Point-counterpoint: Was the Big Ten right in letting Ohio State in its title game?

December 10, 2020

Nothing is normal about this year. Nothing makes sense. When you’re living in a world where world where nothing is normal, you cannot try to rationalize things the same way you would during usual circumstances. Usually, rules are rules. They apply to everyone. It’s how we keep order in the world. This year, we have to be able to bend the rules. The Big Ten made a rule a few months ago that seemed like a good idea at the time. It turned out to be a bad rule, one that could have caused one major problem. It could have cost the Big Ten millions of dollars. So the rule had to be ...

SFU, Krimmel worthy of praise after huge win over Pitt program

November 27, 2020

Saint Francis beat Pitt. I never thought I would write those words. So I’ll write them again. Saint Francis beat Pitt. It wasn’t a fluke. It wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t a crazy finish. It was a dominant performance from start to finish by the Red Flash, who beat Pitt, 80-70, ...

PSU coaches should not treat QBs with kid gloves

November 20, 2020

There’s no I in team. There’s also no QB in team. No one is above the entire team. No one. If one player is messing up so badly that he’s a huge reason why a team is losing games, then that player has to be benched. Even if it’s the quarterback. OK, so most everyone agrees that not only will Sean Clifford be benched in favor of Will Levis this week, but also that it’s the right thing to do for Penn State. What Neil and I are discussing today is whether making a change at quarterback is a bigger decision than, say, making a change at linebacker or safety. The ...

Defensive showing the reason for 2 of 3 Penn State losses

November 13, 2020

Penn State’s defense played great for the first 58 minutes this season. It’s been flat out awful ever since. There’s no question the Nittany Lions’ offense has had major problems, and Neil points them out. But the offense did enough to beat Indiana. The defense collapsed at the end with that game on the line, setting a bad tone for what has turned out to be a very bad start for Penn State. We all can gripe about James Franklin not making sure that Devyn Ford or anyone else went into the end zone with a one-point lead inside of two minutes at Indiana. The game would have ...

Salary cap, floor badly needed

July 25, 2020

Major league players make way, way too much money, and the sport’s entire economic system is a joke. I realize I’m dreaming here, because it’s never going to happen, but MLB needs a salary cap for teams. Along with that, it also needs a salary floor.both of those things would be my first order of business if I were commissioner and could change anything I wanted about Major League Baseball. We all know there’s a gigantic disparity in team payrolls. Last season, the Red Sox had the highest payroll at $229 million, while the Pirates were 29th out of 30 teams at $72 ...

Point-counterpoint: Will any major college football be played this fall? US doesn’t deserve it

July 18, 2020

We wouldn’t even be having this debate if it weren’t for the money. The smartest guys in the room — those running the Ivy League — already made the right decision: no college sports at all the rest of this year. It’s just not safe, not when 140,000 people have died from a virus that’s still surging in most of the country and seems impossible to stop because our society is selfish and stubborn. Those Ivy folks don’t really have to worry about all the money stuff because they are in business to educate students. Hmm, what a novel idea for colleges. The major ...