Most Hated Team

SI.com has put together a list oif the 25 most hated teams of all time . . .

Strutting. Showboating. Self-congratulation. Self-promotion. A sense of entitlement. Too much money. Too much talent. Bandwagon fans. Criminal behavior. Dirty play. These are just some of the things that made the 25 single-season teams on this list so insufferable, and their most egregious sin may have been winning or, in some cases, their failure to win enough. Of all the passions that teams ordinarily inspire, widespread hatred is a pretty notable achievement. Hearty contempt for rivals is a natural part of the sports landscape, but every so often a team unleashes a massive dose of loathing that consumes everyone but its own fans.

And the #1 team?  Drum Roll please . . .

1986 University of Miami football
His players were visionaries, early practitioners of an in-your-face brand of football that went out of its way to belittle and intimidate opponents. It was, in a lot of ways, the opposite of sportsmanship. It was a 'Cane thing. To say that Jimmy Johnson (pictured, left, with Michael Irvin) gave his players free reign was an understatement. The '86 Hurricanes were caught up in "fights and fraud and alleged shoplifting and other unsavory shenanigans involving more than 40 players," wrote SI's Rick Reilly. "Miami may be the only squad in America that has its team picture taken from the front and from the side." It was also flat-out loaded, an NFL developmental squad, and not inclined toward modesty. The top-ranked 'Canes showed up in Tempe, Ariz., for the national title game rocking military fatigues, in stark contrast to the coats and ties sported by the charges of "St. Joe" Paterno, as Johnson dubbed his counterpart. In that famed Fiesta Bowl game, Heisman Trophy winner Vinny Testaverde threw five picks and Miami turned the ball over seven times in a 14-10 Penn State upset that made a lot of people across the republic very, very happy. -- Austin Murphy

I know it made me very happy.
 
Interestingly enough, Jimmy Johnson and Michael Irvin make the list twice as the 1992 Dallas Cowboys came in at #3.  That's two spots in the top 3!
 
Also of note . . .
 
11.  1990 University of Miami football
12.  1991-2 Duke basketball
15.  2005 USC football
17.  1993 Notre Dame football
23.  1983-4 Georgetown basketball

Recruiting Update: Mangiro

Per Fight on State:

Angelo Mangiro announced on Sunday at the Horseshoe Lake Senior Center in Succasunna that he will play his collegiate football for Penn State. Rated a four-star prospect by Scout.com, Mangiro is also Scout's fifth best offensive guard nationally in the Class of 2011. He made his selection over a list of finalists that included Rutgers, Pittsburgh and Ohio State. He also had offers from programs like Florida, USC, UCLA, North Carolina, Boston College and Maryland.

That's the best news I've heard in a while!

I was talking to a fellow Penn Stater this weekend and the conversation eventually came around to whether or not I was concerned about the slow start to recruiting.  I am to some extent, but we are going to have a relatively small class this year.  And its not likely we're going to land a big name QB with the talent already here.  This translates into a class that will not likely be top 10--perhaps not even top 20, no matter where the chips fall and who comes.  My expectations are tempered by reality.

That said, I do not think Paterno's health is an issue, at least not anymore than any other season of recent record.  I do wish Paterno would take a more active role in recruiting and making visits, but that is not my call to make.  Hopefully this is the spark that this recruiting class needs to get going!

Friday Funnies: Pennsylvania Guys

Is this our new recruiting video?  Maybe that explains why things are slow!

We Got Your Links Here

Browsing around the web . . .

The Detroit Free Press is annoyed that Penn State doesn't see either THEM or Michigan State as worthy of a WhiteHouse this year. 

I'm not sure why the THEM game isn't a WhiteHouse (granted they are down) but the powers that be must want to keep the event special.  Either that or the late dates (Oct 30 and Nov. 27) may be too cold for a successful whiteout.  Sorry Sparty.  BTW, there was an error printing tickets designating the Temple game as a WhiteHouse.  How's that for a slap in the face?!  Wolverines are't good enough but the Owl's are!

