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Joe Pa: The Man and The Mystique

7/13/2012

"Here's a guy who makes a terrible mistake, one of the most terrible in the history of college athletics. I'm afraid that will be his legacy. When people talk about Joe Paterno in the future, it will all come back to this."
-Bobby Bowden

By now we've all read the report former FBI chief investigator David Freeh conducted on the sexual abuse scandal at Penn State. We've had 24 hours or so to digest the information. We all, being of sound mind and reason, have come to one logical and--at this point--almost irrefutable conclusion: it is a damning document. It is the murderer of one of the great legacies in the history of sport. Joe Paterno's statue may still stand outside of Beaver Stadium, but the one we have all erected for the legendary mentor in our hearts and minds has been lassoed, pulled down and destroyed in the street. At the very least it is almost completely covered in pigeon shit.

I won't bore you with the an in-depth analysis of the details that we have already discovered. We know that Joe Pa knew about the Sandusky incident in 1998. That fact alone means that, even if the coach always believed in his defensive coordinator and friend's innocence, he lied to a grand jury. That fact alone means that the 2001 conversation the coach had with Mike McQueary should have set off a field full of red flags in his conscience. That fact alone means that the coach allowing Sandusky to use his football facility for the next decade makes him a co-conspirator to some of the most heinous crimes that have ever come to our attention. That fact alone makes Paterno someone who would cover up the most serious of transgressions to protect the image of his program, his university, himself.

In the end that leaves the Joe Paterno believers, of which I was once among the most vehement, with one question and one question only: what makes a man the person that he is? Is it 60-years of faithful service, 60-years of steadfast dedication to a cause, 60-years of life changing leadership? Or is it one disgraceful act that begot another that begot another that eventually made Joe Paterno, at the very, very least, a knowful bystander in one of the most disgusting manifestations of human sickness the world of sports has ever seen? Is it six plus decades of molding young men's character, or is it a pattern of what Freeh calls "callous disregard" that kept even younger men from ever being able to fully realize their's? How can we rectify what we know about Joe Paterno the teacher, the mentor, the coach with what we now know about Joe Paterno the allower of sin and life ruining abuse?

I am not sure that we can. To say Paterno's resume is marred would be an understatement. To say Paterno's statue carries subtext and disturbing symbolism would be an underexaggeration. To say that Paterno the man we all knew is forever buried, both literally and figuratively, is a statement that we can all deny or agree with without ever really knowing what the truth is.

Because--outside of the victims and their families, who have earned the prayers and heartfelt condolences from a shocked nation--the truth lies with a group of men who knew Paterno best; who put their faith in the coach and were often rewarded for it by becoming better sons, fathers and husbands. The truth lies with the men who got to see behind person behind the image.

Right now no one can tell Joe Paterno's former players how to feel. Some believe they were deceived. Some are appauled and saddened. Some are loyal defenders who, while certainly not just forgiving their disgraced leader, still can remember the man they once knew in State College.

For now, we all realize that, when Joe Paterno was faced with the greatest challenge of his lifetime, the greatest test of his character, he failed miserably. We all understand that our image of Joe Paterno as the morally forthright guide for the virtue of college athletics is a sham.

We all know that, on the occasion that it mattered most, Joe Paterno lied. He lied to the justice system. He lied to the people he should have been protecting. He almost certainly lied to himself.

Joe Paterno is a liar, but does that make Joe Paterno the man a lie? I don't know. I am not the man to condemn or champion him.

The answer lies in the soul of a man currently buried underneath the Earth, and the people who knew him best. The answer lies in the heart and minds of the men whom he shaped into Penn State football players.

Time will continue to tick. Facts will continue to come out. We will all gain some perspective and be better able to judge the man's legacy in a year, or two or 15. But we will never know the man who was a sinner and a saint; a foundation for principle and a betrayer of the very ideals that he championed. Only a select few did. Only a select few will know, one way or another, what we never can.

We all know that their coach is dead. We all know what we will bring up first when discussing his life.

Only they will know if the rest of the story is really worth telling or not.

