More Penn State sleaziness...

[SmilinBob]

I really hope this isn't true because if it ...I don't know, it just seems so incredibly wrong but I'm sure this will be just another case of too big to fail because money is just too important as are the politics/agenda of those protecting such behavior.

 

[PAcuse]

As a marketing tool the PSU football program has a huge impact on prospective students. Especially those from the northeast. I wouldn't be surprised if the overall student population took a hit if the football program got the death penalty. At the very least they would spend millions more marketing $$$.

Honestly that's all I see down here on billboards and TV commercials is ads for Penn St and it's branch campuses.
Do they benefit from the success the football programs has, sure.
I doubt the overall student population would dip to much as it's a fairly easy in state school to get into and most kids in PA end up going to it or a branch campus at some point.

 

[Orangezoo]

Doubtful
They have 19 branch campuses. The main campus plus Dickinson Law School.
The athletic department is only making around $4-5 million a year and they don't share that money with the school at all.
Also our 'state colleges' are not tied in with Penn St, they are all separate from them and share a pool of money now that they are generating.
End of the day PSU

I'm thinking more in terms of the amount of revenue generated around gameday for the city. It is incredible how much money comes into town 6-8 times a year. So maybe not "gone" but the local economy would be significantly impacted. The school has academic chops for sure and more than one success athletic program. But the impact of losing football would definitely hurt them a great deal and likely harm admissions as well.

The satellite campuses are indeed all over but most are very small. I haven't visited all of them but have been to quite a few as a friend of mine worked at several.

So after 5 years, the impacts on the economy due to 500k plus fewer patrons spending money on campus and off would start to show. Additionally, while academics still would bring in a good chunk of students, the elimination of the football program would begin to take a big bite out of that as well. As we know, PA has some solid options outside of Penn State.

 

[Dollar Dog]

As a marketing tool the PSU football program has a huge impact on prospective students. Especially those from the northeast. I wouldnt be surprised if the overall student population took a hit if the football program got the death penalty. At the very least they would spend millions more marketing $$$.

I come from a Penn State family. Aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws...lots of friends and neighbors too. I used to root for PSU football as a kid. When I went to SU, they all derided it as second-rate to their peerless school, so that fandom ended fast. Even before that, I had visited State College about 4 times and always thought it had a creepy commune feel to it. Everyone there thought everything about the place was perfect.

When the Sandusky scandal hit, none of my kin became full-throated apologists. But nobody condemned PSU either. At family gatherings, everyone just ignored the issue and basically didn't talk about the football team at all. After a couple years, as things cooled down and the team got powerful again, people resumed openly rooting for football. Obviously, I love my family but hate that program with a deep, white-hot passion.

Long story short, my view is that tons of PA kids dream of going to PSU. Football is almost inseparable from that school's identity. I think a "death penalty" kind of thing would not hurt main campus because State College will always have cachet to it. But I think it would seriously damage enrollment at the branches where people have other options. A big reason why kids go branch is so they can say "they are...Penn State". Without relevant football, that hook disappears.

 

[UpstateSM]

FIFY

What was the point of that ignorance

 

[Dollar Dog]

You’re all whistling past the graveyard.
That institution is untouchable.

Sadly, I have to agree with this completely. 20 years ago, if someone asked my Penn State-hating self what could possibly bring down their football program, I never would have thought of institutionalized pedophilia. If that someone then suggested "hey...what about institutionalized pedophilia?", I would have said "wow...you are a sick person, but yeah, that would definitely do it!". Well, it didn't.

Big TV, Big 10, big time college athletics, big merchandising, big donors, big fan base...there are way too many powerful forces propping up PSU football. And those sick, greedy, and/or deluded forces have already proved they will do so, no matter what.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

Sadly, I have to agree with this completely. 20 years ago, if someone asked my Penn State-hating self what could possibly bring down their football program, I never would have thought of institutionalized pedophilia. If that someone then suggested "hey...what about institutionalized pedophilia?", I would have said "wow...you are a sick person, but yeah, that would definitely do it!". Well, it didn't.

Big TV, Big 10, big time college athletics, big merchandising, big donors, big fan base...there are way too many powerful forces propping up PSU football. And those sick, greedy, and/or deluded forces have already proved they will do so, no matter what.

Gee that reminds me of another American institution. Must be contagious.

 

[Orangezoo]

I come from a Penn State family. Aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws...lots of friends and neighbors too. I used to root for PSU football as a kid. When I went to SU, they all derided it as second-rate to their peerless school, so that fandom ended fast. Even before that, I had visited State College about 4 times and always thought it had a creepy commune feel to it. Everyone there thought everything about the place was perfect.

When the Sandusky scandal hit, none of my kin became full-throated apologists. But nobody condemned PSU either. At family gatherings, everyone just ignored the issue and basically didn't talk about the football team at all. After a couple years, as things cooled down and the team got powerful again, people resumed openly rooting for football. Obviously, I love my family but hate that program with a deep, white-hot passion.

