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joepa holding pitt-psu rivalry hostage
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ClairtonPanther Offline
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<a href='http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports/s_333880.html' target='_blank'>http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-re...s/s_333880.html</a>

JoePa can't justify grudge holding Pitt rivalry hostage




Penn State Nittany Lions

By Mike Prisuta
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, May 13, 2005


On Thursday night, Joe Paterno, often accused of being out of touch in recent seasons, displayed a keen understanding of what a great many Pennsylvanians have always suspected is the main reason, the only reason one of college football's storied rivalries has been put on hold.
"I'm the bad guy, and I'm the guy in the black hat in this one," Paterno offered prior to a Nittany Lions' gala at the Duquesne Club.

"But I'm not."

Sensing a more detailed explanation was necessary, Paterno expounded.

The game can't be played, he maintained, for a variety of reasons.

Such as:


Paterno's disdain for the 12th game approved for 2006.

The potential need to play a I-AA team in that 12th game to maintain a level playing field with the competition.

Penn State's commitment to Temple for a two-for-one, three-year series, beginning in 2006 ("We have the same situation in Philadelphia that we have in Pittsburgh, with all kinds of alumni down there and all kinds of pressure to go to Philadelphia," Paterno said in an assessment Pitt ought to find insulting).

The poor job Pennsylvania has done fulfilling its commitment to state-supported education.

The need for Penn State to help satisfy its fundraising jones, the one that fuels 29 varsity sports, by playing in California, in Texas and in the Southeast.
Forgive Dave Wannstedt and the people at Pitt, the people across the state and the people across the nation for that matter if they remain appalled and bewildered by such rationalizations.

Pitt wants the series to resume on a home-and-home basis badly enough that Wannstedt made a priority of reaching out to Paterno upon taking over in Oakland.

"Dave talked to me, and I tried to tell Dave, I said 'Dave' -- look, I tried to get Dave out of high school, and I think Dave's gonna do a heck of a job for Pitt, and I think that's great -- but Penn State's gotta take care of Penn State.

"We're not an Eastern institution as far as football goes. We're a national institution playing in the Big Ten, OK?"

Actually, it's not.

Penn State remains first and foremost a Pennsylvania institution, but that seems to have been lost on Paterno, just as 27 Big Ten games have been lost by Paterno since Nov. 6, 1999.

Eventually, JoePa grew tired of even his rhetoric yesterday.

Once that happened, he established that his memory is as sharp as ever.

"Pitt years ago, when I tried to put the Eastern Conference together, Pitt decided to go in the Big East for basketball," Paterno said. "Fine, they had to make that decision. Now, though, everything's kind of become convoluted.

"We'd all like to re-evaluate how we got where we are and the whole bit, but you know when Pitt went in the Big East, that cut my legs out from me, what I was trying to do, because I felt we needed an all-sports conference."

Because Paterno didn't get it, the rivalry is held hostage.

"We can't look at what's best for Pitt," Paterno added. "We gotta look at what's best for Penn State.

"That sounds very callous, but if we start playing Pitt home and home, I'm not going to be here, I'm not going to be coaching. You're looking five, six, seven years down the road."

Until then, the black hat still fits, even if the Emperor never notices when he looks in the mirror.


Mike Prisuta is a columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
05-13-2005 05:33 AM
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Jackson1011 Online
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Post: #2
 
-- This is probably the key statement in the article....Good Lord can that man hold a grudge

Quote:Once that happened, he established that his memory is as sharp as ever.

"Pitt years ago, when I tried to put the Eastern Conference together, Pitt decided to go in the Big East for basketball," Paterno said. "Fine, they had to make that decision. Now, though, everything's kind of become convoluted.

"We'd all like to re-evaluate how we got where we are and the whole bit, but you know when Pitt went in the Big East, that cut my legs out from me, what I was trying to do, because I felt we needed an all-sports conference."

-- I guess this just proves what the 12 th game is supposed to be....not many schools are going to bring in rivlary games..its all about getting the 7th home game....PSU choosing to play Temple over Pitt and WVU will probably be the example that many schools will follow


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05-13-2005 06:58 AM
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wvucrazed Offline
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once again it all comes back to the missed opportunity of an Eastern all-sports league that Pitt derailed. We would all be in a much different situation if not for that decision. Yes, hindsight is 20/20, but still.... it rankles to know what could have been.
05-13-2005 06:44 PM
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Post: #4
 
Pitt's decision was a major detriment to Paterno's idea but he still could have pursued it with the remaining Eastern independents at the time (West Virginia, Rutgers, Army, Navy, Temple, and Holy Cross, which was I-A until 1986).

Would an all-sports league been successful? Remember, there was no BE football until 1990, so this league would have had a 6-7 year head start, and PSU would have dominated. Would it have lured a couple of Big East schools over there? Probably not, at first.
05-13-2005 07:44 PM
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Jackson1011 Online
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The best chance for an all sports league probably was the old Eastern 8....when it was formed Penn St, Pitt, West Virginia, Rutgers and Temple were all members...unfortunatly BE basketball took off so getting BC and SU was just not possible

--- In hindsight...it probably would have been wiser of the BE not to add schools that had IA football (then all the forced expansion that has occured over the last 20 +yrs would have not been necessary)...and of course the Pitt, Syracuse and BC preferring to stay in the BE as opposed to an all sports league was a horrible decesion...perhaps the worst in the history of college sports..it killed eastern football


Jackson
05-13-2005 10:56 PM
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