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My Prayer is Kinda Answered...Which is Good Enough For Me

6/26/2012

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Ding dong, the witch is dead. The Berlin Wall has fallen. Voldemort's reign of terror is over. The Bowl Championship Series' days of making college football fans weep and curse its name have finally come to an end.

Comparing the BCS to a wicked witch, communism and the darkest, most soulless creature any real or fictional world has ever known is no extreme. Because, not only did it (the BCS) oppress, marginalize and even kill sports fans souls around this great land, but now...it is over. Like all the other great horrors mentioned above, its number is up. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel containing our dismay.

It's stunning to me that this has happened; that the conference commissioners grew a pair of plums, that their respective universities' presidents finally got their PhD's in 6th grade logic, and that the Big 10 stopped defending a system that makes them look like the SEC's own personal french maid every January. I can honestly say that I was never sure this day would come--that the power's that be in my favorite game at my favorite level would understand that better competition and more money equals a win-win for everyone involved. That the fans, the players, the universities (many of whom operate their athletic department at a deficit and still acted like increasing the sport's TV revenue by roughly 450% was blasphemous) would all get the chance to be better off in 2014 than they have been for the past 12 years.

Now, I know what many of you may be thinking: not enough has changed. I am inclined to agree. In my opinion a 4 team playoff is not as exciting or entertaining as a 8 team model would have been, and to be honest I am still head-over-heels gaga over the possibility of the Sun Belt Champion upsetting Alabama or USC in the 1st round of a 16-team, winner take all battle royal. And let's be realistic here as well. This new system may not clean up the much, or even any, of the BCS' mess; it could still lead to the exclusion of teams from smaller conferences, or an outcry the first time (and I promise this will happen) a 2 or 3 loss Big 10 champion gets in over the second best (and far superior) team from the SEC or Big 12, or even a ridiculous amount of corruption and blind power in the still existing bowl system. In fact it probably will.

But I choose not to look at the glass as half empty tonight, and with good reason. College Football has a legitimate playoff. On or around January 1, 2015 something like LSU taking on Oregon and Oklahoma State battling Alabama (last years likely participants) will happen right before our eyes. We'll see two teams win, and two teams lose and we'll sit around for a week or so and talk about what's going to happen next. Talk about the most historic night in the annals of the greatest game on Earth.

The night when the winners of those semifinal games will meet in a Stadium in front of their fans, God, and TV cameras streaming their efforts to an entire nation watching with bated breathe. For the first time ever, College Football's most deserving team will be unequivocally declared in front of our eyes. For the first time ever, College Football's National Champion will earn their crown on the field.

It may not be everything, but it is something. Something long overdue. Something that certainly can (and hopefully will) be improved upon. But also, something that's finally within eyesight.

Something that makes college football more true and honest. Something that makes the sport more worthy of the love and admiration that we all already shower upon it unconditionally.

A victory won is sweeter than a victory awarded. In 2014 one college football team will finally be allowed to learn the truth behind that statement. In 2014 one college football team will finally be a true champion, one that earns the title bestowed on them in every sense of the word.

Today is a momentous day for the sport. That's something we can all agree on. Here's another: after a 143 years of college--it's about God Damn time.

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An Open Letter in Defense of College Football

5/25/2012

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Editors Note: In a recent debate entitled "Should College Football be Banned" noted authors Buzz Bissinger (Friday Night Lights) and Malcolm Gladwell argued for the elimination of football on campuses of colleges and universities around the country. While Gladwell's arguments focused primarily on player safety, Bissinger argued mainly that football itself did nothing to contribute to a College or University's main mission: Academics. This is an Open Letter Written in Defense of College Football, and Directed at Mr. Bissinger.

Dear Buzz,

I've always wanted to meet you. I can remember holding onto a copy of Friday Night Lights in seventh grade, flipping the page with trembling hands, dying to find out if Boobie was ever gonna make it back onto the field. Dying to know if he would ever reach out and touch his dreams. I can honestly say that that was the first book I've ever loved Buzz. Even now every time I hold the book I flip through it and escape back to Odessa, still dreaming of being a Panther, still dreaming of caring that much about something. I know now what I never did then. That your words made me want to be a writer. That your story changed my life Buzz. And I will always be grateful to you for that.

