@lakerie. I was listening to sports talk and a guy called in and said the NCAA needs to cut back to 70 scholarship players he said it would level the playing field. The conversation was about how dominant Alabama, Clemson and Ohio St is. I believe this has been a stressful year with coronavirus and the election and people are on edge then with all of us penn St fans we start out 0-5 that’s enough to make you want to cry lol. Gotta give the team some love fighting back winning the last 4 games I was proud they didn’t give up it will pay off next year. The vaccine is here the elections are over it will get better and back to normal. I’m not stressing and worried I let Jehovah have my worries there’s no reason for me worry lol
Roam, what do you think about cutting back to 70 scholarships would it be a good thing? This is over my head
In my view it means Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State still get the best 70 athletes playing in the best facilities with the best coaches charging the most for stadium seating and PSL's, getting the best tv contracts and chosen by their respective confernces and ncaa's to play for a NC. I"m sounding a bit waaa, waaa, waaa but it really has gotten out of hand.
College football really is nothing more than a business and ran like a business. Take any successful business and look at what makes them successful (for the most part), solid leadership with a solid vision with solid financial backing (forget about the smoke and mirror blackswans) and where the young talent wants to go and the complacent talent gets kicked out. Football is no different; put in a top notch HC who can bring in the best ACs and knows how to leverage that skill base, have state of the art contemporary facilities, establish a model of direct or indirect payment and the top young talent will follow and those who don't produce can use the portal to move on. Bottom line is if a University doesn't want to play that game, they become runner-up's. Next man up!
On a side note away from football, what is the primary factor for elite collegiate wrestlers picking a school and how does a school become an elite wrestling destination?
On a side note away from football, what is the primary factor for elite collegiate wrestlers picking a school and how does a school become an elite wrestling destination?
coaching and facilities. Schollies are limited to 9.9 within a cycle, super elite wrestlers might get a full scholarship but most share a portion of a scholarshlp. Schools like Edinboro can't afford to pay the best head and assitant coaches and certainly the facilites are no where near the likes of Penn State, Ohio State, Iowa and Rutgers.
College football really is nothing more than a business and ran like a business. Take any successful business and look at what makes them successful (for the most part), solid leadership with a solid vision with solid financial backing (forget about the smoke and mirror blackswans) and where the young talent wants to go and the complacent talent gets kicked out. Football is no different; put in a top notch HC who can bring in the best ACs and knows how to leverage that skill base, have state of the art contemporary facilities, establish a model of direct or indirect payment and the top young talent will follow and those who don't produce can use the portal to move on. Bottom line is if a University doesn't want to play that game, they become runner-up's. Next man up!
And because of that big business it's impossible to maintain a level playing field. The rest would love to play the game, I'm sure Boston College or Pitt would but they can't. My fear is your next man up is a rotation between Ohio State, Clemson, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and of course Alabama. Just my opinion.
@lakerie. All we need is a QB and we’ll be right up there with ‘em. Bog dawg college football is just like the NFL you’re only as good as your QB.
I do want to say you can get by with an average QB if he doesn’t make mistakes
@psu61: Good question. I'm not sure I can answer that one but I'll try. First of all, I wasnt an elite wrestler in college. I had a good run in HS but I never placed higher than 3rd at states. I knew from little on up that I was going to wrestle for Penn State. Keep in mind that all the wrestlers that are on any D1 wrestling team were damn good in HS. Many of the bigger programs have a wrestling club, as well as alumni; to help with recruiting as well. But like Mr Lake said, a school needs a "name" coach as well as the facilities to back it up. I was fortunate enough to end my collegiate career wrestling for Cael Sanderson and let me say, he's the real deal. PSU wrestling was always knocking at the door, but until CS arrived, we were frequently the bridesmaid and seldom the bride. Frequently what steers one recruit to a particular school is simply the availability of scholarships. Another thing many consider is "how will this school prepare me for life after wrestling"? With only 9.9 to give out, it sometimes limits who gets them and how much of the scholarship they'll get. As for me, I never received a wrestling scholarship but I was able to get an academic scholarship to help offset the cost.
As for the label "elite" let me say there are very few freshmen coming in that I would say are elite. Bo was one. Lee from Iowa, and I could name a few more but dont want to miss anyone. The rest that earned elite status were guys like David, Zain, Jason, Ed etc.....worked their asses off in the room to get where they were.
Anyway, I'm not sure if I answered your question or not but I hope I offered a bit of insight.
@psu61: Good question. I'm not sure I can answer that one but I'll try. First of all, I wasnt an elite wrestler in college. I had a good run in HS but I never placed higher than 3rd at states. I knew from little on up that I was going to wrestle for Penn State. Keep in mind that all the wrestlers that are on any D1 wrestling team were damn good in HS. Many of the bigger programs have a wrestling club, as well as alumni; to help with recruiting as well. But like Mr Lake said, a school needs a "name" coach as well as the facilities to back it up. I was fortunate enough to end my collegiate career wrestling for Cael Sanderson and let me say, he's the real deal. PSU wrestling was always knocking at the door, but until CS arrived, we were frequently the bridesmaid and seldom the bride. Frequently what steers one recruit to a particular school is simply the availability of scholarships. Another thing many consider is "how will this school prepare me for life after wrestling"? With only 9.9 to give out, it sometimes limits who gets them and how much of the scholarship they'll get. As for me, I never received a wrestling scholarship but I was able to get an academic scholarship to help offset the cost.
As for the label "elite" let me say there are very few freshmen coming in that I would say are elite. Bo was one. Lee from Iowa, and I could name a few more but dont want to miss anyone. The rest that earned elite status were guys like David, Zain, Jason, Ed etc.....worked their asses off in the room to get where they were.