Penn State has announced a home game with Navy in 2012.

Alabama defensive lineman Marcell Dareus is being investigated for attending a party hosted by an NFL agent.  A ruling might affect whether he can play against the Nittany Lions on September 11th.  There are two ways to looking at this:  1) Any advantage that gives us a chance to win is great, especially if rules were broken, or 2) if we're going to beat Alabama, it's best to beat them at their best so that there are no excuses.  Personally, I'd like to win this game and I'm sure Gator fans don't lose any sleep over their bowl victory when PSU played without Enis and Jurevicius.  If he's suspended, I can live with that.

And that's the news that's fit to pawprint.

Uplifting News

According to Audrey Snyder of The Daily Collegian, the Penn State football team raised over $98,000 for kideny cancer research.

The Nittany Lions tested their physical and mental strength in front of 3,000 fans during the eighth annual Uplifting Athletes Lift for Life event while raising a record-setting $98,461.35.

The total is nearly $16,000 more than last year's event brought in and brings the eight-year sum for the Kidney Cancer Association to close to $500,000.

"You really can't describe it," said Brett Brackett, president of the Penn State chapter of Uplifting Athletes. "When you get an e-mail from someone and they tell you that when they were diagnosed with kidney cancer they were told that they didn't really have much hope and nothing to help them. ... Then, when they found out Penn State football was involved their whole demeanor changed because now they have 105 people that have their back."

Brackett's team, OH Jersey, which consisted of Jack Crawford, Gerald Hodges and Michael Zordich, won the event, but the team's highest individual fund raiser was offensive lineman Eric Shrive.

Congratulations to all the atheltes who participated and the sponsors who donated!

NLC Annual Report

This document can be viewed at the NLC Website.

Basically, the Total Revenues for Penn State Athletics in 2008-9 were $95,978,243.  The Total Expenses for that same fiscal year were $87,862,549. 

Therefore, the school that feels the need to STEP up to higher seating fees, already has a surplus of $8.1 million dollars!  Isn't that special?!?

My editorial comment ran in the Altoona Mirror last Sunday.

A Facebook response came:

Hey Teri please tell Todd GREAT COLUMN!!!!! [We] went to St College for the festival I did not buy ONE THING that said Penn State!!! Greed Greed shame on them. SAD SAD years at GREEDY VALLEY not Happy anymore.

On the Mirror Website, one commenter (The WizardofOz) notes:

You hit the nail right on the head in your first paragraph...GREED...that has been there for years...just now you are personally facing it with the new STEP guidelines. Second...if they are going to raise prices, they have to do it while Joe is still around...and he's at the tail end of his tenure. Without Joe...they can't do this. Once hes gone...this would never fly. Typical Penn State....kill the Golden Goose. For those prices, Nit fans could go down to Pitt and sit in the Chancellors lap...maybe not a bad idea.

Sit on the Chancellors lap?  Now there's a disturbing thought.

Quarless on Paterno

Mike Spofford of Packers.com caught up with former PSU TE Andrew Quarless.  Among his interview answers is a question about Paterno . . .

Who's the most influential coach you've ever played for and why?



I would say Coach (Joe) Paterno. He is a legendary coach and he told me a lot of things about accountability and discipline. He was an old-school guy and a young guy like me came in and didn't really buy into the system. He made me understand his way. He is an old-school guy with his old-school ways. I think that went a long way and it helped me out a lot.

Granted, how many coaches (other sports notwithstanding) would he have played for--one, two?  But in an era where the trend is to not accept responsibility for one's actions and to blame others, his answer is commendable.  Other responses include . . .

Outside of anything in sports, what's your proudest accomplishment in life?



I definitely have to say graduating from college. Coming in as a freshman I did real bad my first semester, real bad. I was able to bounce back and graduate in three-and-a-half years.
 
What has been your greatest accomplishment on the football field?



We played in the Rose Bowl my junior year on the big stage and to be able to get that Big Ten Championship ring was a big accomplishment for my team.