Which is why I was disappointed to here how you feel about college football Buzz. And not because I love tailgating Mizzou games or would skip a wedding to watch LSU/Alabama. But because I don't understand why you don't see past the game on the field and into the hearts and minds of the people playing on it. I don't understand how the man who brought me Boobie Miles' story could miss out on the purpose of the game that he was playing. How someone like you could separate the mission of the sport from the mission of university, without ever thinking that they might be the exact same thing. Buzz, it looks like you never knew what I know: that, and I am well aware how cliche this sounds, football (like any team sport really) teaches the people that play it more about life than it seems like you ever could imagine.

Because, it seems to me Buzz, that you have missed the entire purpose of the higher education in the first place. You say it's "academics," but that it is only part of it. You see Buzz, the really mission of any college or university worth it's salt isn't just academics. It's learning. Discovering. Growing. Developing. Becoming ready to be productive members of society intellectually, professionally, socially. Becoming ready to be good citizens of the world.

You see I played college football Buzz. And not at one of those big, sleazy football factories that you refer to with such disdain. I played at a liberal arts school with 1,200 kids where football was just slightly higher on the college's totem pole than the very real Qudditch team that existed there. A place where the players went to class, the College president made a significantly higher salary than the head football coach, and less than 100 students filled the Stadium most Saturdays. A place where football mattered very little to the everyday lives of every single person there, besides the 55 or 60 guys who were putting on their pads and going to practice.

This means that you weren't really talking to me in that debate Buzz, and I get that. I have no idea what it's like to exist on a campus where Nick Saban towers over Chemistry professors, admissions directors, everyone but Jesus Christ. But isn't that part of the problem Buzz? That you weren't talking to me? That I, and so many players like me, are non-existent to you? That you want to take our game away from our school just like you want to take away Aaron Murray's?

Maybe you don't Buzz. More than likely you never took us into account. Maybe you think that football can exist at places like small Liberal Arts Colleges and Ivy League schools--places where it will never matter more than learning about environmental economics--and just not in the SEC or Big XII. That's fine Buzz, I get that too. But you're still missing the point.

I had this professor in college, one of the academics you champion so much Buzz, who once told me to never be afraid to tell the world what I learned by participating in inter-collegiate athletics. So I won't be. The laundry list is long Buzz. I can tell you about how me and my teammates never gave up after losing 18 straight games, about how we worked so hard to make our team respectable, about how I made some of the best friends anyone has ever known by sharing a locker room and a huddle. I have hundreds of more sappy cliches I could share with you Buzz.

But instead I'll just focus on one. I'll tell you about how playing football taught me about passion Buzz. About how I went out everyday and got my ass kicked, and pushed a blocking sled, and never missed a practice even though I often daydreamed the whole car ride down to the Stadium that I would, because I loved to play a game. Because I never felt more alive than when I was playing football. About how when you truly do love something, you can commit yourself fully to it, just like how a prospective classics scholar can commit himself to reading Cicero and Homer and Virgil hour after hour because he cares about what they are saying. Because he loves reading and learning about the story that they are telling him.

You can find this passion playing football Buzz, just like you can find it completing a biology lab. Isn't that what college really is for? Not only learning what you care about, but also learning how to care so deeply about something? That even if you can't make money doing what you love, you can always know what it feels like to love and completely devote yourself to whatever you were passionate about? Isn't that knowledge important when we're trying to become a husband that loves his wife, a father that loves his children, or an American who loves his country?

You had this passion once Buzz, I felt it. I held the pages of what will always be the most important book in my life, in many ways my bible, and knew that it was present in your words. Now football may have had no role in helping you find it Buzz, but that doesn't change the fact that it was there. So why would you want to deprive someone else of learning how to feel what you felt?

We all know football itself needs to change, in many ways needs to transform its culture in order for it to be saved from itself. I've said it before. I'll say it now. And let's hope everyone can band together to make the game as safe as we all hope it can be. That's a great challenge facing the sport Buzz. We all acknowledge that we cannot hide from it any longer.

