Why Penn State's Football Culture Returning Matters More Than Ever

I must confess I have yet to care about college football.  That will change for the first time this Saturday.

I know the SEC has been on.  I know that Notre Dame is playing.  I know Clemson is out there.  To me, it just hasn't mattered.  

This year has obviously been wildly different than any in mine, and most everyone else's, lifetime.  A worldwide pandemic has struck; one in which the United States has been losing nearly one thousand lives a day and continues spread at alarming rates.

There has been both violent and civil unrest as more and more Americans are becoming outraged at the conduct of officers and a system of justice that severely needs addressing.

In a very real way, my appetite for sports in this time frame has waned.  Even my favorite basketball team, the Los Angeles Lakers, winning a championship didn't particularly excite me.  The bizarreness of it all had slightly stripped the joy.

Penn State, like it or not, will also be in the news for this week for the Pat Chambers resigning/dismissal story.  The speculative stories seem to center around the case of Rasir Bolten and Josh Reaves, which may have been smoking guns towards a larger issue that the general public wasn't aware of with Chambers.

While some fans have decided to pass judgment, I don't pretend to know all the information that was found during Penn State's internal investigation, but one would have to think that the evidence found was substantial and serious enough that neither side wanted it public.

I will always say that being a coach or a manager and how you treat subordinates is a very big deal, and how you are perceived by those that work under you matters.  Pat Chambers has had numerous reports about temper issues that have resulted in conduct that would be inconsistent with the values of Penn State.

I don't believe Penn State would or should tolerate coaches who may use fear and anger as tools to teach.  If that's what was happening, as reports have indicated, then I have no issue with the two sides separating and moving on.

All that said, finding something positive to write about this week before the start of the game proved a little bit more difficult, but all the same, I am ready to get started.


There are many different kinds of fans that watch and support Penn State football.  Some support out of their own family tradition.  Some just like the brand of football.  Some have an appreciation for the specific culture.  Some because they are alumni.  Some just like the simple blue and white color scheme.

I fall into the category of rooting for this program because of it's espoused culture.  One where academics and the process of education will be put before athletic results.  

That is not to say athletic results do not impact the student-athlete business, but that the athletic aspect remains secondary.

One of the biggest points of pride I had held for my alma mater was that focus so many of our young athletes had towards other pursuits.  Penn State football graduates were not athletes.  They were renaissance men. They were the best of every world.

And the best part is, you can see it on the field.

You see it in the physical effort and grit of the linemen.

You see it in second and third efforts from running backs.

You see it when coaches pull kids aside to teach rather than scream and yell.

You see it when sportsmanship is shown by helping up an opponent.

You see it when a mistake is made and it brings a team closer together.

You see it when an individual triumphs, it is a team that celebrates.

You see it when they leave football and remain successful.

When I watch this Saturday, I will be excited to watch a team go out there and attempt to be both physically and mentally superior in everyway.  I want to watch the team make highlight play after highlight play.

I also understand that isn't realistic.  Indiana, while not as reputable a program as Penn State, has players who have been training and working hard for their own goals.  

I expect there to be adversity for this Penn State team, perhaps lots of it.  In those moments, I look forward to seeing the character of the team reveal itself and grow.  What happens if an injury occurs?  A penalty?  A turnover?  Just like in the past, I expect to see our young people at their best.

For the past 6 years, James Franklin has been an exemplary leader for the program and for young people.  He has not waivered in his commitment to a positive mindset getting positive results.  In my estimation, he along with Sandy Barbour and Bill O'Brien deserve the lion's share of credit for keeping a unified football front during the height of the sanctions imposed by the NCAA.

Despite asking his players to be so much more than athletes; despite working for an institution that still needs to do more to ingratiate itself with minority communities; despite dealing with a past as divisive as any, James Franklin is getting some of the very best kids in America to believe in him and Penn State.  I believe in time, it will lead to multiple championships.

In an HBO special, the little goal that Franklin had kind of kept to himself, that he wanted be the first African American head coach to win a National Championship, got amplified.  I believe that message will resonate in a way we haven't seen before.  If the the start of the 2022 recruiting cycle is any indicator, certainly it seems more top players may want to be part of that vision.

I don't know what tomorrow holds.  I have my doubts about wins and losses.  I don't know if  Penn State will finish the season, or if they get to a championship game, should they even play a team like Alabama who hasn't taken the disease seriously and may infect them in the middle of a pandemic?  

What I do know, and what I take solace in, is that so far, the leaders at Penn State, while not perfect, have done a great job of keeping Penn State's athlete's reputation of being more than an athlete. They have kept moving forward and while there have been setbacks, they continue to embody a spirit of perseverance and positivity.

I look forward to more of the same come Saturday afternoon.  

Register to vote against the modern fascist.

 

Today is the absolute last opportunity to register to vote. 

I honestly believe if Trump stays in office the entire country will break down and descend into whatever the ugliest version of modern day fascism could be.

The evidence for this is as follows.
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Forced reproductive surgeries and sterilizations by law enforcement and people "following orders." 

The threat of law enforcement becoming increasingly radicalized and looked at as the only way to maintain order, often at the expense of minority groups.

The Neo-nazis that killed a protestor by using a car to run over people who simply did not want the KKK and Neo-Nazis marching through their town.

The continued assault on the press and freedom of speech as the police attempt to intimidate and target journalists who are attempting to freely cover the social unrest.

The continued championing of a go it alone mentality, as well as a belief of an exceptionalism due to their heritage.

The criminalization and championing of violence towards political adversaries.

We can start the process of healing with Biden.

No he isn't perfect.  No president ever has been or will be.  But we need as a country to start choosing the representatives that work for all of us and not just some. 

We need to find a way to find peace and disarm not only ourselves, but the world. The goal should not be conquest via violence, but harmony and peace via diplomacy.

I know that for some, no amount or reasoning will work.

They would be the same kinds of people that existed in Germany that sat passively by, happy to reap any economic benefit and believe the lies of Hitler, a charismatic and angry individual who at the end of the day cared only about himself and his vision for a world without anyone he deemed unworthy.

Those are the little Nazi's.  The ones that sat back and may not engage in the violence, but would let the violence occur if it benefitted them.

But for some still, I think there is conflicting narrative that throws them for a loop. 

Because Biden is flawed, the argument is that he is just as flawed as Trump.

That isn't true.

Fascism is the cruel disease that under the right circumstances, will destroy a democracy.

It doesn't happen overnight, it happens over time.

Please, do if you haven't yet please register and please vote for Biden. 

Vote against the modern Nazi.