Saturday, 1 a.m.
Q: I may be in the minority, but I thought the intense booing of Brett Farve's return to Green Bay on Sunday was classless by the Packer fans. No matter the reason for his departure in 2008, he has given the Packers 16 years of great, competitive football including one Super Bowl championship. The fans could have at least acknowledged that with applause at the beginning of the game and then moved on to root for their team. I would like to think Pittsburgh fans would have reacted with applause if that situation had or would ever present itself here.
Tom Foster
Bob Smizik: Fans seem to becoming more vindictive all the time. If they can't be on the field, they still want to affect the outcome of the game. My guess is Steelers fans would not react a whole lot differently than the Green Bay fans did. Although, in fairness, if you saw the game, there were some Green Bay fans applauding Favre.
As you might know, a minority of Pitt fans were booing quarterback Bill Stull as late as the sixth game of the season, although Pitt was 4-1 and Stull was among the NCAA leaders in passing efficiency. The reason they were booing him: The final game of the 2009 season. Fans anywhere can be an unforgiving lot.
Let’s not forget the showering of boos Barry Bonds received every time he came back to Pittsburgh. Granted, he was not the hero in Pittsburgh that Favre was in Green Bay. But his departure wasn’t as bitter as Favre's. And Bonds did help the team to get to three playoffs. In his six-plus seasons in Pittsburgh he won more MVP awards (two) than any player in team history.
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Q: As a lifelong Steelers fan, I have been raised to expect nothing but the best from the players week in and week out. Even though Ryan Clark’s previous trip to Denver ended horribly for him, he should still play this week because he is cleared medically. Past events shouldn’t affect future ones.
Ryan Clark is a vital player for the Steelers. Taking him out of the game would severely hurt the defense, and in turn hurt the chances of Pittsburgh winning the game. Logically, the decision by the Steelers to not play him isn’t a smart one.
Matt Blobner
Bob Smizik: You sound a bit selfish, Matt. You seem to be putting your own interest above Ryan Clark’s health. I’m not quite sure what ``medically cleared’’ means. I do know that Ben Roethlisberger was medically cleared following a concussion to play against Oakland in 2006 and had a horrible, horrible game. Troy Polamalu was medically cleared to play against Cleveland and did not appear to be 100 percent.
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Q: I could not agree with you more. One aspect that bothers me with some sports radio show hosts is that the Yankees are winning by simply playing according to the rules and they have no culpability for this terrible disparity in this sport. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Yankees are foremost in their effort to make sure the gap between the halves and have-nots remains as wide as possible. The owners make the rules and the Yankees lead the lobby to prevent a salary cap, limit or eliminate the luxury tax, maintain no sharing of revenue from television contracts, and ensure that their team continues to get he most national TV exposure.
I used to attend over 15 games a year, I have not gone to one now in years, with no intent to do so as long as this is such a poorly managed league. The fact that there is no chance for parity makes this even less appealing.
Barry Vukoder
Bob Smizik: My point was there should be little satisfaction on the part of the Yankees in winning when so much is tilted in their favor. Judging from their reaction and that of their fans, my point was lost on them.
In defense of the Yankees, they are playing within the rules. They have only one vote in MLB and certainly could not stem the tide of change if the other teams wanted change.
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Q: I totally agree with your comments regarding Urban Meyer and his "punishment" of Brandon Spikes. His treatment of the incident is disgraceful, and someone at Florida should step in and suspend Spikes for the remainder of the season. I thought Meyer had a lot more class than this, but I've lost all respect for him. He should be ashamed of himself.
Dan Frost
Bob Smizik: Well said, Dan. Meyer has a blot of his resume that won’t easily be removed.
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Q: Despite my allegiance to Pitt, I've always tried to respect Joe Paterno. With that said, don't you find it incredibly juvenile that after all these years, he still holds a grudge about this league he tried to put together decades ago? He helped to ruin one of the more passionate rivalries in American sport, and despite his most impressive career resume, that should not be forgotten.
Jordan Wilfong
Bob Smizik: Joe Paterno is a very complex man. It is widely believe he holds a grudge against Pitt and that is why he will not schedule it. If that is the case, yes, it’s very juvenile.
