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marquee game every year," he said during a Coaches Caravan event last month in Hazelton. "For instance, we will open the season at a neutral site or Beaver Stadium against a major-league college opponent, like an Alabama, like a Southern Cal, like a Stanford. It would give our guys something to shoot for in the summer." The Lions' schedule is filled through the 2014 season, but there are openings in the fourth week of both the 2015 and 2016 schedules. As of this writing, there was no indi- cation which teams may be under consideration to fill those voids. Looking further ahead, Penn State will begin a series with a yet- to-be-named Pac-12 school in 2017, as the Big Ten and Pac-12 are finalizing an agreement that would create a total of 12 games annually between the two confer- ences. ADMINISTRATION Taliaferro, Lubrano elected to board Was it a referendum on the board of trustees' handling of the Sandusky scandal or an illustration of the immense power of name recognition? Probably it was a little of both, but the explanations don't matter much now. What matters is that following an election in which a record 37,579 votes were cast, Penn State's board now includes three new members whose platforms cen- tered on their unhappiness with Joe Paterno's ouster last November. Elected to the board in May were former Penn State football player Adam Taliaferro and businessmen Anthony Lubrano and Ryan McCombie. Taliaferro, whose recov- ery from a potentially paralyzing neck injury in 2000 has made him an inspirational figure for many Penn Staters, was easily the leading vote-getter, finishing with 15,629 votes. Lubrano, an athletic depart- ment donor (the baseball stadium bears his name) and outspoken crit- ic of the board's unanimous deci- sion to dismiss Paterno, received 10,096 votes. McCombie, a former Navy SEAL, got 4,806. They will begin serving their three-year terms in July. It is unclear where things go from here. Board chair Karen Peetz said she didn't expect any problems working with the new members. But the board has not indicated a desire to revisit Paterno's dismissal before the university's in-house investiga- tion is concluded, at the earliest, and Lubrano is determined to do exactly that. He said recently that securing an apology for the Paterno family is his top priority now that he's on the board. "I think that resolving that matter is critical to the healing process of the university community, which will have a far-reaching and long- lasting impact on the financial well- being of the school," he told WITF Radio. "We're in a period of fiscal concern. The state is likely to cut our appropriations yet again, and in order to balance that budget, we're going to need to cut expenses or increase revenues. Well, in order to increase revenues, we're going to have to have alumni who are willing to give. Right now, the alumni are not very happy." The alumni took an unusually strong interest in the election for the three open seats on the board. There were 86 candidates on the ballot, including another former Penn State football player, Rudy Glocker, and Marta Pepe Forney, WEB SURVEY WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE PENN STATE RESUME ITS RIVALRY WITH PITTSBURGH ON AN ANNUAL BASIS? Yes, absolutely! Southwest Pennsylvania is ripe with talent. Getting down there and beating Pitt every other year would be great for recruiting. m.knox Why not renew a rivalry with one of our out-of-con- ference games each year? Instead of playing E. Michigan, Ohio or even Temple, let's get Pitt on the schedule. They should agree to a two-for-one home- and-away series given their attendance. PennSt8Nut Tradition is all well and good, but you can't ignore the finances. Would you eliminate a sport or cut the budget somewhere else in order to play this game every year? Schools don't maxi- mize their revenues just because they are greedy. They have to pay the bills. Pitt wants this game not because the rivalry is so dear to them, but because for them it would be a money maker. Sam Spade 80 6 J U N E 2 8 , 2 0 1 2 S I T E L I N E S C OMME N T A R Y F R OM B L U EWH I T E I L L U S T R A T E D . C OM PSU should play Pitt every year IF and ONLY IF there are two games at Beaver Stadium for every game at Pittsburgh. Otherwise, do not play. In the pre-Paterno era we played almost every game in Pittsburgh, because we were not their equal and it made financial sense. Now the tables have turned, and the opposite is true. MarcusHook Absolutely, in my opinion. I would love to see it as the last game of the season again. That's how it was as I was growing up, and it was a true hated (and heated) rivalry. I think that's been missing from our schedules since. CKSmith45 [Pitt] should be a quality nonconference game in most years, better than Coastal Carolina, Indiana State, Akron, Ohio, Temple, etc. The best way to establish dominance in recruiting Pennsylvania is to beat them down every year and show the western Pennsylvania kids that PSU is the only D-I program in the state. However, if PSU fans have to buy tick- ets to other Pitt home games in order to get a PSU- Pitt ticket, then I say no deal. pioneerlion83 The Pitt-Penn State rivalry should absolutely be played on a yearly basis. It is great for the state of Pennsylvania and for college football in general. It would legitimize one of our out-of-conference opponents annually, with Pitt belonging to a major conference in the ACC. The game should be played the same weekend as Clemson-South Carolina, Georgia-Georgia Tech, etc. and rotated on a yearly basis between Beaver Stadium and Heinz Field. I would love to see this happen! Not on yearly basis. They're just not good enough. Would like to see us play them regularly every two to three years to keep up the in-state rivalry. jennjeffjoe Unfortunately the question isn't as simple as it is worded. In a vacuum, of course, I would love to see PSU play Pitt every year. However, if Pitt insists on a one-for-one, we would either have to sacrifice playing other BCS conference teams or lose rev- enue from a lost home game. Since I am not will- ing to sacrifice playing other marquee programs or clucas cutting funding from our other sports (which is what would happen if we lost a home game) for me it is not worth renewing the rivalry on an annu- al basis. airdog4evr Yes! Pitt and Penn State are the two big schools in Pennsylvania, and we fight for recruits every year. We might as well do it on the field every year like the old days. It only makes sense and it would be very beneficial. I would like to see Pitt every year instead of Ohio, Eastern Michigan, Akron, etc. JO1986 No, and I hate playing Temple every year, too. With eight Big Ten games every season, I would like to see more variety. I wouldn't mind seeing Pitt and Temple on the schedule, just not on an annual basis. I would love to see this rivalry renewed. I remember growing up watching my grandfather yell at the TV during the Pitt-PSU games. I don't feel any rivalry that has come about since we joined the Big Ten compares to a good old-fashioned in- state rivalry like this. Don't get me wrong; I hate Ohio State as much as the next PSU fan. The Pitt- PSU rivalry just runs deeper. After we get this one renewed, let's go another step and get Notre Dame back on the schedule, too. cmjumper W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Pittston-Lion

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