Thank you, Joe Paterno
posted by LW, Saturday, May 16, 2009
He's typically stodgy, irascible and resistant to change.
So it's absolutely perfect that Paterno is calling out the current postseason system for the sham that it is, as he did in this article.
"It makes sense that we have a playoff," Paterno said last night at the the 35th annual Daily News-Eagles City All-Star Game banquet at Dugan's Restaurant in Northeast Philly. "I don't know what the problems are, but I don't like to hear the phony reasons why they don't have it. 'The kids are going to spend too much time away from class.' Aw, come on. Look what they do with the basketball [NCAA Tournament]. All the other divisions in NCAA football have playoffs. I really think a playoff is fairer."
It's about time a coach debunked these silly excuses that so many folks -- the NCAA, college presidents, even coaches themselves -- have used to defend the system. And how cool is it that the one doing the debunking is Paterno, a man who still doesn't have a cell phone or use e-mail?
Paterno didn't stop there. He also took aim at the 11-team Big Ten and its reluctance to adapt to changing times.
"Again, I'm going to bring this up at the Big Ten meetings," Paterno said. "Sometimes you don't know all the reasons why something is how it is. There's tradition, obviously. But situations change. You can't always do what was done 40 or 50 years ago.
"All these other conferences play longer because they have league championship games. We're sitting around and nobody knows Big Ten football exists for 5 or 6 weeks. It hurts our recruiting. In addition to that, our teams are losing their edge competitively.
"I think we're hurting ourselves. There's a perception the Big Ten isn't as good a conference as it was, or isn't as good as some of the other conferences, because we don't do as well in bowl games. What do you expect when you start out with one hand tied behind your back? It's not fair to the kids."
Refreshing, huh?
Southern Cal is in big trouble on the gridiron and hardwood, and Dennis Dodd wonders if the Trojans will be stripped of a national title.
It would be hard enough to recruit to a program decimated by scholarship reductions, a postseason ban and negative recruiting from rivals. But as mentioned, USC is one of the few superpowers that could rebound.
Take away a national championship, and it's not just about removing a few banners. It's like amputating a limb. It's personal, embarrassing and everlasting. Something that has never occurred in major college football.
So let me get this straight: Coaches are banned from text-messaging recruits, but they can bombard them with as many e-mails as they want?
Gotta love the NCAA's commanding grasp of technology.
Courtesy of Deadspin, here's a bizarre interview with Ted Nugent.
What do Clemson and Nugent have in common? Kevin Steele used to be the guy's neighbor in Waco when Steele was the head coach at Baylor.
Steele was right. This dude is a strange bird.
Nugent, though, isn't as dangerous as Charles Barkley on a golf course.
Good piece here on Wake Forest's Riley Skinner by Cory McCartney of SI.com.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder enters 2009 with a .673 completion percentage (639-of-949), topping the career .670 record Virginia's Matt Schaub set. That rate puts Skinner in line with the last two Heisman Trophy winners (Sam Bradford boasts a .685 career percentage, while Tim Tebow sits at .657) while his 25 interceptions in 949 attempts are the fewest among all active players with at least 700 career passes. His 26-11 record as a starter gives him the second highest wins total (along with South Florida's Matt Grothe) among active players behind Texas' Colt McCoy (32).
Despite all that, few talk about Skinner in the same breath as the nation's top QBs. Maybe the fact that he's been around for so long, or that he plays in a conference whose offenses have become easier targets than Spencer and Heidi, has led the public to take him for granted. Whatever the explanation, there's no lack of love for Skinner within the coaching community.
"When you talk to other college coaches, regardless of the league, they all love him," Demon Deacons quarterbacks coach Tommy Elrod said. "Nationally we've had a great deal of exposure, we've played on TV, we've had some success, but he's not a flashy guy. ... He [just] doesn't have some of those flashy stats that the other guys have."
The Deacons will be an interesting study this year. Last season's offensive struggles underscored just how much two top-flight receivers (Kenneth Moore and Kevin Marion) meant to that program, and it doesn't sound like Jim Grobe has any special wideouts in the hopper.
Given the substantial losses on the defensive side of the ball, it's just hard to envision that offense being dynamic enough to carry the team.
Tony Barnhart presents his Spring Top 25.
Clemson baseball wins another one in Raleigh last night.
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Joe Paterno is 82 years old.
He's typically stodgy, irascible and resistant to change.