But you also point out another challenger facing the college game Buzz, and one that needs to be taken seriously as well. There's no question that big-time college football is often an unsavory business. That the college game needs some sort of economic and cultural shift to make it more honest, fair and legitimate: to make sure that it is focusing on the right things. That maybe your idea of turning BCS conferences into a minor league system for the NFL, one in which going to school is optional and players are offered "Tutors" like they are a prospect Albert Brooks is trying to sign in The Scout, is the easiest option. That separating an University from its football team is the simplest solution.

But it will never be the best. You may not have been talking to me when you said all those things Buzz, but I am talking to you now. Because whether we (student athletes) are competing for Oberlein College or USC, whether we end up becoming Lawyers, Teachers, Scientists, Best Buy sales associates or NFL Quarterbacks, we are all really the same. We are mostly just a group of kids going to school so we can learn and grow. So we can discover and develop our passion, and translate the blood, sweat and tears it took to push it as far as we could into the rest of our lives.

We are all boys Buzz. Boys who are trying to learn to become men. We do it by going to school. We also do it by playing a game.

Subtracting one from the other won't help us, you, or the institution of higher learning we chose to attend Buzz. In fact it will harm all three.

Because we are here to learn. And the things we experience in college are meant to teach us. Going to class and studying is surely a significant part of that. But so is moving away from home, meeting new people, becoming active in extra curricular activities (like student government, a varsity/club/IM sports team, a greek organization, or a special interest group) or figuring out how to work a George Foreman grill. That list includes football.

That's what college is supposed to be about Buzz: learning. And that's why most of us are here. Because, as you taught me so long ago, true learning requires passion. And when the two come together, it can lead to some pretty great results.

It can lead to us discovering what higher education is all about in the first place. That's what you should be telling us Buzz. Instead you just want to toss us out so others, in your mind, will learn Political Theory or American Literature better.

And we will learn nothing about it at all.

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March Madness...BCS Style

3/10/2011

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Dear Readers,
As Selection Sunday nears and bubble teams sit in the coaches house, wetting his couch like Poppy on Seinfeld as they wait for their team's name to pop up on the NCAA tournament bracket, I have an idea to take all the drama and anxiety out of this moment. College basketball needs to become more like College Football. I mean really, who needs three whole weekends of exciting, blood pumping moments that help define our sports year? Who needs the billions of dollars CBS throws to the schools that stage the sports world's second biggest, and most profitable, event? And really who needs the miraculous cinderella runs that forever cement schools like Butler and Gonzaga (and players like Gordon Haywood or Byrce Drew) into our national consciousness? No what college basketball needs is more exclusitvy, more power put in a cluster of large university presidents' and Athletic Directors' hands. It needs a more compelling regular season (like college football) where six overtime, conference tournament thrillers (or desperately close 8/9 NCAA tourney match ups) have no true meaning or probably wouldn't even be played. And it really needs to sacrifice a financial windfall that pays for every other athletic program in almost every division 1 school, as well as all the NCAA division championships in every single sport. College Basketball needs to become like College Football, where a backwards tradition and hierarchy supercedes true competition and fiscal sense...and here is how it can do it.

The College Basketball BCS System
-In college football only 2 teams, out of the 119 that compete at the Division 1 Bowl Subdivision, ultimately play for the national title at the end of the season. I know technically the AP can award a share of the national championship to a squad that isn't one the 2 that play in the BCS Title Game, but since that has happened only once in 13 seasons...it is not a realistic argument. So basically when everything is said and done, 1 out of every 59.5 division 1-A teams (I know 1-A is not the proper term anymore, but I am going to use it...so deal with it) compete for the national championship during bowl games. That is about 1.68% of the teams in the subdivision that get the chance to earn a national title at the end of the regular season.

Right now In college basketball there are 347 teams, and 68 earn a spot in the NCAA tournament and a chance to compete for the national championship. So currently about 19.6% of the programs in division 1 basketball technically get a spot to play for the title. That's almost 1 in every 5 teams...and that's just way too many. I am surprised AD's in the ACC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, SEC and somehow the Pac-10 (the Pac-10 is to college basketball what the Big East is to college football...a damn joke) allow this to happen.

