1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

There is no recession in Happy Valley

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by zagoshe, Nov 18, 2009.

  1. golfnut8924

    golfnut8924 Guest

    Exactly. I've heard the "two-to-tango" argument from Penn Staters before and given the fact they play 8 homes games and only 4 road games every year, it seems as if they are actually the ones unwilling to tango. There's only a few teams every year who are able to get 8 home games and Penn State is always one of them.

    Call me when you play someone.
     
  2. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    To be fair, JoePa did offer to keep the series going if Pitt was willing to play two games in Happy Valley for every one in Pittsburgh. Arrogant jackass.
     
  3. golfnut8924

    golfnut8924 Guest

    Yup. As if it's such a long road trip for them to make.

    Obviously I'll give them Ohio State and Iowa and I'll even give them Minnesota but the rest of Penn State's home oppoenents this year were:

    Akron
    Syracuse
    Temple
    Eastern Illinois
    Indiana

    And you're going to RAISE ticket prices? Please.
     
  4. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    Absolutely disgraceful that they are playing Syracuse instead of Pitt given the proximity of the schools and the ties between Penn State and the city of Pittsburgh.
     
  5. mjp1542

    mjp1542 Member

    You know, you're right about Paterno's pompousness. I was more referring to the Notre Dame portion of that comment in terms of the "two to tango." My mistake for leaving it vague. Penn State should be willing to go 1-for-1 with Pitt because games in Pittsburgh would be 50-50 anyway, at best. And up until really the last two years, recent games against Pitt wouldn't look a lot better than games with Temple and Akron other than the intrigue of the "rivalry" that no longer exists because of Paterno's stubbornness/grudge.

    And there are only eight teams with eight home games this year. That being known, Penn State needs to suck it up and challenge itself more. While you can't predict how good a team will be years in advance when you schedule, there are ways to add games and play more oft-successful programs. The Lions do not do that consistently.
     
  6. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    Syracuse and Penn State had a longtime rivalry, at least until Penn State went to the Big Ten. So I can't blame Paterno for scheduling Syracuse.

    Eastern Illinois, on the other hand, give me a break. At least with Akron and Temple, you can argue a regional rivalry, so to speak.
     
  7. BitterYoungMatador2

    BitterYoungMatador2 Well-Known Member

    Ya know, much like Joe, this excuse of "We have XXX million varsity sports to support" is so rooted in the past its not even funny. It's not the 1980s anymore where your two primary streams of revenue are coming from ticket sales and bowl payouts. Television contracts for these teams and conferences (especially Penn State and the Fat 10) are huge. Not to mention college apparel merchandising has become a HUGE business thanks to Nike and Adidas getting involved in the marketing. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Penn State's in the top five for merchandising in college sports. Plus you add in the revenue from the suites and club seats. And you add in the corporate sponsorship deals for advertising. If they are still struggling they're doing something wrong.

    Not to mention, hey Joe, you unabashed conservative you, if all these sports are such a burden, why not look into cutting some of them the way many programs throughout the country have had to do. Can anyone give me a good reason why Penn State has a golf team, or anyone in the Fat 10 has golf? Is some stud high school golfer really gonna choose a golf scholarship to Penn State over some of the elite golf program like Florida, Arizona State or Texas? Does anyone really give two damns about men' gymnastics?
     
  8. ucacm

    ucacm Active Member

    If you want to see how far some schools can go and still get massive fan support, look no further than the Arkansas vs. Texas A&M game in Arlington. Two schools with extremely mediocre results in recent history playing in front of 71,000+ fans. Ticket prices? $300, $125, and $85. The $300 club seats? Oh yeah, you need to donate $175 to the "Razorback Foundation" in addition to the $300 cost of the ticket.
     
  9. mjp1542

    mjp1542 Member

    Bitter, that's the main point. Penn State needs to make like the rest of the country and cut some of the sports they have. Yeah, it sucks, but everyone else has done it. Joe acts like he's some kind of God, keeping those sports alive. Well, that's all good and well, but is it really needed?
     
  10. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    I brought up Syracuse because it plays a similar role to what Pitt's would be -- Big East opponent with a historical rivalry and closer to Penn State's level than a program like Eastern Illinois.

    The difference being Pitt is the better program right now and has stronger ties to Penn State just based on proximity and the large number of Penn State alumni in Pittsburgh.
     
  11. amraeder

    amraeder Well-Known Member

    I don't get this? Why SHOULDN'T they keep the other sports if the athletic department can make enough revenue to support them?
     
  12. mjp1542

    mjp1542 Member

    I guess it's a double-edged sword. The extra home game (tickets/parking/merchandise/food/etc.) generates, what, between $7-10 million. That pays for probably for a couple of those sports to survive. So, if Penn State gives up the eighth home game, they get a better schedule but the money isn't there for those Olympic sports. Keep it the way it is, and those sports survive, and the football program is chastised for not challenging itself. That's the way I see it, but I'm probably wrong.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page