafted this press release to discuss the July 23, 2012 sanctions against The Pennsylvania State University. Up to this point, as far as we can tell, every penalty we implemented has been upheld by Penn State. (Note: When I use ‘we’, this pronoun represents both myself and the NCAA as a whole. Definitely not just me.)

However, we feel as though Penn State still has work to do. After closely watching the University’s leaders over the past eight months, it is clear the sanctions (including a $60 million fine, a four-year football postseason ban, vacating all wins dating back to 1998, and scholarship reductions) are collectively not enough.

Following a careful examination of the facts (while avoiding all biased and largely-opinionated media sources), we have determined the next step necessary to the successful re-shaping of Penn State’s culture.

State College, Pa. will no longer reap the benefits of a four-season ecological cycle. Summer, autumn, and spring are hereby eliminated, thus creating an eternal winter in Happy Valley. Previously unbeknownst to State College residents, this measure has already been in place since October.

The Penn State Board of Trustees and President Rodney Erickson have complied 100% with our requests, and I am happy to report that in March 2013, Happy Valley saw snow, rain, sleet, and hail, with an average temperature of 25 degrees Fahrenheit.

Despite our climate and atmospheric alterations, we have a problem. There has been little to no change in Penn State’s culture. The community didn’t crumble. Students are still having fun. PSU athletes continue to rank towards the top in terms of collegiate academia. If these problematic trends continue, other actions – such as discontinuing THON, which definitely shows exactly what’s wrong with Penn State – will be taken.

Many people will question why we altered State College’s climate. Many will wonder how we achieved this. Some might even ask what winter has to do with Penn State’s imminent culture problem.

To those people, I say this: Louisiana State University was lucky enough to have me as their Chancellor, and I can promise you that football has nothing do with LSU’s culture and success as an academic institution. It was all me. That school was terrible before I arrived. And besides, I’m President of the NCAA. I don’t have to answer to you. I can do whatever I want without solid reason. I can even overstep my legal boundaries and contradict myself if I want to, although of course, I would never do either of these things.

Rest assured, the NCAA will continue to assess The Pennsylvania State University’s horrible problems. Together with Penn State’s Board of Trustees, we will weigh each decision heavily and avoid making any rash judgments, just as both parties have done throughout this entire ordeal.

Thank you, Mark Emmert

Apr 1 2013

Write a Review on Amazon.com!!


penn state amazon article

Write a review on Amazon.com and let them know what you think about someone using Penn State to sell their disgusting smut!!

Mar 14 2013

Lettermen to Blast Trustees on Friday–live stream


By Mike Dawson — mdawson@centredaily.com

Before the fireworks Friday, when former Penn State football lettermen have promised to lay into the board of trustees, a handful of board members will convene Thursday to pave the way for ground-breaking changes to how the 158-year-old university is governed. The board’s committee on governance and long-range planning is expected to review and recommend reforms for a vote of the full board on Friday in Hershey. Exactly what those reforms are, though, will not be known until the meeting, because its agenda is confidential, and a university spokesman could not provide firmer details about which reforms will be up for consideration.

The committee meeting is at 1 p.m. This will be streamed live on WPSU.com

Regardless of the uncertainty, the result will be unprecedented because of the long tradition of university and board governance, which became a lightning rod for criticism after the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

Politicians, elected officials and alumni have been calling for reform and changes, and the board of trustees continues to bear the brunt of the anger from seething fans and alumni over its handling of coach Joe Paterno’s ouster and the NCAA sanctions. Some groups want to purge the board of those who voted to remove Paterno as coach, while others want the size of the board reduced, a different composition or certain members stripped of their voting ability.

The best hints about what reforms to expect Thursday  are from the  committee’s last discussion on the topic in January, when the members reviewed the long list of reforms suggested by former Auditor General Jack Wagner.

Among the reforms that were discussed: whether the Penn State president or the state’s governor should have voting powers, whether the president will be the board’s secretary or whether retired university employees have to wait a few years before they can run for a board seat.

The committee is chaired by James Broadhurst and includes the former chairwoman Karen Peetz and  Joel Myers, who fired off an email a few weeks ago criticizing the NCAA and the Freeh report.

Peetz and Myers were supportive of removing the president’s voting powers, and the committee sounded in favor of stripping the governor’s voting powers, too. Broadhurst said he first wanted to discuss the latter one with Gov. Tom Corbett.

