Afternoon Kickoff 6/16
Note: This is part of a new daily series. Every weekday between about noon and 1, check the Footblog for the daily "Afternoon Kickoff" for updates from Penn State football and the national scene, opinions, links, etc.
The Associated Press and several Florida media outlets filed a complaint against Florida State and the NCAA over FSU's academic fraud case.
The NCAA is threatening to take away wins from several Florida State programs -- including the football team -- because of an academic cheating scandal. The NCAA responded to the university June 2, but no documents were produced and no information was released. The response was made available only through a secure Web site.
Some highlights from the above linked Orlando Sentinel story:
"The complaint alleges that the NCAA and FSU have entered into a "scheme" designed to evade Florida's public records laws."
" 'By entering into this scheme, the NCAA and FSU have evaded Florida's Public Records Act and deprived the citizens of Florida of information of significant public concern.' "
But my favorite line comes from the AP story:
"Florida State president T.K. Wetherell said he wouldn't be doing his job if the school didn't get sued occasionally."
Of course, Wetherell is apparently set to announce his retirement, so why care about the school getting sued? Makes sense to get out of the picture and leave behind the mess when the NCAA and the media are all over the school.
Just ask John Calipari, he knows all about that.
But really, the whole situation is pretty absurd. Mainly, the vacating wins punishment -- and the same goes for the Alabama situation.
Academic fraud? We'll go back in time and pretend you didn't win those games! Misuse of free textbooks (oh, the horror)? Sorry, you didn't actually win the 2006 Cotton Bowl.
Vacating wins really accomplishes nothing, except making it much easier for Joe Paterno to take the title of all-time winningest coach instead of Bobby Bowden. Paterno himself has said he wouldn't agree with the decision.
However, if the NCAA wants to start talking about not counting Bowden's wins while at Samford, well, I'm all for that discussion.
I don't think it ever gets old mentioning that some of those wins, which the NCAA counts toward the record, include powerhouses such as Gordon Junior College, Tennessee Tech Freshman and the University of Mexico.
So maybe the vacating of wins is just karma.
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From the Collegian:
-In case you missed it, Nate Mink spent several days ranking the Big Ten's quarterbacks.
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Quick Hits:
-ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg points out that Joe Paterno will appear on "College Football Live" at 3:30 p.m. ET time today on ESPN.
-Make sure to behave if you go to a game at Nebraska's Memorial Stadium -- cause trouble, and someone could turn you in via text message. Actually, sounds like a good idea.
-ESPN's Bruce Feldman rated the softest non-conference schedules in the land and Penn State comes in at No. 2. Can't argue with that. Penn State deserves every bit of flack it gets this year for what really is an embarrassment of a non-conference schedule. If the Nittany Lions are in the BCS race during the season -- given the schedule, it's very possible -- it will be the hot topic of the season, especially because the Big Ten appears weak again.
Link/Video of the day:
Tyrone Prothro's unbelievable behind the back of the defender catch from a few years back:
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