Good Luck, Andrew !

More Numbers to Chew On

Brett McMurphy of the NCAA Fanhouse took a look at the numbers across college football, in terms of income and spending.  I can't say there are any real surprises, but I think the numbers are of some nterest to PSU fans, particularly those like me who are going to be royally screwed by the new STEP program.

His conclusion: 

That's right, instead of a 54-10 record since 2005 the Buckeyes should be 64-0 -- at least based on what the Buckeyes spend on their football program.


No university in America pours more money into its football program than Ohio State.

The Buckeye's top the list overall with a football budget of $32.3 Million, while Penn State is fourth in the Big Ten with football expenses of $19.13 Million.
 
But of particular note is the net income of programs, where Penn State comes in at #4 in the country, BEFORE the STEP program goes into effect . . .

*All dollar figures are in millions

BCS Football Programs Net Revenue

Source: U.S. Department of Education's Equity in Athletics report for the 2008-09 school year

Rank	University	Net Revenue	Conference
1	Texas	$65.02	Big 12
2	Georgia	$45.38	SEC
3	Florida	$43.29	SEC
4	Penn State	$42.63	Big Ten
5	LSU	$39.12	SEC
6	Notre Dame	$38.18	Independent
7	Alabama	$38.16	SEC
8	Nebraska	$37.29	Big 12
9	South Carolina	$37.23	SEC
10	Ohio State	$35.89	Big Ten
11	Michigan	$34.21	Big Ten
12	Auburn	$29.81	SEC
13	Michigan State	$27.64	Big Ten
14	Texas A&M	$22.29	Big 12
15	Oklahoma	$21.84	Big 12
16	Arkansas	$20.33	SEC
17	Tennessee	$19.84	SEC
18	Oregon State	$18.35	Pac-10
19	Wisconsin	$17.29	Big Ten
20	Clemson	$16.36	ACC
21	Minnesota	$16.34	Big Ten
22	Washington	$15.64	Pac-10
23	Illinois	$15.22	Big Ten
24	Colorado	$14.78	Big 12
25	Oklahoma State	$14.04	Big 12
26	USC	$13.83	Pac-10
27	Boston College	$13.26	ACC
28	West Virginia	$13.05	Big East
29	Kentucky	$12.90	SEC
30	Arizona State	$12.64	Pac-10
31	Iowa	$11.99	Big Ten
32	N.C. State	$10.77	ACC
33	Texas Tech	$9.62	Big 12
34	Virginia Tech	$9.47	ACC
35	Ole Miss	$9.17	SEC
36	Indiana	$8.99	Big Ten
37	Oregon	$8.92	Pac-10
38	North Carolina	$8.80	ACC
39	California	$8.62	Pac-10
40	Missouri	$8.46	Big 12
41	Arizona	$8.31	Pac-10
42	UCLA	$8.25	Pac-10
43	Northwestern	$8.22	Big Ten
44	Florida State	$8.17	ACC
45	Louisville	$7.43	Big East
46	Kansas State	$7.36	Big 12
47	Iowa State	$6.86	Big 12
48	Georgia Tech	$6.71	ACC
49	Miami	$6.18	ACC
50	Mississippi State	$5.88	SEC
51	Purdue	$5.66	Big Ten
52	Pittsburgh	$5.57	Big East
53	Vanderbilt	$4.38	SEC
54	Kansas	$4.34	Big 12
55	South Florida	$3.79	Big East
56	Virginia	$2.99	ACC
57	Washington State	$2.48	Pac-10
58	Maryland	$2.26	ACC
59	Baylor	$0.99	Big 12
60	Cincinnati	$0.94	Big East
61	Stanford	$0.66	Pac-10
62	Rutgers	$0	Big East
63	UConn	-$0.27	Big East
64	Syracuse	-$0.84	Big East
65	Wake Forest	-$3.07	ACC
66	Duke	-$6.72	ACC

Now, the University will be quick to point out that the football program underwrites the rest of the athletic department, so the true "net" is less than what is shown, since these figures reflect only the in/out for football.

