Amid ratings decline, Penn State still top 2010-11 bowl ratings

January 13, 2011 at 3:57 pm · Filed under Big Ten, Featured, Football, Headline, Penn State

Article from NittanyWhiteOut. Read more here

The news doesn’t get better in the midst of one of the toughest television years for college football. Bowl ratings, on average are down 9% from last season including a 11% drop for the BCS title game that went down to the wire between Auburn and Oregon.

Disappointing, but understandable considering that the 4 BCS bowls, plus the title game shifted from Fox and ABC to ESPN, who had to outbid Fox by $100 million to carry the games from 2011-14. A drop in viewership is a usual and expected effect of this broadcast-to-cable shift. Old-line networks (ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS) play to 116 million TV homes while ESPN is limited to about 100 million subscribers, just 86% of the broadcast base resulting in 15-16 million viewers that don’t get satellite or cable who are being disenfrancished.

As sports have moved to cable, we’ve seen the viewership fall. It has happened in the N.B.A., the British Open, “Monday Night Football,” the Breeders’ Cup and Nascar. The nine Chase for the Sprint Cup races that left ABC for ESPN last year had a 20 percent drop in viewers, to 4.4 million.

And on top of that, let’s not forget the matchups that viewers were faced with. The Orange and Fiesta ended in lopsided blowouts between teams that struggle to carry a national audience (UConn, Stanford, Virginia Tech), and even the Granddaddy of them All was handcuffed to a matchup between B1G squad Wisconsin and TCU, a mid major without the cachet of most traditional programs, thanks to a BCS rule requiring them to do so once every 4 years.

So, understandably the ratings for the BCS Title (-11%), Rose (-15%), Sugar (-4%), Orange (-1%) and Fiesta (-25%) bowls are significantly lower when compared to last season. And as much as ESPN would like to spin the numbers in a positive light, the ratings decline remains a tough blow in the fight between broadcasters and cable whose ad-supported networks are battling the advantage of subscriber fees that ESPN charges. It’s tough to sell an unattractive yet overpriced product to prospective sponsors.

But it’s not all bad news. Penn State, once again, has dominated bowl ratings. In fact, the Outback Bowl between the Nittany Lions and the Florida Gators rank 4th among all bowls, BCS and non-BCS drawing more viewers than the Orange and Fiesta bowls. The 7.05 rating represents an eye popping 101% increase more than doubling the 3.5 rating earned last season during an OT thriller between Auburn and Northwestern. Amidst a bowl season when 23 of the 33 returning bowls drew lower ratings than a year ago, including 13 that plummeted by 20% or more, the Outback bowl emerged as a clear winner.

There was a bit of hesitation back in December when the Outback Bowl selected the Nittany Lions with the #2 pick of B1G teams passing over fellow programs with identical 7-5 records; Michigan, Northwestern, and particularly Iowa who beat the Lions in their conference opener. But, it’s tough to blame the Outback Bowl for making a fiscally sound decision. And based on the 7.05 rating that doubled last season’s OT thriller, the Outback Bowl committee was right all along.

* Nielsen Media Research

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Nittany Lions pull second straight upset, beats #16 Illini 57-55

January 12, 2011 at 12:40 am · Filed under Basketball, Headline, Penn State

Article from NittanyWhiteOut. Read more here

Photo Credit: Brian Siegrist

It wasn’t supposed to happen.

Sure, Penn State was coming off an emotional 66-62 win over ranked nemesis Michigan State. But to pull off a second consecutive upset against another B1G title contender, now that’s just wishful thinking.

Except someone forgot to send Talor Battle and Andrew Jones the memo. The two connected on a putback basket with barely a second left in the game to clinch the upset for the Nittany Lions.

Coming into the game, the (13-3, 3-0) Fighting Illini were red hot, converting 65% from the field including 64% of their 3s in B1G play. Impressive numbers, yet pales in comparison to the 70.5% shooting performance that set a single-game school record against Northwestern just 6 days ago. It was clear the Lions would be tested defensively by one of the best shooting teams they will be facing all season.

Surprisingly Penn State limited the Illini offense that was shooting 64% in B1G play to just 41% for the game, but Penn State’s own offensive woes (35% shooting) kept Illinois in the game. Even as the two teams traded shot for shot in a game that featured 5 ties and 3 lead changes, the Nittany Lions never backed down, not when the Illini wiped out a 12 point lead in the first half, nor following Bill Cole’s layup to tie the game with 20 seconds left. Most teams wilt under the pressure. But Talor Battle has been in this situation before, he actually thrives on it. A mere 3 days earlier against #18 Michigan State, Battle asked for the ball with Penn State up by 1 and less than a minute to go. It didn’t matter that the senior star was just 2-13 from the field by that point, Battle knew he would make the play. With time running down, and the good guys up by 1, Talor Battle scored on an off-balance jumper that gave the Nittany Lions the 3 point lead they needed to put the Spartans away.

