Update: M Go Cheat? Massive scandal brewing at Michigan

We first heard the allegations in August.

Now the NCAA has sent a letter to Michigan alleging five major rules violations by the football program...

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According to the NCAA...

• Michigan had five too many coaches supervising on- and off-field activities.
• The Michigan staff improperly supervised off-season workouts and exceeded the NCAA's weekly time limits.
• Grad assistant Alex Herron lied to the NCAA during the investigation.
• Head coach Rich Rodriguez failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance, failed to monitor his staff, and failed to monitor time limits.
• The UM athletic department failed to monitor the football program.

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Happy Birthday, Penn State!

Happy Birthday, Penn State!

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What is now the Pennsylvania State University was founded as a degree-granting institution on February 22, 1855 by act P.L. 46, No. 50 of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania.

Happy 155th Birthday, Penn State!



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Big Ten Hires Expansion Search Firm; Texas Not On Short List

We weren't surprised to learn that Big Ten officials have hired a firm to research potential expansion candidates.

We WERE surprised by one school that was apparently missing from the initial scan...

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According to Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez...

"They basically broke down what they would bring to the table. They talked about academics. They talked about size. They talked about size of their arenas. They talked about attendance. They talked about the populace in that specific area."

So who was missing?

"In our initial study, there wasn't anything on Texas."

Nor does the former Notre Dame assistant think it will be the Fighting Irish...

"My read is that Notre Dame wants to be a national school, and they want to play a national schedule.

"And unless you've been there and seen the magnitude of their fan base and the interest nationally, it is hard to understand. I understand."

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Update: Is Sharrif Floyd too dumb to play for Penn State?

When Sharrif Floyd signed with Florida, we questioned his intelligence.

We didn't have an issue with Floyd picking Florida, but we simply couldn't understand his comment about Penn State: "Penn State to me was a linebacker school. I learned that doing my homework. It wasn't hard to get them out of the loop."

Apparently Floyd's "homework" didn't extend to the NFL Draft, where Penn State has had tremendous success on the D-line.

Now comes more news on Floyd's decision...

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We were reading Andy Staples' column in the Super Bowl edition of Sports Illustrated and found this interesting nugget...

On signing day last week the 6'3", 310-pound Floyd affirmed his commitment to the Gators. "At the end of the day, Florida's going to be Florida," he said, dismissing Urban Meyer's status as a factor in choosing the perennial national title contender.

The decision of Floyd and dozens of other recruits last week certified that a highly successful program transcends its coach, no matter the shuffling at the top.

Really? A highly successful program transcends its coach? Let's look at Florida's record...

• Prior to 1990: The Gators went 452-322-39 for a pedestrian winning percentage of .580 and no (zero, none, nada) conference championships.
• 1990-2001: Steve Spurrier put Florida football on the map by winning 122 games in 12 years, with just 29 losses and a famous tie with Florida State. Their win percentage of .817 was 4th-best in the country. The Gators won six conference championships under Spurrier and the 1996 National Championship.
• 2002-2004: The Ron Zook Era was not kind to Florida, with three consecutive 5-loss seasons.
• 2005-2009: Florida returned to prominence under Urban Meyer, averaging 11.4 wins per season and winning two National Championships to date.

It's very interesting that Florida wasn't able to "transcend" Ron Zook.

Will the Gators be able to "transcend" Urban Meyer's successor when the latter drops dead retires or moves on to the NFL?

So much for Sharrif's "homework."
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NCAA bans Terrelle Pryor's stupid Michael Vick tributes

Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor displayed his love for convicted dog-abuse felon Michael Vick on his eye black patches and later during an oh-so-eloquent post-game interview...

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"I just feel that, uh, I mean he made his mistake, and, uh, I think he just needs more support. I mean, uh, not everybody's the perfect person in the world. I mean everyone does kills people, murder people, and all types, steals from you, steals from me, whatever. I mean, I just feel that people need to give him a chance. I mean I always looked to Mike Vick and I always will, 'cause I still think he's one the best quarterbacks to me and I just love, I love Mike Vick and I look up to him a lot."