But is it not surprising that Penn State already outperforms programs like Ohio State, THEM, Wisconsin and Iowa--programs with higher seat licensing fees that we are supposedly aspiring to?  Don't these programs also support other sports?

You have to go through 63 programs just to find one that loses money on football!  And of the four programs listed that lose money in football--Uc\Conn, Syracuse, Wake Forest and Duke--do you think maybe they make up for that in basketball revenue???

And ALL 17 non-BCS programs turned a profit!

If you look at gross revenue (all sports) Penn State still manages to come in 6th!

BCS Athletic Departments' Gross Revenue

Source: U.S. Department of Education's Equity in Athletics report for the 2008-09 school year

Rank	University	Revenue	Conference
1	Texas	$138.45	Big 12
2	Ohio State	$119.85	Big Ten
3	Florida	$108.30	SEC
4	Alabama	$103.93	SEC
5	LSU	$100.07	SEC
6	Penn State	$95.97	Big Ten
7	Michigan	$95.19	Big Ten
8	Tennessee	$92.52	SEC
9	Wisconsin	$89.84	Big Ten
10	Auburn	$87.00	SEC
11	Georgia	$81.49	SEC
12	Oklahoma	$81.48	Big 12
13	Notre Dame	$81.08	IND/Big East
14	USC	$80.15	Pac-10
15	Iowa	$79.52	Big Ten
16	South Carolina	$76.25	SEC
17	Michigan State	$75.62	Big Ten
18	Nebraska	$74.88	Big 12
19	Stanford	$74.69	Pac-10
20	Florida State	$74.41	ACC
21	California	$73.35	Pac-10
22	Texas A&M	$72.88	Big 12
23	Kentucky	$72.05	SEC
24	Oklahoma State	$71.80	Big 12
25	Duke	$71.07	ACC
26	Kansas	$70.61	Big 12
27	Minnesota	$70.32	Big Ten
28	North Carolina	$70.15	ACC
29	Virginia	$67.14	ACC
30	UCLA	$66.17	Pac-10
31	Boston College	$64.15	ACC
32	Arkansas	$63.97	SEC
33	Miami	$61.96	ACC
34	Indiana	$60.61	Big Ten
35	Washington	$60.57	Pac-10
36	Oregon	$60.28	Pac-10
37	Clemson	$60.16	ACC
38	Maryland	$59.96	ACC
39	Purdue	$59.91	Big Ten
40	UConn	$58.49	Big East
41	Louisville	$58.02	Big East
42	Missouri	$57.77	Big 12
43	West Virginia	$55.65	Big East
44	Illinois	$55.60	Big Ten
45	Rutgers	$54.30	Big East
46	Arizona State	$53.29	Pac-10
47	Virginia Tech	$52.83	ACC
48	Syracuse	$52.05	Big East
49	Arizona	$51.82	Pac-10
50	Oregon State	$50.21	Pac-10
51	Colorado	$49.85	Big 12
52	Northwestern	$48.58	Big Ten
53	Baylor	$48.54	Big 12
54	Georgia Tech	$48.06	ACC
55	Kansas State	$47.39	Big 12
56	Texas Tech	$46.63	Big 12
57	N.C. State	$46.49	ACC
58	Pittsburgh	$45.83	Big East
59	Iowa State	$45.81	Big 12
60	Vanderbilt	$45.58	SEC
61	Wake Forest	$44.64	ACC
62	Ole Miss	$41.31	SEC
63	Washington St.	$38.29	Pac-10
64	South Florida	$37.85	Big East
65	Mississippi St.	$36.53	SEC
66	Cincinnati	$35.02	Big East

But have no fear . . the STEP porgram will enable PSU to compete financially and hopefully be #1!  WE ARE . . . PENN $$$$$$tate!

Happy Fourth of July!

Image courtesy of MtNittany