Long story short, my view is that tons of PA kids dream of going to PSU. Football is almost inseparable from that school's identity. I think a "death penalty" kind of thing would not hurt main campus because State College will always have cachet to it. But I think it would seriously damage enrollment at the branches where people have other options. A big reason why kids go branch is so they can say "they are...Penn State". Without relevant football, that hook disappears.

Interesting take. Having far more connections to PSU myself I actually would argue it may hurt main more than the branches. Many do go to branches due to either geography or grades or because they are only seeking 2 year degrees. At least from my neck of the woods in the Northeastern quadrant of the state. The amount of people with and without tickets who amassed at each home game and flooded the local businesses as patrons going away would be devastating. Main campus would be impacted more just by way of those wanting the experience that football has such a big influence on. I remember visiting several satellites before I visited SU and I honestly was surprised how much more the focus and talk was around academics than any mention of football. The moment I checked out main campus ( yes I admit I did visit ) all everyone talked about was how great game day was and how much of a community it was ( didn't say football but it was implied).

Either way no one is taking anything from PSU anytime soon. They are as already noted- untouchable. If the Sandusky mess that occurred for decades didn't damage them - this smaller carryover won't be more than a distant squeak in a few Months.

 

[SUFaninNJ]

I'm interested to see how PSU fans defend this.
I know a lot of them and for the most part they really don't like Franklin and most wanted him gone before Moorehead came in and saved him.

I posted a link to the article on FB saying “disgusting if true”. I immediately had a Ped State fan bring up Boeheim followed by a SU Law school grad (who hates Boeheim) bring up the NCAA violations, Bernie Fine and the 108 wins that JB lost.

 

[HtownOrange]

I posted a link to the article on FB saying “disgusting if true”. I immediately had a Ped State fan bring up Boeheim followed by a SU Law school grad (who hates Boeheim) bring up the NCAA violations, Bernie Fine and the 108 wins that JB lost.

sad. So sad.

 

[SU in Hershey]

I posted a link to the article on FB saying “disgusting if true”. I immediately had a Ped State fan bring up Boeheim followed by a SU Law school grad (who hates Boeheim) bring up the NCAA violations, Bernie Fine and the 108 wins that JB lost.

So...there is nothing wrong with what happened at PSU as long as something bad happened elsewhere? Nice deflection...

 

[SUFaninNJ]

sad. So sad.

My feeling is they bought into the Mark Schwartz/ESPN rush to judgement of Sandusky/Paterno = Fine/Boeheim

 

[SUFaninNJ]

So...there is nothing wrong with what happened at PSU as long as something bad happened elsewhere? Nice deflection...

Exactly. And my post was not so much damning PSU (I was trying to deftly navigate the waters with PSU friends and family) but more a critique of Franklin and his character, or lack there of.

 

[NJCuse97]

Didn’t PSU drop a NJ recruit because he was involved with a similar hazing incident in high school?

 

[sufandu]

Honestly that's all I see down here on billboards and TV commercials is ads for Penn St and it's branch campuses.
Do they benefit from the success the football programs has, sure.
I doubt the overall student population would dip to much as it's a fairly easy in state school to get into and most kids in PA end up going to it or a branch campus at some point.

Seems to me it would be similar to what SUNY has always been.

 

[PAcuse]

Seems to me it would be similar to what SUNY has always been.

Yeah they are similar to that.
The confusion comes in because PA 14 official state universities that are just named after the town. That have no part of PSU.

 

[sufandu]

I posted a link to the article on FB saying “disgusting if true”. I immediately had a Ped State fan bring up Boeheim followed by a SU Law school grad (who hates Boeheim) bring up the NCAA violations, Bernie Fine and the 108 wins that JB lost.

Wait, so player eligibility violations and s e x u a l harrassment violations that were later to be found as fabricated are the equivalent of what has happened there? Oh, and the guy that was accused of the fabricated allegations was quickly fired, not allowed to hang around campus for a decade. Talk about clueless people.

 

[SUFaninNJ]

Wait, so player eligibility violations and s e x u a l harrassment violations that were later to found as fabricated are the equivalent of what has happened there? Oh, and the guy that was accused of the fabricated allegations was quickly fired, not allowed to hang around campus for a decade. Talk about clueless people.

One is a Penn State football fan and a Georgetown basketball fan. Can you imagine a worse combination? The other has an irrational hatred towards Boeheim, even though he got his JD from SU Law.

 

[OttoMets]

One is a Penn State football fan and a Georgetown basketball fan. Can you imagine a worse combination? The other has an irrational hatred towards Boeheim, even though he got his JD from SU Law.

Based on my experience, that's almost as bad as PSU people or Georgetown fans.

 

[atom58]

I'm not an attorney, but since this is a civil lawsuit probably there will be an out of court settlement and then they will try to sweep it under the rug - sounds like the "local authorities" are saying it is not a criminal issue - so far, anyway - as only adults were involved. Will this fall in the NCAA's "wheelhouse"? That's the "$64,000 question". Also, I once heard about some crazy stuff TAMU players do - not actually assault like this story - and would care not to repeat what I read ... just yuck.