SB Nation User Blog: spakajewia

Penn State Volleyball on espn2

spakajewia — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:39:59 -0000

The national semifinal is on the deuce Thursday night at 9:00 eastern. They're playing the final four in Provo, UT for god knows what reason.

Telling people from the rest of the country that I played on a boys high school volleyball team my favorite bizarre aspects of being from Pennsylvania.

OSU is in the other semifinal game, but Ohio doesn't have anywhere near our volleyball creds.

I happened to be in State College last year just after the men won the national championship and saw a couple of really tall guys leave a house in west college that seemed to be the volleyball house. They were clearly going to get laid.

Let's win it again this year.

Last PIAA championships in Happy Valley?

spakajewia — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 17:06:36 -0000

I thought some might find this interesting. It's not clear to me what the effect of hosting the PIAA basketball championships have had on PSU (it's why Terrell Pryor strung us along)...though it' seems like a good thing for both the athletic department and the school at-large.

Many of the reasons why attendance for the PIAA championships are so poor could also be used to explain poor attendance at the PSU games.

Here's the link: http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/2009/03/will-piaa-say-see-you-later-to-psu.html

Will PIAA say "See you later" to PSU?

Total People in Discussion: 1

Today ends the 2008-09 basketball season and the three-year contract the PIAA has with Penn State to host the state basketball championships.

Will there be another contract with Penn State or will the eight championship games be headed back to Hershey, where it was from 1980-2006, or elsewhere?

Probably won't know that until the end of May, but if attendance is the No. 1 concern then the hoop championships probably won't return to Happy Valley.

Only 8,000-plus showed up on Saturday, the first day of the tournament, That's total. For four games.

In my conversation with the PIAA's Melissa Mertz, she seemed very concerned about dwinding attendance for the entire tournament and the impact of the economy and the fact that live TV makes it too easy for everyone to stay home.

As for the state finals, last year, 22,854 showed up for championship weekend after 30,300 in 2007. In 2006, the last year at Hershey, there was 30,400.

Each year, of course, the eight schools change and this year a strong Philly influence will probably limit the numbers because of the distance between Philly and State College.

Expect a nice crowd for the Class A girls game at noon today because Pottsville Nativity, back in the finals for the seventh time in 11 years, will be playing Bishop Guilfoyle of Altoona (which is relatively close).

Penn State has done a great job hosting these championships. All of the PIAA officials I've talked to agree about that.

"But people did like going over to Chocolate World and seeing some of the other attractions that Hershey has to offer," said one who helps out the PIAA. "There's just not as much to do up here. It's a college campus. And the building, while beautiful, is just a little too big. A small crowd really looks bad here and spoils the atmosphere. The Giant Center is smaller and really more convenient to go to for more people.

"Being relatively close to Philly, the Lehigh Valley, the Scranton-Wilkes Barre area, York/Lancaster and Harrisburg, if you decide to see a game at the last minute, you can get to Hershey quick. Here, it's more of a commitment to get to."

I also believe that more private schools (charter and Catholic) in the finals doesn't help because while some of them offer great support, what really brings the people is when a whole town can get behind a team and show up en masse. With a Catholic school, you may get alums from that school, but not necessarily the whole town. The small-town thing (remember Hoosiers?) doesn't happen as much as it used to.

We'll see what happens. The Jordan Center is a great building, and the PSU community has been supportive. But if I had to guess, this will be the last night of PIAA basketball here.

The other issue PIAA has been discussing is adding two classes to football and going to six. That will again be decided in May. Compared to Florida, Texas, California and other states, yes, we are behind in total numbers of classes, but I just don't know that we really need two more to ease the playing field. One, maybe. But not two. The WPIAL (District 7) is fighting it. They want it to stay at four. Usually, they get their way.

Stay tuned.

