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W E B S U R V E Y Bowl games. This is immediate relief from the sanctions. Now all the talking heads on TV will be talking about something positive each week, instead of predicting doom and gloom (which never happened). The scholarships that were given back last year were huge in the long run but were barely mentioned by TV announcers. Now broadcasters will be talking about a bright future each week, which only helps recruiting. It will make it much easier to fill those extra five slots. MTD Scholarships. This year, PSU is un- likely to challenge for the Big Ten Championship and will likely play in an average bowl game. Extra scholar- ships now will add depth to a team that could be in Big Ten contention in two or three years. Five or 10 additional upperclassmen then with a few extra contributors could be the difference between a very good team and a great team. heckmans Bowl game. Extra practices, and a chance for Miles Dieffenbach to play late in the season and not have to rush to get back for a certain game in the middle of the season. Rick76 Franklin has brought in a fantastic 2014 recruiting class and 2015 is shaping up to be another. I doubt five more players would make as much of an impact as preparing for a bowl game with 15 extra practices. Plus, these younger players need to get used to preparing for bowl games. And then there are the sen- iors. Can we thank them enough? Go bowling. Enjoy it. Play hard and win. m.knox Bowl game. We were expecting to take 21 recruits in the 2015 class. So outside of a few walk-ons getting put on scholarship, the bowl practices (God willing) are way more important for a team with 50 freshmen and sophomores. poboyle777 Scholarships. Scholarships are the life-blood of the team and bring in more elite players who win more big games, which leads to championships and more prestigious bowl games – and money. wible4psu Bowl game. That is perception. That is rewarding the players who are there for hard work. That is practice time. That is exposure. That is a return to "normalcy" for the team and the uni- versity and the fan base. That also helps drive some players in recruiting. The scholarships are nice, but that sanction was already scaled back last year. The difference in one year's num- bers are minimal. TonyD79 A bowl game is a reward for the up- perclassmen who stuck by the team and the university, and stayed when many left. A bowl game is a triumph for them, especially since many play- ers stayed with the expectation that they would never experience a bowl game. They stayed and came on board, despite enormous obstacles and hardships. They deserve it. A bowl game this year will open the op- portunity for an additional two weeks of practice after the regular season ends. This will be two weeks that will help the young freshmen and sophomores hone their skills in readiness for the 2015 season and be- yond. In all, it will be a tremendous expression of gratitude and appreci- ation to the players that endured some of the darkest times in Penn State football history. They did so with pride and determination. They will always have my admiration. JoeHomsey Which is more significant: the opportunity to play in a bowl or the restoration of scholarships? "It's amazing how many people texted me and emailed me and said how awe- some [it is] that you're bowl eligible," Franklin recounted. "We're not bowl el- igible. We have an opportunity to go to a bowl game." Nonetheless, it was cause for celebration in State College. Franklin's players first began to find out that the bowl ban was lifted on Twitter and Facebook. Noting some disappointment that he didn't have the opportunity to to break the news in person, Franklin still brought the team to- gether to deliver the message and answer any questions that his players might have had. "I just reinforced what they already knew," he said. "I think obviously it was received extremely well and the guys are excited." Keiser agreed. "It's huge," he said. "We've obviously been through a lot – the junior class, the senior class, everybody who stuck with it. Everybody with the program and every- body who stuck with us, we're extremely thankful and appreciative of what we have. Getting those scholarships and bowl game back – we're really thankful for it." ■

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