Wanna cover the Wisconsin-Penn State game on Oct. 13? Open your wallet...

I covered the first Michigan-Penn State game in Happy Valley (still trying to figure out that button 'Dancing with Wolves' students wore that weekend. A wolf and a wolverine are not the same animal) and let me tell you ... the press box there is one of the more unprofessional atmospheres I have endured. Open cheering. It was awful.

So this auction doesn't surprise me a bit.

Par for the course in Happy Valley.

 

I covered Penn State football for parts of three seasons (this decade) and never once witnessed open cheering in the press box. Of course, the atmosphere could have been different in 1993.

And just to address an earlier post, they have reserved media parking just outside Beaver Stadium. Much nicer than having to park in Timbuktu and walk, like at most other schools I've covered.

 

Paterno's 80. He's a man. He can handle them.

 

Yes they should. This is a very bad idea and working writers are going to have to deal with this gushy guy/gal while trying to file stories, notebooks, etc. This is a very dumb idea.

 

What Penn State fan (or reporter, for that matter) really wants to watch the game from the press box, though? It's a sweaty shithole that just might be nearly as old as Paterno.

I'm thinking most of this "lucky winner's" time will be spent on the sidelines. And I'm pretty sure they hand out sideline passes to family members, recruits, former players, and so on all the time. I'm not endorsing the practice of auctioning off credentials, I just think the potential impact to working media is minimal.

And I'd imagine that if the fan was legitimately interfering with folks trying to work, the situation would be dealt with accordingly.

 

At least we know what a college press pass is worth.

And it's telling that nobody's bidding on the volleyball regional package

 

. . . posted by someone whose handle shows absolutely no bias whatsoever.

 

I've heard a few schools who will credential the moderators from their fan boards.

Colleges get away with a lot of shit that you don't usually see in the pros.

 

Gosh Mizzou that joke was a lot funnier the first 317 times you used it.

 

The phone in the media relations office at South Florida just rang. Wonder who it is?

 

Just another classical example of how disrespected media is these days. Sad, but true.

 

I cover a school that credentials moderators from two different fan boards as well as a good number of student 'writers' from said boards. Needless to say, some of the media gatherings border on comical (in a bad way, of course).