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Q: Why not have sponsors for a Pitt-Penn State game -- something like the “PNC Fall Classic”. With sponsorship and TV rights, this game would make far more money than the weak links both teams currently play – and thus overcome one of PSU’s frequently mentioned obstacles “we need the funds from the extra home game”. Make sense?
Greg Berkebile
Bob Smizik: While sponsorships are a revenue stream colleges certainly mine, I don’t see it happening in this situation. Penn State has gross revenues in excess of $2 million for a home game, regardless of the opponent. I doubt a sponsor's fee could come close to matching that.
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Q: I was born in 1986 and one of my earliest memories of college football is Jay Leno making a joke that went something like, ``Hurricane Andrew is getting so bad, it actually blew U. of Miami football players into the classroom.’’ I am just curious when did Division I athletic departments sell their souls, so to speak (admission standards, on and off field behaviors, etc.). I guess I'm just wondering if there was a time when college athletics were 'pure', because I cannot recall one.
Steven Watkins
Bob Smizik: I think when colleges started to realize how much money there was in football and basketball they became less concerned with a prospective athlete’s grade-point average and more concerned with his time in to 40-yard dash. Once one school lowered its standards, others had to follow in order to compete. Some held out for a long time, but today even the Ivy League and the service academics make exemptions for athletes.
I doubt college athletics ever were pure -- the human specie being what it is -- but from personal experience I can tell you in the early and mid-1960s the football and basketball players were students and had the same entrance requirements as the rest of the student body. I’d say this started to change sometime in the late 1970s.
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Q: Please - enough already of this Pitt-Penn State talk. I watched in the late 1960s as Paterno ran up the score year after year, so he could climb the ladder leading to a national championship. It seems like Pitt has made some very sound decisions - Big East, etc. - in the past 30 - 40 years (well, OK, maybe we haven't always gotten the best coaches). We certainly were correct in staying with the Big East.
I love the Backyard Brawl! As far as I'm concerned, it is THE rivalry. Thank you, Joe, for ending the series with Pitt. Bob, don't you think it's time to file Penn State away with the script logo, as nothing but a memory?
Bruce Lindquist
Bob Smizik: I’m not so sure that Woodland Hills (were it in existence) couldn’t have run up the score against some of those Pitt teams in the late 1960s. I, too, love the Pitt-West Virginia rivalry. For me, it will never replace the Pitt-Penn State rivalry
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Q: I was thinking about the recent posting regarding the ACC's raid on the Big East awhile back. And also about the BE looking for a 9th football school. Do you see any way that Boston College may rethink it's position and move back to the BE? Are there contracts that would prohibit them from doing that? BC in the ACC makes no real sense to me just as DePaul in the BE for basketball. I say the powers that be should lobby for BC to rejoin the BE and allow DePaul to go to another basketball conference where it can be more competitive.
Doug Sekelik
Bob Smizik: Boston College’s decision to leave the Big East for the ACC remains inexplicable to me. I doubt it is currently interested in rejoining the Big East. The administrators at the school certainly would look like fools if that happened. As you suggest, I’m fairly certain there would be harsh financial penalties if they left the ACC.
Somehow I don’t think DePaul would graciously leave the Big East to make room for Boston College. That remains a constant problem for the conference. While it needs a ninth football team, it cannot expand beyond the 16 it has in basketball.
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Q: I read an article awhile ago during the big exodus of Miami, BC, and VT to the ACC, that stated the greatest impact was the loss of Miami because recruiting in Florida would suffer without having a Florida school in the Big East. Does it help to recruit kids in Florida with a Florida school in your conference? The reason isn't so much the brand name alignment but giving coaches an opportunity to recruit face to face during the season. I don't know if it's true or not but I think universities think it is. This may help explain why BC left with Miami and VT for the ACC and why the BE added USF.
Marnie Levine
Bob Smizik: I think the Big East took in USF mainly because it needed an eighth team and USF was in a large market. There are positives and negatives to having a Florida team in the Big East. The positive is that it gives the other Big East members additional name recognition in the state, which can help. But by taking USF in as a member, the Big East immediately upgraded the school’s credibility. Where some players might not have gone to a non-BCS school in the past, they now look more favorably at USF and, indirectly, less favorably at the other Big East schools.
Posted
Nov 07 2009, 01:00 AM
by
Bob Smizik