Penn State's Michigan Obsession Extends to MSM
While it is not news to anyone who follows the Big Ten that Penn State fans have an... uncomfortable fixation on Michigan, typically this has been restricted to fans. Nittany Lions supporters have a focus on Michigan that seems unwarranted but for the Wolverines' dominance over PSU in recent years. Now, even those who write in the mainstream media have latched onto the obsession as a crutch for writing their terrible columns (entire relevant section quoted to avoid giving this idiot clickthroughs):An interesting sidebar to these rankings: How much will they be different if QB Kevin Newsome winds up in a Penn State uniform? He committed to Michigan earlier, but all indications are that Penn State is still recruiting him hard. So much for the gentlemen's agreement between Big Ten teams about not talking to verbal committments. What years of sportsmanship and living up to one's word built up, Rich Rodriguez and Michael Shaw tore down.While I don't need to point how how dumb the bolded portion of this quote is (nor do I need to point out that Donnie Collins doesn't know how to spell "gentleman's" or "commitment"), I will anyway.
Of course, due to a highly-publicized quote from Joe Tiller, suddenly Rich Rodriguez is to blame for Penn State's recruiting tactics. Umm... what? If he wants to try to hold Penn State up as a bastion of sportsmanship, maybe he shouldn't do so in reference to an incident where they are doing something he deems to be "unsporting." If Penn State was as virtuous as Collins intends to imply, they wouldn't be recruiting Newsome, regardless of what Michigan did last year.
In addition, it's great to see him trying to slam an 18-year-old kid for picking a school that he liked more than Penn State. If Penn State was worth going to, Shaw would have ended up there. Rich Rodriguez is not some sort of hypnotist. Of course, Shaw wasn't even the recruit that caused the "controversy" in the first place (that would be Roy Roundtree).
And of course, Collins's entire argument hinges on the presumption that Rodriguez was the first coach to recruit other schools' commits, which (actually good) columnist Sam Webb pointed out to be not at all true in an unfortunately-no longer free Detroit News article.
Labels: football, kevin newsome, michael shaw, penn state hate, recruiting, rich rodriguez
This entry was posted by Tim, on
Wednesday, June 11, 2008.
You can leave your response.
6/11/2008 10:35:00 AM
The PSU Homer radio network has been reporting for a while that they are pursuing Newsome hard and they have a very real chance of getting him.
6/11/2008 10:38:00 AM
they have a chance if tate forcier commits, which he won't. thus they don't have a chance.
6/11/2008 11:41:00 AM
I know I shouldn't waste my hate on people who write about college football, but the hypocrisy of the attacks on Rodriguez is infuriating. What is SO FUCKING HARD TO UNDERSTAND about the FACT that plenty of Big Ten schools recruited other Big Ten schools' commits long before Rodriquez arrived at Michigan? Is it that shitheads like Collins don't know the facts? Or is it that they are being deliberately disingenuous? Either one is shameful and I don't see a third possibility.
6/11/2008 03:00:00 PM
http://www.pennlive.com/pennstate/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/sports/1211043304268510.xml&coll=1&thispage=3
From the bottom section:"RUMOR MILL: A source with ties to the PSU coaching staff told The Patriot-News the Lions have not given up on a pair of blue-chip recruits who have given verbal pledges elsewhere -- Philadelphia WR Je'Ron Stokes (Tennessee) and Virginia QB Kevin Newsome (Michigan). Hey, wasn't it Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez who convinced onetime 2008 PSU RB verbal Michael Shaw to sign with the Wolverines? Just sayin'. ... One of PSU's DB verbals, Maryland's Derrick Thomas, could get a look at WR. He's got potential at both spots."
This is a big paper here in Pennsyltucky
6/11/2008 04:36:00 PM
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SO TIRED OF MSM..............DUMB DUMB DUMB. MGoBlog should be required reading for anyone spewing "facts" about Michigan Football. Brian debunked this "Gentleman's Agreement" like 100 times already.
Chris
6/11/2008 07:01:00 PM
"MGoBlog should be required reading"
He used to be good. Now he takes himself way too seriously. No thanks.
6/11/2008 07:41:00 PM
Disagree with you, Robert. Brian has started taking himself a little more seriously (for good and bad - if I want to read about Alabama oversigning, I'll do it on a 'bama blog), but he still does some of the best work in the Michigan blogosphere.
6/12/2008 06:46:00 AM
Guys, you beat us nine straight times. What the hell do you have to complain about, especially when it's from one of the wackiest PSU bloggers out there. Actually, he's not a blogger, since he works for a newspaper, he's a professional journalist with a blog. Don't pay attention to him. Michigan has much bigger problems this season. (Sorry, couldn't resist that jab)