Anyway, I'm not sure if I answered your question or not but I hope I offered a bit of insight.
Thanks PAKid. That did answer my question and I think really pointed out the significance of a top notch HC etc. and more importantly, if I’m correct, how that coach develops wrestlers into elite wrestlers. To me that’s the difference.
In your opinion what is the unique thing about Cael’s coaching ability that really separates him from otherwise very good wrestling coaches? Thanks in advance.
@psu61: In my opinion, CS coaches his guys to be better men, better students, and better wrestlers and pretty much in that order. By the example he and his staff set for us, we learned about family. He prepared us to be better husbands, and fathers, and oh by the way....better wrestlers. He showed us how to have fun in the room, to not take losses so seriously, to learn from those losses and move on. He knows how to get the team prepared for the tournament like no other coach I know. To be sure, he loves to win the league matches, but his focus is on the National Championship and he's very successful at doing that.
His style isn't for every wrestler and there have been some that were asked to leave and some that left on their own. Cael recruits the person first, and the wrestler second. This happened after I graduated but a prime example of his coaching ability was how the staff prepared Nick Nevills for a bout against Kyle Snyder. On paper, NN should have lost that match by bonus points or a pin. He kept the match close enough, and gave KS all he could handle that night. Nick lost the bout, but he kept the score close enough that PSU won the match. They coached Nick up all that week.
In a nutshell, Coach taught us all about commitment. Commitment to school, to life, to team, and to wrestling. And, he backs that up by the example he sets in the way he lives his life. Lastly, He taught us not to define ourselves by wins and losses, but rather the life we lead OFF the mat.
PAKid. Thank you for your response. CS sounds like an incredible mentor and leader. Thanks again for your response.
@psu61: That's not to say that the other HC's are bad people. I never had a lot of interaction with any of them. I will say that CS would never tell you something that he didnt mean. He was always a straight shooter with me and my team-mates.
I hear PA. The reason I asked about CS was that I appreciate the insight from someone who knows the man and he definitely has some other factor that makes him more successful in other ways. Exceptional leaders have that it factor.
There is an article that just posted on ESPN titled is the CFP a beauty contest? Calling for an expanded playoff citing 20 of the 28 playoff spots have been by just 4 teams... My thinking is ratings must be down... I know I won't be watching until they invite at least 8 teams and my preference is 16 like all the other divisions do...
@the-funeral-director. 8 teams will be so much better but it still won’t fix what you want FD because teams like Cincinnati still won’t get in 16 teams and they will.
I stand corrected...I received an alert and that was one of the headlines in the alert for the article...I have just finished reading the piece and of course the SEC is opposed to the idea and why wouldn't they be? They are one of the sacred cows...Why are they so opposed to playing a Cincinnati or Coastal Carolina? It appears that some of the conferences outside of the power 5 are ticked off (and rightfully so) that they have undefeated teams ranked behind SEC teams with 2 losses...As I have said over and over again for years this whole thing is a farce and finally some folks are finally coming around to my way of thinking...It isn't about honest competition anymore...The games don't matter...Many of these games with the sacred cows involved have questionable officiating...It is all a predetermined setup designed to protect the sacred cows...My instincts tell me ratings are down...I know I won't be watching...
and that is what is wrong with the system...What is the mighty SEC afraid of? Why not let Coastal Carolina play them? I know why...Alabama and the SEC sacred cows have a lot to lose if they play them...What if they give em a game? What if they end up knocking them off? Then the myth is over...It is much more convenient to keep playing Notre Dame in the first round cause they know it is an easy win and plenty of people will watch cause it is Notre Dame...The whole point is allowing EVERY division 1 team the opportunity to compete...When you deny a team the right to compete this no longer is a legitimate tournament...What you have now is a beauty pageant not an honest competition...I can assure you if Cincinnati was given the opportunity to play Alabama in the 1st round of the CFP they would have given them a better game than Notre Dame did...These teams are wild cards and the establishment don't want wild cards involved as they may shatter the myth...All I want is competition...Right now that isn't the case...
Couple of years ago I got ticked off at the NFL about something and I said I wasn’t going to watch my Falcons and you told me to watch ‘em and enjoy your Falcons and I did just that FD because you were right. You’ve got a few bad apples in EVERYTHING but most of the NFL guys are good people and they do so much for other people they just don’t sit around and brag about it. FD we’re in our 50’s baby we ain’t got but maybe 20-30 years left so enjoy the college football playoffs they’ll get to more teams. I just don’t get into protesting things because it keeps you from enjoying life most of the time.
I won't be watching...It's a farce and a joke...For the sake of the B1G I hope Ohio State knocks the snot out of em...I will check the score Tuesday morning...
@the-funeral-director. For the sake of Penn State recruiting I hope the Tide beats the crap of of Ohio St lol
I believe your wrong with that assumption Southern...Bama winning only perpetuates the SEC bullshit myth...I hope Ohio State beats the shit out of em and rubs their noses in it...It is good for Ohio State but it is also good for the B1G as well...
@the-funeral-director. I agree with you on the SEC gettin a pass when they lose and ESPN does show favoritism towards the SEC but if you go to ESPN and look at Alabama’s schedule the last 7 or 8 years you’ll see they’ve beat Michigan, Wisconsin,Michigan State, Clemson, USC, Florida St, ND, Washington, Va Tech and Oklahoma and most of these wins were bowl games and playoff games that’s a lot of good football teams FD and these teams were ranked very high and Alabama demolished most of ‘em. The SEC does get favoritism by ESPN and the media but these teams aren’t cakewalks.