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel did his best Sargent Schultz impression and claimed, "I see nothing, NOTHING!"

The NCAA Football Rules Committee has decided to curb this idiocy. The Committee clarified that if a player elects to wear eye shade, it must be solid black with no words, numbers, logos, or other symbols.

The Committee also...

• Endorsed a proposal that penalizes unsportsmanlike conduct as a live-ball foul beginning in the 2011 season.
  
  The change would mean, for example, that if a player makes a taunting gesture to an opponent on the way to scoring a touchdown, the flag would nullify the score and penalize the offending team from the spot of the foul.
  
  Penalties for dead-ball misconduct fouls (for example, unsportsmanlike behavior after the player crosses the goal line) would continue to be assessed on the ensuing kickoff or the extra point/two point conversion attempt.
• Took steps to ensure player health and safety by endorsing a rule requiring all injured student-athletes, including those who exhibit signs of a concussion, to be cleared by an appropriate medical professional (as determined by the institution) before returning to competition.
  
  The action comes on the heels of the Playing Rules Oversight Panel’s endorsement of recommendations from the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports to manage concussion issues more effectively. At its meeting in January, PROP instructed playing-rules committees to review their policies in the areas of stopping play for injuries and to consider instituting rules that may further prevent head injuries.
• Reviewed the success of its efforts to curb dangerous contact. Last season, the Committee enhanced its rules that cover dangerous contact, specifically collisions that target a defenseless player. During the 2009 season, conferences were mandated to review all fouls of this nature and consider suspensions for egregious violations.
• Removed the reference in the rules book requiring a player’s pants to cover the knees at all times. Also, socks no longer have a length requirement, but must continue to be of the same color and general design.
• Discussed the possibility of prohibiting an intentional wedge of three or more receiving team players on free kicks. Committee members will obtain more information by assessing the experience of the National Football League, which introduced such a rule in 2009.
• Agreed to suggest changes to the complicated rules regarding blocking below the waist. The Committee will discuss the matter further at the 2011 meeting.
• Recommended that conferences that do not have a pregame warm-up policy use a 10-yard no-player zone between the 45-yard lines beginning 60 minutes before kickoff. This reinforces the Statement on Sportsmanship, which was adopted by the committee for inclusion in the 2009-10 NCAA Football Rules Book. The Committee will consider formally adding this to the rules book in 2011.
• Agreed that effective in 2011, television monitors will be allowed in the press box coaches’ booths. The home team has responsibility for insuring that coaches’ booths for both teams have identical television capability.

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Video: Death at the Olympics

This graphic video shows the fatal crash of men's luger Nodar Kumaritashvili from the country of Georgia during a training run Friday at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia...

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Joe Paterno is right: Penn State should not name successor

Joe Paterno has long been opposed to Penn State naming a successor prior to his departure as head coach.

Now there's another very good reason to not designate a "coach in waiting." It would be a disaster if Tom Bradley was confined to campus instead of making recruiting trips to WPIAL schools...

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Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds says the Longhorns football program was ‘singled out’ by a new NCAA rule that drastically limits recruiting by defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, the Longhorns’ head-coach-in-waiting.

The rule states assistants “publicly designated” to be the next head coach are now bound by the same recruiting rules as the current head coach. That means Muschamp can make only one off-campus visit with a prospect and it can’t be during the critical spring evaluation period of April 15-May 31. Other assistants can have multiple off-campus visits.

The only other major college football program impacted by the rule is Maryland, where offensive coordinator James Franklin has been designated to succeed Ralph Friedgen.

According to Dodd...

“Obviously, since this legislation impacts only two programs in the country, we feel we are being singled out.

“We are exploring our options for legislative relief within the NCAA process, since we believe this places our program at a direct disadvantage. Will is our head coach-in-waiting but he is also our defensive coordinator, and this legislation restricts his ability to perform his current job duties."

The recruiting rule change was proposed by the Big East conference in June 2009. It was approved at the NCAA convention last month, about two weeks before the Feb. 3 national signing day.

The rule change was supported at the convention by the football issues committee. The rationale was that recruiting by a “head coach in waiting” creates a competitive advantage for a program at a time when the NCAA has moved to curb off-campus recruiting by head coaches.