So it's absolutely perfect that Paterno is calling out the current postseason system for the sham that it is, as he did in this article.
"It makes sense that we have a playoff," Paterno said last night at the the 35th annual Daily News-Eagles City All-Star Game banquet at Dugan's Restaurant in Northeast Philly. "I don't know what the problems are, but I don't like to hear the phony reasons why they don't have it. 'The kids are going to spend too much time away from class.' Aw, come on. Look what they do with the basketball [NCAA Tournament]. All the other divisions in NCAA football have playoffs. I really think a playoff is fairer."
It's about time a coach debunked these silly excuses that so many folks -- the NCAA, college presidents, even coaches themselves -- have used to defend the system. And how cool is it that the one doing the debunking is Paterno, a man who still doesn't have a cell phone or use e-mail?
Paterno didn't stop there. He also took aim at the 11-team Big Ten and its reluctance to adapt to changing times.
"Again, I'm going to bring this up at the Big Ten meetings," Paterno said. "Sometimes you don't know all the reasons why something is how it is. There's tradition, obviously. But situations change. You can't always do what was done 40 or 50 years ago.
"All these other conferences play longer because they have league championship games. We're sitting around and nobody knows Big Ten football exists for 5 or 6 weeks. It hurts our recruiting. In addition to that, our teams are losing their edge competitively.
"I think we're hurting ourselves. There's a perception the Big Ten isn't as good a conference as it was, or isn't as good as some of the other conferences, because we don't do as well in bowl games. What do you expect when you start out with one hand tied behind your back? It's not fair to the kids."
Refreshing, huh?
Southern Cal is in big trouble on the gridiron and hardwood, and Dennis Dodd wonders if the Trojans will be stripped of a national title.
It would be hard enough to recruit to a program decimated by scholarship reductions, a postseason ban and negative recruiting from rivals. But as mentioned, USC is one of the few superpowers that could rebound.
Take away a national championship, and it's not just about removing a few banners. It's like amputating a limb. It's personal, embarrassing and everlasting. Something that has never occurred in major college football.
So let me get this straight: Coaches are banned from text-messaging recruits, but they can bombard them with as many e-mails as they want?
Gotta love the NCAA's commanding grasp of technology.
Courtesy of Deadspin, here's a bizarre interview with Ted Nugent.
What do Clemson and Nugent have in common? Kevin Steele used to be the guy's neighbor in Waco when Steele was the head coach at Baylor.
Steele was right. This dude is a strange bird.
Nugent, though, isn't as dangerous as Charles Barkley on a golf course.
Good piece here on Wake Forest's Riley Skinner by Cory McCartney of SI.com.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder enters 2009 with a .673 completion percentage (639-of-949), topping the career .670 record Virginia's Matt Schaub set. That rate puts Skinner in line with the last two Heisman Trophy winners (Sam Bradford boasts a .685 career percentage, while Tim Tebow sits at .657) while his 25 interceptions in 949 attempts are the fewest among all active players with at least 700 career passes. His 26-11 record as a starter gives him the second highest wins total (along with South Florida's Matt Grothe) among active players behind Texas' Colt McCoy (32).
Despite all that, few talk about Skinner in the same breath as the nation's top QBs. Maybe the fact that he's been around for so long, or that he plays in a conference whose offenses have become easier targets than Spencer and Heidi, has led the public to take him for granted. Whatever the explanation, there's no lack of love for Skinner within the coaching community.
"When you talk to other college coaches, regardless of the league, they all love him," Demon Deacons quarterbacks coach Tommy Elrod said. "Nationally we've had a great deal of exposure, we've played on TV, we've had some success, but he's not a flashy guy. ... He [just] doesn't have some of those flashy stats that the other guys have."
The Deacons will be an interesting study this year. Last season's offensive struggles underscored just how much two top-flight receivers (Kenneth Moore and Kevin Marion) meant to that program, and it doesn't sound like Jim Grobe has any special wideouts in the hopper.
Given the substantial losses on the defensive side of the ball, it's just hard to envision that offense being dynamic enough to carry the team.
Tony Barnhart presents his Spring Top 25.
Clemson baseball wins another one in Raleigh last night.
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
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Larry Williams. Larry has covered the daily beat at Clemson since 2004. Williams, who worked for the Charleston Post & Courier from 2004-08, joined Tigerillustrated.com in November of 2008. He may be reached by email at ldubya08(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.