-How do we rectify this difference? Easy, make the NCAA tournament much more exclusive by drastically cutting the number of participants. If 1.68% of the football teams get to play for the national title at the end of the regular season, then somewhere close to that percentage of D-1 basketball teams need to be invited to our new national title race. So how small do we make the new NCAA Basketball Championship Tournament (the name I just coined for the new system...real creative I know)? How about 6 teams. A 6 team national title tournament would mean that about 1.73% of division 1 teams play for the championship...not quite BCS good, but not too far off. I think every power conference AD would take that right?

-To chose the 6 teams that compete in the NCAA Basketball Championship Tournament we replicate the BCS systems, and rank the teams based on a combination of human polls and computer rankings. Right now to make things easier, and cut down on the considerable research I have had to do for this article (2 google searches and up to 5 calculator uses) let's just make our new ranking system (the Basketball Championship Tournament, or BCT, rankings) 1/3 based on the coaches poll, 1/3 based on the AP Poll, and 1/3 based on the RPI rankings. At the end of the regular season, and conference tournaments (if they would even still be played they now become completely optional and much harder to get into...like football conference title games) the top 6 teams in the BCT rankings are invited to the Championship Tournament...and that's it.

-I know what you all are saying...hey sach in college football 10 teams make BCS bowl games. And while those aren't quite games with national title implications, they still carry a lot of weight and prestige. And you're right, BCS games are inherently better than non BCS games (why? because they are), so we need to replicate this hierarchy in the new college basketball system. Right now in division 1-A college football 10 out of 119 teams, or 8.4 percent of the programs, play in BCS bowl games in a given season. And while only 2 of those teams really play for a national title, the other 8 earn huge financial windfalls for their participation in more prestigous bowl games. So here is the solution, the NCAA still holds a regular NCAA Tournament...just without the 6 teams who are playing in the Championship Tournament. This 24 team tournament replicates the 4 BCS bowl games in college football. This now means that 30 teams participate in the NCAA Tournament or Championship Tournament (24 teams in the regular tournament, plus the 6 in the championship tournament). So in the new college basketball system, 8.6% of the teams would either play for the championship, or in a "prestigous" NCAA tournament that means nothing in terms of winning an NCAA title, but guarantees the school's participating more money and national exposure for playing in it (even if the games don't really mean anything, but hey...people watch them in college football right?)

-The participants in this 24 team tournament are comprised of teams who met one of the following four criteria. 1-Any conference champion (tournament or regular season, depending on how the conference choose to name its "champion") from the ACC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, SEC or Pac-10 that isn't invited to the Championship Tournament gets an automatic bid (no matter their BCT ranking). 2-Any team that's not a conference champion, but is ranked between #7 and #12 in the BCT rankings, gets an automatic bid. 3-The top 3 teams in the BCT rankings from outside the power six conferences get automatic bids, and 4-Any other team ranked in the top 40 of the BCT rankings that is picked by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee as an at large team gets a bid (keep in mind, like in BCS bowl games, financial considerations will matter way more than season accomplishment or ability).

-However, in college football 70 teams actually get to play in some sort of bowl game. This means that 58.8% of D 1A football teams participate in post season action. How should NCAA basketball replicate these meaningless bowl games that are more rewards to "mediocre" teams and allow them to prolong their season? Easy. The NIT will be expanded to a 90 team tournament, and the CBI will be expanded to 80 teams. This means that 206 NCAA division 1 basketball teams, or approximately 59.3%, get to compete in post season play. However, like division 1 football, the participants in these tournaments will be decided by conference tie-ins (for instance the NIT will save 3 bids for the ACC, the CBI will give the Big 10 2 bids, etc.). The only rules are 1-Every conference champion must be invited to the Championship Tournament, the regular NCAA Tournament, the NIT or the CBI, and 2-You must have a .500 record or better to be eligible for post season play (unless 206 teams don't get to .500, which means the NCAA will grant waivers to below .500 teams...to fill these meaningless tournaments to fill up).

So, now that we have the guidelines set for the new BCT college basketball system, here is how the NCAA Championship Tournament and the regular NCAA Tournament would look this year (through the end of regular season play, excluding conference tournaments). I am not going to show you how the NIT or CBI would look, since that would literally take me forever to figure out. So...I'll leave that for the NCAA geniuses in Indianapolis.

