Around the Interwebs: Penn State Football Links for 3/11/2009

• Joe and Sue Paterno will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the "Honor a Star. Be a Star." Gala in New York on April 29th. They are being recognized for their personal contributions to the community, charities, and the university. [PRNewswire]
• Run Up The Score has completed his look at the incoming freshman football class for 2009. Part Five of "The Kids Are Alright" contains information on soon-to-be-freshman Gerald Hodges, Kevin Newsome, Jordan Hill, Shawney Kersey, John Urschel, Michael Wallace, and Justin Brown. [Black Show Diaries]
• Mike 2 has posted a look at the Penn State depth chart for next season by eligibility. [Zombie Nation]
• Contributor Derek Reed wants to know where have Penn State's rivalries gone? Please, bring back Pittsburgh or West Virginia! [Bleacher Report]
• Some Nittany Lions are undergoing position changes and Todd Sponsler has the scoop. The obvious one is Sean Lee pulling a Posluszny-Connor, i.e. moving from outside to inside linebacker for their senior season. [50-yard Lion]
• Derek Reed returns but this time he examines the 2009 schedule. How about 11-1 and a share of the Big Ten title once again? I'll take it. [Bleacher Report]
• The next topic has a whole bunch of links. Let's get right to it...
• As most of you probably know, Florida State University has been given the near-death penalty for violations revolving around a 10-sport wide cheating scandal. A part of the punishment is the possibility of being stripped of winds from the 2006 and 2007 football seasons. If all wins were removed from those two seasons, 14 wins would be revoked from Bobby Bowden's total. This would place Bowden 15 wins shy of Joe Paterno's current (and ongoing) record. There is no way Bowden could catch him. Paterno currently has 383 wins while Bowden has 382 - but could be dropped to 368 if all 14 wins are revoked. All seven from 2007 will be dropped if Florida State loses its appeal. Most people believe they will. Now that we are all caught up...
• Bill Kline says hold your horses on anointing JoePa the king just yet. There is the lengthy appeals process, proving that ineligible players played a big role in said games, and the fact that the teams that would be getting a forfeit victory will accept it. [Nittany Lines]
• Mike 2 seems to think that Florida State will lose their appeal and will be forced to vacate all 14 wins from 2006-2007. [Zombie Nation]
• Dennis Dodd questions the integrity of Florida State's actions. It seems they only care about Bowden and the football team, not about the athletes and other teams affected. No matter what the final verdict, Bowden will carry an asterisk. [CBS Sports]
• Gene Frenette doesn't think the latest scandal to hit Florida State sports tarnishes Bobby Bowden's legacy. I have to agree with him. It doesn't matter whether or not Bowden finishes as the all time winningest coach. Number two is pretty good, too. Plus, this scandal doesn't tarnish Bowden's legacy. There is absolutely no proof that Bowden encouraged or even knew what was happening. [Jacksonville.com]
• The flip side of that comes from Devon O'Neil, He believes that this suits Bowden perfectly. Not because he in any way endorsed or knew of the cheating. But because Bowden has lost touch with the players. [Summit Daily News]
• A delusional Gary Shelton doesn't think removing wins from Bowden is fair.

As for the NCAA, it admits Bowden didn't know about the cheating. For that matter, the NCAA admits that no one in the FSU administration knew about the cheating. Nevertheless, barring appeal, they are going to take a chain saw to Bowden's record.

Yeah, that makes sense.


Yes, Gary, it does make sense. His team played games with ineligible players. When you use ineligible players those wins are forfeit. The only reason this is a big deal is because of who it is and what is at stake. But you don't make exceptions. I'd recommend reading Shelton's story to see how out of touch and what an ass he is. He completely rips on nerds for no reason at all. [Tampa Bay.com]

• Kevin McGuire has his own take on "The Amazing Race". [Nittanydelphia]
• So does fellow blogger Mike 2. He chronicles the unfortunate end for the wins race but delves into the question: does it really matter? Paterno ended this past season ahead plus he got them all at one school while Bowden had a little help from his stint at Samford. [Zombie Nation]
• Ron Cook backs Paterno and says he deserves the victory. Though Paterno could probably care less. He's never been about records. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
• Lastly, to take the edge off, Spencer Hall, a.k.a. Orson Swindle, writes that if Bobby Bowden loses his appeal and must vacate up to 14 wins from the 2006 and 2007 season, Bowden will make a bold move. He will ask the NCAA to add wins from his time as a major for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Read it. It's hilarious. [Every Day Should Be Saturday]