Quotable Quotes

Civil Celebration

Here are some assorted comments in the aftermath of yesterday's announcement that the bowl band and scholarship sanctions would be lifted immediately:

Bill O'Brien:

"I think that’s great news for Penn State," said O'Brien, who spent the last two football seasons as the Nittany Lions' head coach. "Penn State is a fantastic place. It’s a great education, great football program, a lot of good people who have done a lot of great things over there over the last couple of years to make sure that they’ve learned from the past mistakes and understood that that’s a special place.
"And so I feel very happy for Penn State and, mostly, I feel happy for the players and the coaching staff that’s there now."

Some have focused on the latter comment as an intentional snub of administration and perhaps even the fan base, but I'm not going to nitt-pick here.

James Franklin:

"We are very appreciative of the opportunities the NCAA and Big Ten have provided with today's announcement," Franklin said. "This team plays for each other. We play for Penn State, our families, the former players, our students, alumni, fans and the community. We are so proud to represent Penn State and the Big Ten Conference and are working hard to prepare for our Big Ten opener at Rutgers." 

Can this be the spark that takes the level of play of this team to the NEXT level?  This could go either way--having something to play for may put more pressure on the players/coaches to win.  Or it might just fire them up!  We shall see this Saturday in prime time!

PS4RS:

"We are very happy that some of the sanctions have been rescinded. This is great news for the football team, and the entire unfairly punished Penn State community. However, there are still wrongs to be righted. The Freeh conclusions are not supported by evidence, and they never should have been used as a pretext for sanctioning Penn State. We are disheartened by false rationalizations that Penn State has somehow changed or atoned to deserve this “reward.” Penn State athletics programs have ALWAYS demonstrated the highest level of integrity. Three years after their indictment, the three Penn State administrators have yet to have their day in court due to mysterious appeals by Penn State and clandestine document sealing by the PA court system. Prosecutor Frank Fina has publicly stated that there was no evidence to support the Freeh Report’s conclusion that Joe Paterno was aware of or participated in a cover up. Further, the NCAA’s new sexual assault reporting handbook instructs coaches around the country to do exactly what Paterno did in 2001. There is no basis for ANY of the sanctions and they must be entirely rescinded.”

AMEN!

And last but not least, Admiral Yamamoto:

"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."