The change was not supported by the NCAA’s recruiting cabinet, which noted that designating an assistant as a future head coach is likely to happen several years before the coach is promoted.
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Update: Are the Eyes of Texas Upon Penn State, Big Ten?

Is Texas a candidate for Big Ten membership or isn't it?

A recent Clip quoted unnamed sources as saying, “There have been preliminary exchanges between the Big Ten and Texas.”

Now comes word from Texas that such a move is simply not going to happen...

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According to columnist Kirk Bohls of the Austin (Tex.) American-Statesman...

I've been assured by higher-ups at Texas that this is nothing more than a wishlist on the Big Ten's part. As one school official said, "We're the good-looking girl at the dance." Another even higher up the food chain told me, "It ain't going to happen."

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Joe Paterno Sheds Glasses or Did He?

Joe Paterno recently had surgery to correct his vision. Does this mean no more eye glasses for the great coach. Not necessarily. Word out of State College is that Joe now has a thinner pair of glasses -- non prescription lenses.

How does Joe look with out glasses? We will leave that for you to decide.

Meanwhile, does this mean the new look Joe is going to start going on the road and recruiting again? Probably not.

Wild cat offense? Probably not.

On the sideline without glasses? Yes.

Here is the good news. Now Joe will actually be able to see what is going on on the football field. No more turning to McQ and asking, what happened?

Are the Eyes of Texas Upon Penn State, Big Ten?

A couple months ago we opined on the subject of Big Ten expansion and said, "the only school besides Notre Dame that really interests us is Texas."

Are we inching closer to seeing the Longhorns in the Big Ten?

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A source with ties to the Big Ten said that while most people’s attention has been trained on the conference stealing Missouri, the Big Ten has engaged in “preliminary exchanges” with a much bigger fish from the Big 12.

“There have been preliminary exchanges between the Big Ten and Texas,” the source told the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World on Wednesday. “People will deny that, but it’s accurate.” Kindle: Amazon's 6" Wireless Reading Device

Penn State football recruit Mike Hull leads Canon-Mac to WPIAL wrestling title

Canon-McMillan held a two-point lead with one bout remaining in Tuesday's WPIAL Class AAA title match against Kiski Area at Fox Chapel.

That's when Michael Hull, a Penn State football recruit, made his appearance, despite a separated shoulder...

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Hull, despite a 60-pound weight disadvantage, posted a 3-2 victory in the 285-pound weight class to cap the Big Macs' 32-27 victory. It was the sixth team tournament title for Canon-McMillan, but the first since 1995.

Hull wrestled as a sophomore but sat out last season while recovering from a back injury. He returned this season to help the Big Macs during the dual-meet season by winning all eight of his matches.

"I'm glad the match was postponed twice," said Hull, who sustained the injury while playing in the Team USA vs. The World football game on January 30th. "I wouldn't have been able to wrestle if the match was Saturday. The extra time really helped."
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Having sex twice a week cuts heart attack risk in half!

We follow medical news in addition to Penn State sports. (Given the recent woes of the men's basketball team, medical news is more fun!)

For the latest in Alzheimer's news, check out the Alzheimer's Reading Room, which is edited by Penn State Clips' contributor Bob DeMarco.

Here are some recent medical stories that caught our attention...

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• Men who have sex at least twice a week can almost halve their risk of heart disease, according to new research.
  
  It shows men who indulge in regular lovemaking are up to 45 per cent less likely to develop life-threatening heart conditions than men who have sex once a month or less.
  
  The results, published in the American Journal of Cardiology, showed men who made love at least twice a week were much less likely to have heart disease than those whose sexual encounters were limited to once a month or less.
  
  An earlier study at the National Cancer Institute in the US showed men who ejaculated through sex or masturbation at least five times a week were much less likely to get prostate cancer.
  
  And sex once or twice a week in winter can boost the immune system and reduce the chances of catching colds and flu, according to researchers at Wilkes University, Pennsylvania.
  
  [Clips comment: Men, be sure to send this post to your wives!]