2011 NCAA Championship Tournament (BCT rankings order. Ranking in AP, coaches and RPI polls in parenthesis).
1. Ohio State (1-1-2)
2. Kansas (2-2-1)
3. Pittsburgh (3-3-7)
4. Duke (5-5-5)
5. San Diego State (7-6-3)
6. Notre Dame (4-4-9)

Obviously, like the NFL playoffs, in a six team tournament the #1 and #2 seeds get a first round bye. That means first round games will be Pitt v. Notre Dame (winner plays KU in round 2) and Duke v. San Diego State (winner plays OSU in round 2) and it will go from there. Look I am not saying this tournament wouldn't be compelling, but are these really the only teams who earned the chance to have a mere shot at a national title this season? And this would definitely be more exciting and profitable than the NCAA tournament as it is...rght? Hey, wait a second...

Anyways here is how the regular NCAA Tournament would look. Again the participants are listed by BCT ranking.
2011 NCAA Basketball Tournament Participants
7. North Carolina (6-7-6)
8. BYU (8-8-4...Mid-Major Spot #1)
9. Purdue (9-9-8)
10. Texas (10-10-14)
11. Florida (12-12-10...SEC spot)
12. Wisconsin (13-13-13)
13. Syracuse (11-11-18)
14. Kentucky (15-16-11)
15. Arizona (16-15-15...Pac-10 spot)
16. Georgetown (22-22-12)
17. Utah State (23-17-17...Mid Major Spot #2)
18. St. John's (17-18-23)
19. Xavier (18-20-20...Mid Major Spot #3)
20. Kansas State (19-23-16)
21. Uconn (21-19-24)
22. West Virginia (20-26-19)
23. Temple (24-25-28)
24. Texas A&M (26-21-30)
25. Vanderbilt (27-24-27)
26. Cincinnati (25-29-31)
27. UNLV (30-31-25)
28. UCLA (29-28-33)
30. Villanova (28-27-37)
31. Missouri (31-30-32)

So the chalk pretty much held up in the NCAA basketball tournament, due to a lack of prestigious high major programs ranked between #32-40 who could steal bids (but think if Boston College (#37), Florida State (#38) and Washinton (#39) was replaced with North Carolina, Duke or Kentucky? You could say good bye to Temple, Vanderbilt, and UNLV). The only top 30 team that was excluded was George Mason (32-32-26...for a BCT ranking of #29). Does George Mason deserve it's bid? Absolutely...but like in football, Villanova and Missouri would be easily taken ahead of the Patriots.

As for the tournaments format, the top eight teams (North Carolina, BYU, Purdue, Texas, Florida, Wisconsin, Syracuse and Kentucky) get a bye into the second round. That means the first round games would be Arizona v. Missouri (winner faces Kentucky in round 2), Georgetown v. Villanova (winner plays Syracuse), Utah State v. UCLA (winner plays Wisconsin), St. John's v. UNLV (winner plays Florida), Xavier v. Cincinnati (crosstown rivals meet...winner plays Texas), Kansas State v. Vanderbilt (winner plays Purdue), Uconn v. Texas A&M (winner plays BYU) and West Virginia v. Temple (winner plays North Carolina).

Once again I am not saying this tournament would not be entertaining. But how would you like to see a North Carolina/Syracuse title game (two teams that could actually win it all this year) in a tournament that doesn't mean anything in the national championship race? Would I watch it? Yeah...but it wouldn't be the same (example: Imagine if the Stanford/Va Tech Orange Bowl or Arkansas/Ohio State Sugar Bowl was a first round playoff game? I mean I watched every minute of those games...but how much better/more entertaining would they have been if they actually meant something?)

So there you have it...college basketball's version of the BCS. Makes a lot of sense to throw away all that money and excitement and great competition for this BS right? Yeah...doesn't to me either. But hey...at least less teams get to play for the championship and the regular season finally really "means something" right? The big time programs should love that. As for the fans on the other hand? We won't be doing cartwheels over this kind of system (in any sport) anytime soon.

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Joe Pa: The Man and The Mystique

My Prayer is Kinda Answered...Which is Good Enough For Me

An Open Letter in Defense of College Football

March Madness...BCS Style

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