A reduction in the president’s powers was one of Wagner’s core recommendations. The former auditor general also recommended reducing the size of the board from its size of 32 members

Feb 22 2013

Pennsylvania Senator Comments on NCAA Response


HARRISBURG – Sen. Jake Corman (R-34) has issued the following statement regarding the NCAA’s challenge of Pennsylvania law.

“The recent NCAA litigation challenging Act 1 will delay the Penn State fine money from positively impacting programs and services that assist child abuse victims in Pennsylvania. In arguing that Pennsylvania has no role in the policy decisions of a state-related institution, the NCAA has gone well beyond its bylaws and believes it can operate as an unchecked governing body,” said Corman.

“Act 1 was carefully crafted to not impair the consent decree between Penn State University and the NCAA, and the law is constitutional.

“The NCAA has clearly misrepresented Penn State University as a private institution, as well as the parameters set forth in the consent decree.

“NCAA President Mark Emmert’s statement that Act 1 is nothing more than an attempt to benefit the ‘home team’ is not only inaccurate, but also exemplifies the organization’s delusional understanding of the law. Penn State University receives no gain from Act 1 — the only people who will benefit are Pennsylvania’s sexual abuse victims.  As the money is being derived from a Commonwealth-supported institution of higher education and being generated by state residents, the fine money should be distributed in Pennsylvania.

“In light of the court challenge and Mark Emmert’s statements, state-related and public universities, which are members of the NCAA, should call for a change in the NCAA leadership and operational standards. The NCAA federal lawsuit is an unfortunate power grab by the NCAA, who appears to be more concerned with its national reputation than actually using the $60 million for those who need it the most.”

Feb 21 2013

Emmert Needs to Resign or Be Fired!!


The NCAA has become a circus, and President Mark Emmert is the clown wearing a big red nose.  An agency designed to regulate and enforce the rules of college sports is now being pointed to and laughed at by the schools under its watch.  What was supposed to be an investigation of University of Miami and former booster Nevin Shapiro involving cash and trips to strip clubs he gave to Hurricane players for almost a decade turned into the NCAA instead reviewing its own enforcement staff.  Shortly after the NCAA launched its detective work into the Shapiro case, it was revealed in January the NCAA paid Shapiro’s lawyer $19,000 for additional information obtained via her subpoena power in the case.

Now the NCAA can’t use any of the information acquired, which is 20 percent of the total evidence it has on Miami.

Emmert then fired his vice president of enforcement, Julie Roe Lach, holding her accountable for the failed plan to collect more information on Shapiro around NCAA bylaws.  The NCAA’s wrongdoing in the Shapiro case is just the tip of the iceberg. Ever since Emmert took over in November 2010, the NCAA has been a colossal mess.

It passed legislation in October making head coaches on college campuses liable for what their assistants do. Apparently, Emmert didn’t get the memo.  North Carolina and Penn State were punished because of former head coaches Butch Davis and Joe Paterno’s ignorance to what was happening around them.  Yet, when the tables turn on the NCAA and it’s brought under scrutiny, Emmert uses unawareness as his defense.  “I knew nothing,” has been Emmert’s response to the numerous bonehead tactics employed by his own enforcement investigators.

Coaches are held accountable for not maintaining an atmosphere of compliance. So why isn’t Emmert?  There’s no standard set in place when it comes to dealing with NCAA infractions. Take the cases of UCLA freshman Shabazz Muhammad and University of Texas sophomore Myck Kabongo.  Kabongo was suspended for the first 23 games of the 2012-13 season for accepting airfare to Cleveland, Ohio from former Longhorns teammate Tristan Thompson in October 2012. The grand total of cost for his trip? A whopping $476.  The Longhorns’ best player finally played in his first game on Feb. 13 against Iowa State. By then, Texas’ record was 10-13, which most likely leaves it out of any kind of postseason tournament.

At UCLA, Muhammad was investigated for receiving approximately $1,600 in benefits on visits to North Carolina and Duke paid for by financial adviser Benjamin Lincoln. His family said Lincoln was a family friend and he asked the NCAA for approval before paying for the visits.  So what was Muhammad’s penalty from the NCAA?  Because he had to sit out of UCLA’s first three games of the season, the NCAA reinstated Muhammad on Nov. 11 with no further penalties. The Bruins are currently 19-7 and should find themselves in the Big Dance come March thanks much in part to Muhammad’s 18.5 points per game.

