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Pitt is second state rivalry PSU has lost

Cory Giger is right when he states that old timers remember the Penn State-Pitt game with great affection.

I was an undergraduate in the 1950s when this game, along with Penn State at Penn (which was always played in Philadelphia) were our most traditional rivalries.

The Army-Navy, Harvard-Yale and Michigan-Ohio State games were comparable contests.

Tradition went out the door when the Pitt-PSU game was discontinued. But tradition can return to the matchup if innovative heads prevail.

Penn State now has important games on its schedule, but no game that could be described as traditional.

Jim Wentz, Class of 1957

McLean, Va.

Idaho not worth the payout

When Penn State paid Idaho almost $1.5 million to play a game against the Nittany Lions, it was a total waste of money.

This is what they do best — waste money. It was just to make Penn State look good.

In reality, Idaho was the big winner, getting big bucks for playing a game that meant nothing to them. So the laugh is on Penn State.

Paying out all this kind of money would do a lot more good if they would use some of it to cut some costs on tuition prices or teach the coach to make right calls that he hasn’t made over the last few years.

Lenny Metz

Hollidaysburg

Idaho rout still stuck in Lion fan’s craw

Cory Giger’s column about the Pitt game was a little silly as playing Pitt every year would be much better than Idaho or Buffalo.

It would get more interest and continue a nice tradition.

A lot of Penn State’s best players have come from that area, and it is still some of the best high school football played in the state. Plug Pitt back in as soon as possible.

Scoring 79 points against Idaho was a disgrace. That’s why high school has the mercy rule because high school coaches weren’t good enough coaches to control the game themselves.

Sure, James Franklin got a lot of players into that game, but he also stuck two more scores on the board in the last two minutes of the half, which was disgraceful.

Penn State’s players would have gotten more quality playing time scrimmaging themselves.

You invite a team like Idaho to come here and you treat them like that? Show some respect for those kids. The $1.45 million wasn’t worth it to them; they didn’t get any of it.

So you know where I’m coming from, Franklin has a lot to learn and is still a weak game coach. We have Vanderbilt football with better players because he is a good recruiter.

I’m hoping he will learn but he has to establish some core philosophy in line with the university he works for. Joe Paterno did that and so did Bob Higgins and Rip Engle before him.

Maybe Franklin will prove me wrong. Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa and maybe even Maryland get the Lions this year.

Those 79 points aren’t going to help you win those games.

Terry Neubold, Loyolsock Township

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