Tonight was no different. Although the Illini fought back to tie the game at 55 with 22 seconds left, Penn State remained surprisingly calm. In fact, Ed DeChellis didn’t even call a timeout following Bill Cole’s game-tying layup. Talor Battle simply dribbled the ball down the court for another off-balanced attempt at the game winning shot. Except it took the help of fellow teammate Andrew Jones tonight. Battle’s shot bounced off the rim into the hands of Andrew Jones who slammed the ball into the basket for the game clinching score with just 0.7 seconds remaining. Even Illinois’ desperation heave downcourt was intercepted by the 6’10″ senior forward. Game, set, match.

And just like it took a team effort (4 different players scored 10+ points) to knock off the Spartans 3 days ago, it took a tremendous defensive performance by Andrew Jones (12 points, 8 rebounds including the game clinching rebound and dunk), Jeff Brooks (10 rebounds) and Tim Frazier (8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals) to upset the Illini. Jones (8), Brooks (10) and Frazier (8) helped the Lions out rebound the Illinois’ size 33-27 increasing the Nittany Lions record to 8-1 this season when it wins the rebounding edge. Battle also recovered from a shooting slump against the Spartans to finished 8 of 15 from the field and 4 of 9 from 3-point territory including his jaw dropping 3 pointer from 35 feet tonight. The 15 turnovers by the Illini, including 9 in the first half didn’t hurt either.

This win marks the 8th time in the last 11 games that a Penn State / Illinois game was decided by 5 points or less, 5th on shots in the final seconds. In fact, 4 of the past 6 prior meetings were decided by a single point. So shame on those who were in town and chose not to attend the game. It was also THON night, and all student ticket sales went towards the Four Diamonds Fund.

The celebration will be short lived though. Penn State will barely have any time to enjoy the program’s first consecutive upset of ranked teams since the 1954 NCAA tournament (No. 14 LSU and No. 6 Notre Dame) with undefeated and #2 ranked Ohio State scheduled for Saturday.

Let’s just hope the Lions are up to the challenge.

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Amaro likes roster, in no hurry to deal Blanton

January 11, 2011 at 3:13 pm · Filed under OSFFL

Article from Philadelphia Phillies News. Read more here

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. sounds comfortable with the 59 players he has coming to Spring Training next month.

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Oversigning Sucks, or: Why the Big Ten Can Still Claim Moral Superiority

January 10, 2011 at 10:55 am · Filed under Featured, Headline, Penn State

Article from NittanyWhiteOut. Read more here

As the college football season heads towards its exciting conclusion, and the focus shifts to offseason recruiting, it’s all too easy to think of the recruiting game as simply that: a game. In many cases, the prospects don’t particularly matter to us as individuals as much as their star ranking or offer sheet does. And it’s not just fans who could care less about the players, apparently: it’s coaches, too. A coach who will be quick to yank a high schooler’s scholarship if he doesn’t qualify academically, and who’s counting on a handful to flunk out. A coach who will usher a player out the door for “undisclosed violations” or tell them to fake an injury. That way, you see, they stay on scholarship, but it doesn’t really count.

What’s the culprit? Oversigning, which turns what should be a glorious rite of passage into a damning cattle call. Joshua has been a lone crusader against the procedure on the internet, writing the insightful Oversigning.com website in an effort to spread the word about the deplorable practice. Of course, it’s not easy: many will defend the act as necessary, as fair, or as acceptable, all in the name of winning a national championship. But we at NittanyWhiteOut can’t stand for that crap. We want our success with honor. Joshua was willing to answer some of my questions, and we think you’ll appreciate his candor, his thoughtfulness, and his insight.

NittanyWhiteOut: Can you explain the process of oversigning? Why would a school engage in such a procedure?

The process of oversigning entails a coach accepting more signed letters of intent on national signing day than he is projected to have room for within the NCAA 85 scholarship limit rules. To best understand this youreally need to look at the Big 10′s model for recruiting and then compare it to the SEC’s; the differences will be apparent.

In the Big 10, coaches determine a recruiting budget number that is calculated by taking the total number of scholarship players they have on the roster at the end of the season and then subtracting the graduating seniors and juniors that declare early for the NFL, and then they subtract what they have left over from 85 and that becomes their recruiting budget, or the target number of players they can sign in the upcoming class.

Here is a quick example: 83 players on scholarship at the end of the season; 18 seniors and 2 juniors leaving early for the NFL. That would be 63 returning scholarship players. 85-63 is 22. Therefore, the recruiting budget would be 22 players for the next season.

In contrast, in the SEC, instead of using this method to determine the recruiting class size, schools are only limited in the number of players they can take by the NCAA baseline rules, which are no more than 25 players per year and 85 total on the roster in August.

SEC schools such as LSU and Alabama basically sign the max limit every year, which until the Huston Nutt rule there was no limit on the of players they could sign, only a limit on the number that can enroll, and then they take from February to August sorting out who they need to cut (push into medical hardships or transfers) in order to get down to 85.