Sounds fair, right?

It turns out the NCAA was trying to save face again with its inquiry into Muhammad’s situation. In December 2012, the NCAA fired the lead investigator of the Muhammad case, Abigail Grantstein, after her boyfriend was overheard on a plane talking loudly about the case.  So was Muhammad actually cleared of wrongdoing, or did Emmert and his goons just want to cover up one of its lead investigators’ boyfriends who told an entire airplane about an ongoing NCAA case?

A review of the external NCAA enforcement had many casualties like Roe Lach, and of course, Emmert escaped unscathed.  Yet another example of how Emmert holds universities to double standards but doesn’t feel the need to impose on himself.

Say one thing, do another, has become Emmert’s bread and butter, which is bad news for the NCAA and its credibility going forward if he doesn’t resign.

Jan 29 2013

Congressmen want Scholarships Reinstituted


STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Two Pennsylvania congressmen want the NCAA to restore football scholarships taken away from Penn State, saying in a letter Monday those sanctions unfairly punish innocent student-athletes for the child sex abuse scandal involving retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

In the letter to NCAA President Mark Emmert, U.S. Reps. Charlie Dent and Glenn Thompson wrote that taking away up to 40 scholarships harmed players who had nothing to do with the scandal that engulfed the university in 2011.

”I want to make it clear to the NCAA who they are really hurting with this scholarship reduction. It’s not Jerry Sandusky and it’s not the university,” Dent said in a statement. ”They are hurting young people who are completely innocent of anything relating to the Sandusky situation and who through no fault of their own are being denied a chance to get a great education.”

A spokeswoman for college sports’ governing body said the NCAA would respond directly to Dent instead of through the media. A Penn State spokesman declined comment.

The NCAA sanctions limit Penn State’s recruiting classes to no more than 15 signees a year for four years, starting with the 2013 class to be formally finalized next week. Most teams can sign 25.

Sanctions also include a four-year postseason ban that began for the 2012 season and a $60 million fine.

If his request to restore scholarships is denied, the congressmen asked Emmert to deduct from the fine an amount equal to 40 scholarships so the school can use it instead to supply access to academic programs.

In announcing sanctions last July, Emmert drew the ire of some fans and alumni after the NCAA denounced the school for ”perpetuating a ‘football-first’ culture that ultimately enabled serial child sexual abuse to occur.”

Penn State historically has had high graduation rates for athletes. Dent cited in his letter NCAA data released last year showing the football team had a record graduation rate of 91 percent, which was tied with Rutgers for seventh best among major college programs. The major college average was 68 percent.

Dent said the statistics showed Penn State places education ahead of football.

Jan 2 2013

Press Conference Today 10 am Central–Pa Files Suit Against NCAA


Gov. Tom Corbett will announce and discuss the state of Pennsylvania‘s antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA over the sanctions it levied against Penn State at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Nittany Lion Inn, according to multiple reports.

On Tuesday, Sports Illustrated confirmed the state is filing an antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA, though no more details were divulged.

By Tuesday night, it had been confirmed by Sports Illustrated’s Pete Thamel that Corbett will hold a press conference Wednesday morning. Local television station WJAC-TV confirmed Penn State’s Board of Trustees will meet via telephone conference prior to the press conference in order to be briefed on the lawsuit.

 

Penn State spokesman Dave La Torre said on Tuesday that Penn State has no involvement in the suit.

Penn State’s sanctions, which were handed down on July 23 during an announcement by NCAA President Mark Emmert, include a four-year postseason ban, a loss of scholarships and a $60 million fine that will go toward victim relief programs. Additionally, all wins by the football team under former coach Joe Paterno between 1998-2011 were wiped from the record books.

Dec 28 2012

Effort to Keep NCAA Fine of 60M in Pennsylvania


By Jessica VanderKolk — jvanderk@centredaily.com

State Sen.  Jake Corman, R-Benner Township, announced Thursday he plans to introduce legislation in January that would keep the NCAA’s entire $60 million fine against Penn State in Pennsylvania.

He said he also will file a lawsuit, seeking to prohibit the  NCAA from releasing funds to any organization outside of Pennsylvania.

The  fine was part of the university’s punishment following the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. Penn State this month paid the first, $12 million, installment and has five years to pay the entire amount.

