Where Is That?

The Big "Ten" Conference now having 14 teams makes me once again cringe at all the conference shifting that has gone on around college football in recent years. I don't mind expansion, when conferences add teams which make sense geographically.

Maryland and Rutgers moving to the Big Ten makes sense for Penn State, but they aren't close to the rest of the conference, which is midwestern other than Penn State, which was a stretch add itself, not being in the midwest, and being much closer to the former Big East Conference, which had most of the teams PSU played when they were an independent.

Nebraska made slightly more geographic sense in the Big 12 than the Big 10. Sure, they are close to Iowa, but they are too far west for the Big 10, just like Penn State is too far east.

TCU joining the Big 12 made a lot of sense. They now play schools close to them, instead of Mountain Region teams. They also are proof that a "small school" can play with the big boys in a "major" conference. But West Virginia moving to the Big 12 made no sense at all. The state isn't adjacent to the states of any other Big 12 teams. They are closer to the SEC, or even the new eastern Big Ten teams. And Iowa State would definitely make more sense in the Big 10.

Virginia Tech moving to the ACC made sense, but Pittsburg, Syracuse, and Boston College? Huh?! They are no where near the other teams. Plus the ACC stands for Atlantic Coast Conference, so what's with these new landlocked schools? The implosion of the Big East cause a lot of the geographical mess we now have in college football. Pitt lies in between Penn State and the Big Ten. Perhaps we need a northeastern conference, much better constructed than the Big East, including Penn State, Maryland, Rutgers, Pitt, Syracuse, BC, etc, but without Big East geographic oddballs like Miami and VA Tech?

Then we get to the SEC. Texas A&M and maybe even Missouri should be in the Big 12. Arkansas is borderline to go either way. Florida should be in the ACC, since I'd love to have the 3 big Florida teams (Florida, Florida State, and Miami) in the same conference.

All of the NCAA Football teams jumping conferences lately has made a jumbled mess of random opponents. I think the NCAA should completely scrap the current conferences and start from scratch, making regional conferences where you play the teams closest to you.

Sure, there are some longtime bitter rivalries (such as Ohio State vs. Michigan) that should be kept intact, but most of them are geographically close already, so they wouldn't be impacted. And the longtime members of most conferences are geographically close to each other, because that was the original point of the conferences. Plus, I'd have the non-conference games of each conference be against a nearby conference, so that is another way to ensure established rivalry games if the two teams didn't end up in the same geographically based conference.

Think of the new or renewed rivalries: Penn State vs. Pitt vs. West VA, Miami vs. Florida vs. Florida State, Texas vs. Texas A&M vs. Texas Tech vs. TCU vs. Rice vs. Baylor, Nebraska vs. Oklahoma, Iowa vs. Iowa State, maybe Pitt vs. Ohio State. 

Most geographic areas have big schools, small schools, and schools somewhere in between. This would eliminate the current problem of smaller schools struggling to gain revenue and exposure, and being lowballed in the rankings and bowl selection, simply because they play in a "small school" "non-BCS" conference with an "easy" schedule. If they played in a regional conference with school of varying size, they would garner more respect in the overall college football picture. And the many upsets in recent years prove the talent gap has lessened, and the smaller schools would be able to compete better than you think.

Do I think this makes sense? Yes. Do I think it will happen? No, not wide scale anyway. But I do think there will be some major changes in NCAA football conferences the not too distant future.

©2014 Denim McDemus

Let JoePa Rest In Peace...Please

It amazes me that even after Joe Paterno's death, people who ignore the facts of the case against Jerry Sandusky are still ignorantly bashing Paterno for another man's sins. It saddens me that so many people are blind media-fed sheep, who take on a lynch mob mentality at the very mention of certain crimes, stringing up even the innocent in the wake of their pitchfork and torches-carrying tar and featherings.

Today, after 4 months of backlash from students, alumni, fans, former players, anyone who actually read the PA Grand Jury Report, and anyone with common sense criticizing the cowardly Penn State Board of Trustees for firing longtime Head Football Coach Joe Paterno over the phone on November 9th, 2011, despite his being fully cleared of all legal wrongdoing by the State Attorney General, the self-preservation-minded board released a statement citing their reason for firing Paterno, "Lack of leadership".
By releasing this oddly timed press release instead of allowing the man to rest in peace, and allowing his family and friends to remember his legendary coaching career and even more legendary humanitarianism, the board has reignited the debate over Paterno's involvement on message boards, blogs, and social media sites the world over. Can we not let this issue rest? Hasn't enough been said already?

After a 46 year head coaching career in which Coach Paterno was known as a great leader, motivator, and mentor, showed class on the field and off, stressed fairness and academic achievement, and molded young men into future greatness in many fields beyond athletics, to call into question his leadership is a ridiculous smear campaign at best and a boldfaced lie at worst. To have expected a sports coach aged in his 80's to take the lead role in a criminal investigation is absurd. In this situation, how can the board accuse a man of "lack of leadership" who was: A. not in charge of the university or university security, B. barely still running his own team, C. no longer the accused's supervisor or even co-worker, and D. reported to his superior and the head of campus police what was reported to him?
Mike McQueary did NOT report sexual abuse to Paterno, but only a sketchy report of POSSIBLE "horseplay". McQueary didn't call it sexual abuse until he was interviewed by Tim Curley and Gary Schultz. And the very fact that McQueary was interviewed by the AD and Head of Campus Police about the alleged incident is BECAUSE Paterno reported it.