Alabama’s current recruiting class and current roster offers the best example of oversigning. They started the year with 85 scholarship players and currently have 8 scholarship seniors on their roster; 3 juniors have declared for the NFL. By Big 10 recruiting rules their budget would be roughly 11 in recruits. Alabama has 21 verbal commitments and 2 greyshirt obligations from the previous year, putting them at 23 total.

As you can see, Alabama is projected to be over their limit by 12 players. They have from February to August to trim the roster and get down to 85.

This simply doesn’t happen in the Big 10.

What are some of the implications, both for the school and the players affected?

If you watched the Outside the Lines piece on Oversigning you saw first hand the implications on the players. These kids are lied to and discarded, and in some cases with nothing more than a form letter saying they are not being renewed.

(if you didn’t watch the piece, now you have no excuse):

This is a one-way street though because coaches and schools hold all the bargaining power. No one seems to be holding the coaches in the SEC accountable for their actions and for running their football programs like farm teams for the NFL.

Give me another reason to be proud of Joe Paterno–what’s Penn State’s track record been on Oversigning?

Outstanding – to the best of my knowledge this is not and has never been an issue at Penn State. Obviously, the Big 10 Conference has additional rules in place that make oversigning illegal so this is really not an issue anywhere.

What kind of rules are in the books to prevent oversigning? What further regulations would you propose?

At the NCAA level there is nothing in the By-Laws to stop oversigning. To be honest, when they created the 85/25 limits I don’t think they ever really considered the topic of oversigning or thought that it would be an issue. This is where the Big 10 has been out in front on addressing this issue. The Big 10 allows its schools to sign 25 players per year and as many as 3 extra with the following provisions: if a school plans to sign more than 25 players they must petition the conference office and get approval to do so they must have 3 player enroll early and count towards the previous class – this also means that the previous class had to be under the 25. In addition, schools are required to prove the Big 10 office that no one will be pushed out of a scholarship in order to make room for the 3 extra players. Simply put, the Big 10 Conference watches this closely and schools are not going to get away with oversigning.

I would propose that the SEC and the other conferences in the country simply adopt the Big 10′s recruiting rules. It’s a working solution that has been in place ever since the 85/25 limits were put in place and the Big 10 has never had a problem with oversigning. I would like to see the NCAA crack down on the SEC and force them and everyone else to adopt the recruiting rules of the Big 10.

Why is oversigning so important to you that you’ve kind of spearheaded the campaign to get this into the public consciousness?

There are several reasons that this is important, but for me personally, I see it as a social injustice and I believe the practice of oversigning is misleading, sends the wrong message to kids, and has no place in college athletics. In the Outside the Lines piece by ESPN, legal attorney, Donald Jackson referred to the actions of oversigning where kids are not told up front about the possibility of a greyshirt or being cut as being very close to satisfying the elements required for common law fraud.

The thing that pisses me off the most is that the coaches, athletic directors, university presidents and the NCAA should all know better and should do a better job of looking out for the best interests of the student-athlete, not looking for the best way to cut them in order to make room for the next big time recruit.

Thanks again to Joshua for helping us out. I strongly recommend that you check out Oversigning.com for more information, no matter which side of this argument your loyalties lie on.

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Donovan Smith Commits to Penn State

January 8, 2011 at 2:24 pm · Filed under Featured, Penn State, Recruiting

Article from NittanyWhiteOut. Read more here

Just moments ago, during a break in the action at the Army All-American Bowl, Donovan Smith made his college decision public. As expected, he will join the Blue and White, choosing Penn State over his other two finalists, UCLA and N.C. State. In choosing Penn State, the 6-6, 280 pound offensive tackle becomes the 12th member of Penn State’s 2011 recruiting class.

“”It looks like I’m going to be playing in State College.”

In addition to those three schools, the Maryland native Smith received scholarship offers from West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, and Michigan State, among others. Rated a 4-star prospect by both Scout and Rivals, Smith is a good get for Joe Paterno and his staff, even if this was one that most saw coming from a mile away. Penn State hasn’t typically had much success in snagging commitments at these nationally televised all-star games, but Smith has been reported as a Nittany Lion lock for a while.

Given Penn State’s struggles along the offensive line in recent years, it’s encouraging to see them focus on that position in this year’s recruiting. Smith joins Angelo Mangiro and Anthony Zettel as highly sought after linemen who have committed to Penn State. Since the regular season ended, Penn State’s recruiting efforts have certainly picked up, and with a number of other, key, undeclared prospects still available, one can only hope this momentum continues into Signing Day.

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Eagles lead Dallas 24-0 after 3 quarters (AP)

January 3, 2011 at 5:14 am · Filed under nfl

Article from Yahoo! Sports - NFL News. Read more here

By the time Jason Garrett leaves the office Monday, he may have a new title. Stephen McGee threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jason Witten with 55 seconds left to lift the Dallas Cowboys to a 14-13 victory over the NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. Will the latest win be enough for owner Jerry Jones to remove the interim label and make Garrett the full-time head coach?

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