Corman’s legislation generally would require that any governing body-issued fine above $10 million against a university receiving state money would remain in an in-state endowment.

He said spreading out the $60 million Penn State fine to address child abuse issues nationally would not have a significant impact.

“I think you should set Pennsylvania up as a model,” Corman said. “These are funds from a public university, athletic department dollars. They’re coming largely from Pennsylvanians, so it should go to the betterment of Pennsylvania.”

Penn State did not offer any comment on Corman’s proposal.

“We haven’t seen it so we couldn’t comment,” spokesman David La Torre wrote in an email.

Corman said the legislation would not impede on the consent decree signed by the NCAA and Penn State, agreeing to the sanctions against the university. The section related to the fine does not specify where the money must be spent, only that it may not fund programs at the university.

“Our goal is to have a policy in place that, if a university is subject to something of this nature, they would need to set up an endowment in Pennsylvania,” he said.

Corman said he sent an initial letter to the NCAA which, from initial announcement of the sanctions,  has pledged to keep at least 25 percent of Penn State’s fine in Pennsylvania. He said the reply from Chief Financial Officer Kathleen McNeely was that the 25 percent was “not a number they were willing to move on.”

Corman said he followed up with a letter to NCAA President Mark Emmert, offering to fly to Indianapolis, where the organization is based, for a meeting.

“He won’t give us a meeting,” Corman said, adding he had not received a reply. “So we’ve now tried to move in a different direction, to try to solve this problem legislatively.”

When asked for comment, an NCAA spokeswoman responded with links to the organization’s website that discuss its  Child Sexual Abuse Endowment Task Force, which will determine the “structure and policies” for the fund created by the Penn State fine.

Oct 10 2012

Where is Penn State Football? An Update


COLUMN By STEVE HEISER 854-1575 x455 / @ydsports

We’ve come to the halfway point in the most unusual season in Penn State football history.

It seems like an appropriate time to take stock of the Nittany Lion program.

Here are three things that we’ve learned so far:

—1. Bill O’Brien seems like the right man for the job.

Since Day 1, he’s said and done all the right things under tremendously trying circumstances. All of that great public relations work would mean little, however, if the Lions were performing poorly on the field.

After a stumbling 0-2 start, however, Penn State seems to be steadily improving — as evidenced by four straight wins, including a rousing 39-28 fourth-quarter comeback victory on Saturday over previously unbeaten Northwestern. The Wildcats came in ranked No. 24.

O’Brien has also shown no fear, especially when it comes to play-calling. Fourth-down gambles don’t seem to scare him at all, and the fans are eating it up.

In the wake of unprecedented NCAA sanctions in the offseason, O’Brien also managed to hold the program together when it could have spun wildly into the college football gutter. He did lose a few standout players to immediate transfers (Silas Redd, Justin Brown, Anthony Fera), but for the most part, the Nittany Lions stood by their school and their new coach. That’s a testament to O’Brien and those players.

Some experts are already boosting O’Brien for Big Ten Coach of the Year honors. That seems like a stretch after just two conference games. But there’s no denying that O’Brien’s work to date has been impressive.

—2. These Nittany Lions are genuinely fun to watch.

They may not be the most talented bunch in Penn State history. Precious few of them will likely earn a living in the NFL.

But man, they play with fire and they play the game the right way.

That can be attributed directly to the team’s senior leaders — especially linebacker Michael Mauti, fullback Michael Zordich and quarterback Matt McGloin.

O’Brien takes every opportunity to heap praise on his senior class. O’Brien and his PSU seniors seem to have developed a special bond. That’s amazing considering they didn’t even know each other eight months ago.

Some of the Lions’ passion likely comes from an “Us-Against-the-World” mentality in the wake of the Sandusky Scandal. Some of it also comes from the fact that there will be no postseason games this season, or for the next few years. Therefore, the Lions can pour all of their heart and soul into the regular-season contests.

One has to wonder if the Lions can maintain that passion for six more games. That can be a hard thing to do. Most teams, sooner or later, come up empty. But so far, the Lions have consistently come ready to play.

—3. Recruiting, as expected, will be exceedingly difficult.

Since the NCAA sanctions came down, the Lions lost a few of their top recruits from their 2013 class.

And the new recruits they’ve attracted since then have generally been low-level prospects.