Do you tell your supervisor and the chief of police how to do their jobs? I doubt it. Would you follow up on a situation after being told it was investigated and no crime was committed? Nope.
This was an old man hearing a sketchy report from an intern about a former co-worker. He reported it. Those above him dropped the ball. Stop blaming the ONE person who did the right thing, just because he's the most famous name in firing range. Ever hear the term "scapegoat"? The board was being pressured by the fact-sensationalizing media to take action. Out of self-preservation and blame-skirting, they fed the most famous name they had to the ravenous media lions. Joe Paterno was sacrificed, because his sacrifice would make the biggest splash. The Penn State Board of Trustees distracted attention away from their lack of action about Sandusky, by taking the publicity-ensuring action of firing their legendary head coach. How can anyone trust these "Trustees"?

Child abuse is a horrible crime, and those responsible for perpetrating it and those turning a blind eye to it should be punished severely. Yet those people never seem to be mentioned in this story. People who report allegations, as Joe did, should be commended.
Defending Paterno has nothing to do with money, football wins, or university loyalties. It's about a man's career, reputation, life, and will to live, all being ruined over another man's mistakes. Joe Paterno was not a child molester, nor are his family and supporters, contrary to what can be read in a lot of people's online comments...

The questions that should be asked do not even involve Joe Paterno. Why didn't young athlete Mike McQueary physically stop an elderly man from molesting a child? Why is Tim Curley STILL employed by Penn State University and on PAID administrative leave? Why is the name Jerry Sandusky barely mentioned in the media when reporting on this scandal? Since the same Trustees who decided to fire Paterno were also in charge of hiring his replacement, did they have some personal or financial stake in those decisions?

The Penn State Board of Trustees' statement about Joe Paterno's "lack of leadership" is inaccurate. It is also unnecessary salt poured into not yet healed wounds. The man is dead. Whether his achievements in coaching, his humanitarianism, and his contributions to Penn State Univerisy mean anything to you or not, whether you agree that he did enough with Mike McQueary's allegation or not, whether you feel he should have been fired or not, please let Joe Paterno rest in peace, and allow his family to cherish his memory.

©2012 Denim McDemus

ESPN has no class

(Written 1/24/12)
Dear ESPN,
You can't really call a program "Joe Paterno Tribute" when half of the program is about the Sandusky scandal and why you feel Joe handled it wrong. That is not a tribute, that is you cashing in on someone's popularity and recent death to draw in viewers. Tributes don't usually take shots at someone...

©2012 Denim McDemus

R.I.P Joe Paterno 1926-2012

(Written 1/22/12)
My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Joe Paterno, the greatest sports coach of all time, and one of the greatest humanitarians of all time. The passing of a hero and a legend has left a void in the world of sports that no one else will ever be able to fill.

©2012 Denim McDemus

Bill O'Brien named new Penn State Headcoach

(Written 1/7/12)
So apparently head coaching experience was not a quality Penn State was looking for in hiring Joepa's replacement...
Seriously, O'Brien has NEVER been a head coach ANYWHERE. He's been an assistant coach on such football powerhouses as Brown, Georgia Tech, Maryland, and Duke (1-22 with him as Off Coor).
His latest gig my dog could do blindfolded, coaching Tom Brady.
Joe Paterno won 409 more games than this guy. I've won the same amount of games as this guy!
I'm sure there's a head coach at a small school that would jump at the chance to coach Penn State. There has to be someone interested with more experience than this guy.
I'm not saying I won't give the guy a chance. I'm saying I disagree with the committee's choice, based on his lack of experience and success, especially after they said head coaching success was an important quality they were looking for.
And let's not foret Spygate, which he was at New England for...

©2012 Denim McDemus

The Media Crucified Paterno

(Written 1/6/12)
Not only did Joe Paterno lose his job for a crime he did not commit & did reported properly, but now anyone who publicly supports him does too.
The media is so biased & are ignoring the facts of the case, & creating a mob mentality that people are being brainwashed into. Does no one realize that Paterno is NOT up for charges, he hid nothing, did the right thing, and even the PA Attorney General and the victims say he should not have been fired.
Paterno received ONE sketchy accusation with no solid proof from an intern about a FORMER co-worker, who no longer worked under him, about a victim that no one knew the identity of, which Joe REPORTED to his superior AND campus police, as State College Borough Police DO NOT have jurisdiction on campus which is state owned land, and stopped pursuing the matter ONLY after he was told by his boss and the police that they investigated it, and found no crime was committed. This isn't about football, a university, or Paterno. It's about the sick actions of a FORMER university employee that no one is talking about. Are people completely blind to reality? What the heck is wrong with people? Are you really THAT brainwashed by the media?

©2012 Denim McDemus