Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/180984
IN BRIEF • The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court rejected the NCAA's arguments against state Sen. Jake Corman in a suit aimed at ensuring that the funds from the NCAA's $60 million fine against Penn State are used in Pennsylvania. Judge Anne Covey ruled that the lawsuit is constitutional. The Endowment Act, which was signed into law earlier this year, requires state universities and colleges that have been fined more than $10 million to disburse the money into the state treasury. Penn State is required to pay its fine in five installments of $12 million apiece. It paid the first installment in 2012 and must pay the second by the end of this year. • Former state Chief Deputy Attorney General Frank Fina, who played a key role in the grand jury investigation that helped put Jerry Sandusky behind bars, stated recently that he doesn't think Joe Paterno was involved in covering up Sandusky's crimes. "I do not, Fina told " "60 Minutes Sports, which aired on " Showtime on Sept. 4. "And I'm viewing this strictly on the evidence, not any kind of fealty to anybody. I do not find the evidence. " • Another old Eastern Independent rivalry is being renewed, as Penn State and West Virginia announced Sept. 20 that they will play a home-and-home series beginning in 2023. The Nittany Lions will host the Mountaineers on Sept. 2, 2023, while the Mountaineers will host Penn State on Aug. 31, 2024. The 2023 meeting will be their first game between the two teams since 1992. • Having teamed up in the broadcast booth for the past 14 years, Steve Jones and Jack Ham have signed a three-year deal to continue calling Nittany Lion football on the Penn State Sports Network. Since the 2000 season, Jones has served as the Nittany Lions' football play-by-play voice alongside Ham, a first-team All-America linebacker for Penn State and one of the greatest outside linebackers in NFL history. I THE MONTH IN... BLOGS OPINIONS Penn State has tried to right the sinking ship with the introduction of new ticket packages, but that hasn't solved the [attendance] problem. This year's numbers are following the same downward spiral. The quality opponents are yet to come, but starting off the season with two of the three smallest crowds since the expansion doesn't exactly foreshadow a turnaround. But hey, at least the stuMITCHELL WILSTON ONWARD STATE dent section is full. The sanctions are profound and debilitating. And thanks to the context provided by Mitchell's annual report, it is now obvious they are excessive and obsolete too. Mitchell didn't recommend that the NCAA penalties be reduced. That's not his job. But there was nothing in his report that discouraged the equivalent of a parole hearing. Penn State has earned at least that much. The university has jumped through every NCAA hoop placed in front of it, generally kept its mouth shut when asked about the severity of the penalties, and its protocol and programs post-Sandusky scandal are being copied by other schools. GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI ESPN.COM It's too early in the season to tell if the Nittany Lions have enough sheer talent on the defensive side of the ball to handle the challenges they'll face in the Big Ten. Depth and talent levels on the line and at linebacker were some of the biggest question marks on the team before the season, and those things don't have anything to do with thud [drills]. If it just came down to thud, then the coaches could come up with a plan B. But if the players on defense just aren't good enough at times to make the plays they need to make, that ultimately would be a more worrisome issue. CORY GIGER ALTOONA MIRROR Students bought their white Penn State football shirts for Saturday's "White Out." I bought a short-sleeved one only to wish I had longer sleeves to fend off the 60-degree weather. I never made it into the stadium the next day, though. It wasn't because of one too many Steel Reserves, but instead because of the lack of any tickets available at a reasonable price. To think students actually showed up in droves for a college football game? Florida student tickets are $15, while we couldn't find one for less than $60 at Penn State — for UCF no less. ADAM PINCUS THE (FLORIDA) INDEPENDENT ALLIGATOR QUOTES I believe if we had 25 scholarships to give, [our ability to recruit] would be unbelievable, and we'll get back to that. It just won't be for a few years. BILL O'BRIEN ON HIS WEEKLY RADIO SHOW SEPT. 19