Penn State may also find it difficult to hold onto to some of the top verbal commitments they landed before the NCAA penalties came down, especially four-star Virginia quarterback Christian Hackenberg, who has been sending some mixed signals about his PSU commitment. He has said he remains committed to Penn State, but he has also said he wants to see how this PSU season plays out before signing on the dotted line in February. Those ambiguous statements have the Blue-and-White faithful on edge.

Losing Hackenberg would be a major blow — and not just because he’s a highly-rated player at a vital position. Losing the high-profile Hackenberg would also send a negative message to other potential recruits. It could have a domino effect. Penn State will have to play well and work hard to keep Hackenberg on board, because you can be sure that many other national powers will be calling, texting and visiting him.

O’Brien has done his best to publicize Penn State’s positives — its great facilities, its tremendous tradition and its national television exposure. O’Brien’s NFL-style offense and NFL contacts are also selling points. But given the severe sanctions, it’s still a very tough recruiting job.

In the final analysis, the Penn State football program under O’Brien is a work in progress — for this season and far beyond. In fact, this will likely be a long, hard slog for the next decade or so.

But after six games in this most unusual of Penn State seasons, there are reasons for hope. And at this point, that’s all Nittany Nation could have hoped for.

Sep 30 2012

Penn State is Alive and Well Due to Loyal Alumni


Excerpts from Bloomberg News, with some editorial changes and corrections by Myke Triebold.

Penn State’s football team, and its revenue-generating ability hasn’t slipped at all.

Fans have bought 68,000 season tickets, about the same as last year; the 60 luxury suites at Beaver Stadium are sold out, and donations tied to ticket purchases are projected to reach a record $17.5 million this season, according to the school.

Following the “Freeh” investigation that accuses (with no factual evidence) university officials of looking the other way after learning of Sandusky’s child molestation, the National Collegiate Athletic Association banned Penn State from the football postseason and reduced its annual scholarship allotment by 20 for each of the next four years; fined the athletic department $60 million over five years, and wiped out 112 football victories between 1998 and 2011.

Alumni Passion

“We have an extremely passionate alumni group–there is a pride in the traditions of Penn State of Success with Honor that the grassroots have worked hard to maintain,” states Myke Triebold, a Penn State Alumni and resident of State College for over 20 years.  That effort was recently demonstrated by the online competition sponsored by ESPN for “most school spirit” which Penn State won.  Alumni remain proud and committed, and not responsible for the crimes of one man, who was not an employee of the University when the crimes were committed.

Penn State’s response so far received high marks along with a warning from Barry Scanlon, president of Witt Associates, a Washington-based crisis management consulting firm.

Scanlon, whose company advised BP on restoring communities hit by the 2010 Gulf Coast oil spill and Virginia Tech after the campus shooting deaths there in April 2007, said Penn State has changed some leadership and shown humility. Those policies must be maintained, he said.

“You can survive a losing season,” Scanlon said in a telephone interview. “You can’t survive a lost reputation.”

Football Revenue

The Nittany Lions generated $116.1 million in revenue in fiscal 2011 and turned a profit of $14.8 million, according to the school’s NCAA revenue and expenses report. Football accounted for $58.9 million in revenue and $43.8 million in profit, which helped support the school’s money-losing sports. The athletic program will borrow as much as $12 million annually each of the next five years to cover the NCAA fine, and the school will expect football to help pay the debt service.

Dave Joyner, athletic director, said contracts as long as 10 years will keep many sponsors in the fold, giving the school time to repair its reputation. The athletic department earned $55.2 million from royalties, licensing, advertisements and sponsorships in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011, according to school documents. Sandusky was charged in November.

Beyond Signs

PNC Financial Services Group Inc., (PNC) based in Pittsburgh, has a year left on an agreement that includes signs and tickets to sports events, and banking services on campus.

“Our relationship extends beyond signage,” said Fred Solomon, PNC’s vice president of external communications. “It includes helping Penn State students bank and develop financial management skills. The incident does not eliminate those needs.”

State Farm Insurance Co., the U.S’s largest automobile insurer, dropped its sponsorship of the football team in July to show support for the victims, spokeswoman Arlene Lester said at the time. The company, which declined to say how much the deal cost, maintained support of men’s basketball at the school and college football overall.

Penn State is 3-2 this season after beating Illinois on Sept. 29 at Illinois.  Michael Mauti and the rest of the team executed revenge on a school that was licking its chops for football players after the NCAA sanctions were announced.