Pat Devlin is the reason Penn State hoops sucks

spakajewia — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:21:27 -0000

When you ask yourself why Penn State basketball is consistently mediocre, remember that news about the transfer of Penn State's backup quarterback received hundreds of comments, while the story about Penn State's hoops struggle with in-state rival Temple received 6.

Why did Jon Crispin transfer from Penn State the year after the team made the sweet 16 in the tournament and he was poised to be the next leader? Because he knew that, at least for the foreseeable future, the backup quarterback at Penn State was going to be more popular than the best basketball player.

There are scores of other associated reasons why Penn State basketball is severely handicapped--a rural campus for an urban sport, no great tradition, a cold, impersonal facility--but the underlying one is simple: the students and alumni as a whole don't give two shakes about the hoops program compared to the football program. It's not the administration's fault, or the coaching staff's or the athletic office's, it's ours.

We're going to have a college football playoff

spakajewia — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 03:59:47 -0000

Not sure how many of you caught 60 minutes' interview with Barack Obama tonight, but he spoke again about wanting to create a college football playoff.

He got more specific, saying that it should be 8 teams. And he said, "I don't know any serious fan of college football who has disagreed with me on this. So, I'm going to throw my weight around a little bit. I think it's the right thing to do."

If you're not too familiar with Obama, you should check out the 60 minutes interview, probably on cbs online, because its pretty good. In any event, it seems to me that his willingness to "throw his weight around a little bit" make it fairly inevitable that a college football playoff happens, probably sooner rather than later.

And, though it seems to just be a genuine act of a sports fan, this could prove to be political genius. If he manages to use the President's "bully pulpit" to get a college football playoff, millions of college football fans, who might now be ambivalent about him, are going to have a reason to like him.

Here's an si story about it: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/football/ncaa/11/15/ap.fbc.obama.footballpl.ap/index.html

Top Ten Reasons Why Michigan Sucks

spakajewia — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:14:31 -0000

Being an active member of the BSD community, some of you may know some things about me (I’m fond of old dogs; my wife’s an Iowa alum; I think Calder Way’s all that), but you probably don’t know something else. Before I earned my BA from dear old state, I went to the University of Michigan for the first semester of my freshman year in college.

When people ask me why I transferred, I usually say that it was an economic decision. I realized that the education I’d get at either place was pretty similar, but Penn State was much cheaper. To be honest, though, it was as much a social decision as an economic one. Michigan students are tools.

So, I thought I’d share what are, according to me, the Top Ten Reasons Why Michigan Sucks

10. Michigan students don’t just wear shirts that say “Harvard, the Michigan of the East.” They actually believe that the saying’s true.

9. At first, dorms that are co-ed by room seems like a good idea, until you realize that it only works because none of the girls are attractive enough to fool around with.

8. Even though they host the Hash Bash, the quality of Ann Arbor’s weed is a b minus.

7. Referring to yellow as “maize” doesn’t make it suck any less.

6. If half of the bars are too expensive for college students, it’s not really a college town.

5. Having the (previously) biggest stadium in the country is only valuable if the crowd can get louder than a robust golf clap.

4. No one cares that the state of Michigan looks like a human hand.

3. Obviously, Rich Rod is no Joe Paterno. The sad thing is, he’s not close to Bo Schembechler either.

2. What’s more obnoxious than the lyrics to The Victors? The people singing them.

1. The vast majority of the world’s wolverines live in Canada.

Old dogs are the best dogs

spakajewia — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:47:16 -0000

Old dogs are the best dogs

I read this excellent article--which is about dogs, not at all about football--yesterday. Somehow, reading RUTS' post about Joe produced a nearly identical sentiment from me as this article did.

Perhaps, just as old dogs are the best dogs, old coaches are the best ones, too. They lack the vigor and flash of the new, hot-to-trot recruiters, but they have loyalty and a stubborness to a run-oriented offense that I vastly prefer.