• The saturated fat found mainly in meat and dairy products has a bad reputation, but a new analysis of published studies finds no clear link between people's intake of saturated fat and their risk of developing heart disease.
  
  The new study, which combined the results of 21 previous studies, researchers found no clear evidence that higher saturated fat intakes led to higher risks of heart disease or stroke.
  
  For the current study, researchers led by Dr. Ronald M. Krauss, of the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Center in California, pooled data from 21 studies that included a total of nearly 348,000 adults.
  
  Participants, who were generally healthy to start, were surveyed about their diet habits and then followed for anywhere from five to 23 years. Over that time, 11,000 developed heart disease or suffered a stroke.
  
  Overall, Krauss and his colleagues found, there was no difference in the risks of heart disease and stroke between people with the lowest and highest intakes of saturated fat.
  
  [Clips comment: Great news for tailgaters, throw some more dead animal on that grill!]
  

• Boredom could be shaving years off your life, scientists have found.
  
  Researchers say that people who complain of boredom are more likely to die young, and that those who experienced 'high levels' of tedium are more than two-and-a-half times as likely to die from heart disease or stroke than those satisfied with their lot.
  
  More than 7,000 civil servants were studied over 25 years - and those who said they were bored were nearly 40 per cent more likely to have died by the end of study than those who did not.
  
  The scientists said this could be a result of those unhappy with their lives turning to such unhealthy habits as smoking or drinking, which would cut their life expectancy.
  
  [Clips comment: This is really bad news for Pitt football fans.]

• Finally, as we previously reported, chocolate lowers the death rate for heart attack victims.

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Penn State loses another big-time recruit to USC

Pete Carroll is gone, but USC continues to beat out Penn State for top recruits.

Brian Cushing (New Jersey), Broderick Green (Arkansas), and Vidal Hazelton (New York) all went west rather than to State College.

Now add another name to that list...

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David Sills, a quarterback from Bear, Delaware, has given a verbal commitment to the Trojans...for the Class of 2015!

That's right, Sills is 13-years-old, but Steve Clarkson, a personal coach who has mentored some of the top quarterbacks in the country says, "His skill set is off the chart. I've never seen anyone at his age do what he's been able to do."

We've been following Sills for a while and are disappointed with this decision. What's the big deal? See for yourself...

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Video: Penn State doesn't cheat, but other schools do

Notre Dame signee Kendall Moore had some interesting recruiting experiences...

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Moore took just two official visits (Notre Dame and N.C. State), so who was trying to illegally pay for an unofficial visit?

There's no shortage of suspects on Kendall's interest list: Auburn, Clemson, Florida State, Tennessee...

There are some valid criticisms of Joe Paterno - punting too often on 4th-and-short, very few in-home recruiting visits, senioritis - but one thing we can be sure of is that he'll never embarrass Penn State University with recruiting violations.
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Update 1: Penn State rival Pitt to Big Ten?

The Big Ten isn't buying what Bill Maller is selling regarding Pitt to the Big Ten...

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"A Big Ten source reiterated to the Chicago Tribune on Monday that the conference will adhere to the timetable it laid out in December: a 12-to-18 month period of analysis. The league will then determine whether it wants to expand and, if so, how many schools it will invite to the party."

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Penn State rival Pitt to Big Ten?

The hot Internet rumors indicate a seismic shift in the college football landscape as early as this week...

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Fox Sports Radio Network host Ben Maller posted the news this morning...

University of Pittsburgh athletics are moving to the Big 10 conference, according to sources close to the school. Some athletes were informed of the move over the weekend, a little birdie tells me.

This would undoubtedly beef up Big Ten basketball and would lead to a Big Ten Championship Game in football. (Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis would be the natural choice for such a game - state-of-the-art facility, centrally located, and there's little worry that Purdue or Indiana will get a home-field advantage by playing there.)

The immediate impact for Penn State football would likely be scheduling. We anticipate that it would move the Land Grant Trophy game to earlier in the season (and perhaps not every year) and we would end the regular season with Pitt.

It will be interesting to see how the divisions shake out if this rumor comes to fruition. If it happens we'll have further analysis.
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