PSU +600

spakajewia — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:47:48 -0000

I just bet $20 on Penn State to win the big ten; if they do, I win $120. Now, I clearly don't think Penn State winning the Big Ten is a lock, otherwise I would've bet more than $20. On the other hand, I do think they've got a good chance to do it, in fact, I'd wager they have a better than 6 to 1 chance of winning the conference. Here's why:

1. The offensive line. Penn State's offensive line will be the best in the big ten, barring injury. Despite, or maybe even because of, the increasing reliance on the spread offense throughout the big ten, the conference is still the premier smash-mouth football conference in the country. The offensive line is the most important aspect of any football team at any level; in the big ten, that importance is magnified.

2. The defensive line. Like the o-line, Penn State's d-line will dominate games. They'll give the linebackers opportunities to make big plays, and pressure opposing quarterbacks, bailing the defensive secondary out until that group gets going. Moe Evans is going to be fierce; he's got an outside chance of winning the Bednarik Award.

3. The Posse, Phil Taylor, and Sean Lee. While I'm more devastated by Sean Lee's injury than most, and as susceptible as any to the disappointment that comes from reading about off-field trouble by Penn State players in the paper, I think all of these let-downs might actually lift the team up. Strength often results from adversity, and the players in the locker room right now have a lot to prove about themselves. As athletes and competitors, they know no better place to prove themselves than on the field. My bet is that Sciorotto, DC and the new linebackers and defensive tackles are going to look at this season as a chance to prove the world wrong. I bet they will.

4. Joe Paterno. And finally, it's going to be Joe's last year. Maybe or maybe not, but I think that these guys know that this is Joe's last best chance to have a winner. Maybe someone's telling them that and maybe somebody isn't, but I think the team leaders realize the potential importance of this season for Paterno. Moreover, I think Joe realizes the importance of it, too, and he's going to make damned sure that he puts his team in the best possible situation to win.

Now, can anyone convince me to lay on the 50-1 odds of winning the national championship?

At least Jimmy Clausen isn't our qb

spakajewia — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:06:26 -0000

At least Jimmy Clausen isn't our qb

The coaching staff might not have named a starting qb yet, but as far as I know, neither Daryll Clark or Pat Devlin, would wear anything as absurd as Jimmy Clausen's sporting.

Giving feedback to ESPN

spakajewia — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:55:00 -0000

I just wanted everyone to know that you can share your feeback with ESPN's obmudsman online.

Here's the deal with the ombudsman: "Ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber is the public's representative to ESPN, offering independent examination and analysis of ESPN's media outlets. The former New York Times sports editor and author will critique decision-making, coverage and presentation of news, issues and events on ESPN television and other media."

I read her fairly regularly and she seems exceedingly fair.

Anyway, we're kind of stuck with espn, so I think it makes to let them know what we think of the Outside the Lines piece and it's journalistic integrity or lack thereof.

Here's the link to give her feedback: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?id=2826900

Forbes' list of most valuable college football teams

spakajewia — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:03:35 -0000

Given the recent posts about out of conference schedules and getting season tickets in the nittany lion club, I was reminded of this Forbes' list of most valuable college football teams.

The article: http://www.forbes.com/sportsbusiness/2007/11/20/notre-dame-fooball-biz-sports-cx_ps_1120collegeball.html

Penn State's not mentioned until the slideshow: http://www.forbes.com/2007/11/20/notre-dame-fooball-biz-sports-cx_ps_1120collegeball_slide.html?thisSpeed=30000

By my count, PSU comes in at 12th nationally, though I think we're getting screwed by their system, which values contributes to the schools academic programs above contributions to the athletic programs (and for better or worse, all psu football revenue goes to athletics, I think). We do have a greater "profit" than a few of the schools that have a higher "value" than Penn State.

I can't remember if this was posted back when the list came out.

Admittedly, the logic behind this is at least as shaky as that behind recruiting rankings, but hey, it's July, and it's just another reminder, that at the end of the day, college football has a whole heck of a lot to do with money.