OT: To PSU Admin lurkers regarding the "mysterious" 10 year drought in athletics fundraising

marshall23

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Oct 7, 2021
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Other than the Alumni-elected 9, the OGBOT basically replaced themselves with people who would vote as they would, hold steadfast on the "no apologies to JVP et. al.", etc. approach as they were (ahem) encouraged to do by their appointers. (It is gratifying to hear they did apologize to Spanier, according to Spanier, but that was not made public otherwise. I also suspect that the reconciliation with Sue and the Paterno family may have had a private apology involved, but that is just conjecture on my part).

The OGBOT replaced themselves with carbon copies, little Mini-Mes, voting as a block without any apparent independent thought. The fact that Dambly of all people is still prominent on the BOT lets us all know that the "New Guard" BOT is just the same BOT, different day, than the OGBOT.

Therefore, the argument that it is a new Admin/BOT bringing in a new day holds little water with me. While I have hopes for Neeli and Pat to move the needle in the preferred direction, I don't know how far the BOT will allow their efforts to go without them shutting it down far short of the correct mark. I think they are aware of the fund-raising barrier that was built before their time, and of the lack of effort to take down that barrier, and now it's in their laps to figure it out. The easiest, most practical solution has not be allowed by the NGBOT, and the passage of time has not changed their approach to it.

If I am to be asked to get over it, then I expect they, too, can get over it - especially when they created "IT" - and get a lot closer to a compromise where many of my/our terms and conditions are actually acted on. Then I may resume donating to other PSU areas than NLC/Athletics, Blue Band, and THON.

Until then, no.
Private apology for public humiliation...sounds right
 

ChandlerPearce

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Jan 23, 2022
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If someone believes that Joe Paterno is owed an apology or recognition for his contributions to PSU, then the current administration has fallen woefully short.

IIRC, Spanier said that some high up at PSU told him that he was mistreated and apologized, but that same person told him that none of that woould be stated publicly. if that's true, and I have my reservations about its veracity, that's all you need to know.
Since Graham Spanier was ousted, PSU academic standing/ranking has fallen...once we were described as a Public Ivy...haven't seen nor heard that reference in many years.
 

Bob78

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Oct 12, 2021
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So, let me ask this, aren’t there some pro Paterno members who were voted onto the board since 2011? Ask them those questions? Press them on your concerns. Hasn’t Sue made amends with the university? Wasn’t she in a luxury suite with the new president at one of the games this past season? Is Jay promoting the sentiment some here have? He’s on the BOT, right? He seems to be moving forward with the task at hand, no? Just as we would assume his father would want him to? If the Paterno family isn’t pressing the issue here or has privately made amends with it, why the need for a public apology? Is the concern for the Paterno family’s legacy or just for ourselves?
Only 9 of the 36 voting members are elected. And over the past decade, they have been largely marginalized by the OG/NGBOT.

While I greatly respect that the Paterno family, led by Sue, has made their amends with PSU, I still doubt they have any use for the BOT members who threw Joe under the bus unnecessarily and violently. They knew better. They knew who he was and what he meant to the school and its alumni and fans. They threw away the greatest athletic-based goodwill asset any school has ever had, for no reason other than their own short-sighted incompetence. They ignored the alumni then, they have continued to, so now it goes beyond following Sue's wonderfully gracious example, and it comes back to them making it personal for 100s of thousands of PSU alumni and fans. They created the "it's personal" issue, they can fix it, and they should never expect some of us to take the first 500 steps to their 1, as they imply with such strawman arguments as stated above.

Just my opinion.
 

CDM2PSU

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Oct 12, 2021
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Do you actually believe JVP would want people to not financially support the football program?
I honestly don’t know what Joe would want but am fairly certain one of his last requests in life was to find the truth. Not support the team/PSU or preserve his legacy. The truth, that’s all I want. Not a statue or to name something after him but the unedited, unbiased truth. Tom Corbett’s role, the second mile, freeh, the bot, joe, old main, all of it good and bad. And if it makes people look bad, including joe, so be it. Until we know the truth there will be no healing imo.
 

LB99

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Oct 27, 2021
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Only 9 of the 36 voting members are elected. And over the past decade, they have been largely marginalized by the OG/NGBOT.

While I greatly respect that the Paterno family, led by Sue, has made their amends with PSU, I still doubt they have any use for the BOT members who threw Joe under the bus unnecessarily and violently. They knew better. They knew who he was and what he meant to the school and its alumni and fans. They threw away the greatest athletic-based goodwill asset any school has ever had, for no reason other than their own short-sighted incompetence. They ignored the alumni then, they have continued to, so now it goes beyond following Sue's wonderfully gracious example, and it comes back to them making it personal for 100s of thousands of PSU alumni and fans. They created the "it's personal" issue, they can fix it, and they should never expect some of us to take the first 500 steps to their 1, as they imply with such strawman arguments as stated above.

Just my opinion.
Fair enough. Do you really think 100s of thousands of PSU alumni and fans are angry? I’m not sure that’s the case. Just my opinion. Otherwise our stadium and campus would be empty. It is alive and thriving.

Look, I am asking questions for my own knowledge and trying to understand some of the points being made by you and others. I’m not trying to argue. That is sometimes hard to convey through text/e-mail, etc. I truly am trying to ask questions, and have a civil conversation. I appreciate your perspective and the perspective/opinion of others. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I also will never tell anyone what to do with their money. It’s yours, do with it as you wish. While I appreciate and agree with many of the opinions stated, I don’t wholeheartedly agree with everything 100%. I don’t feel the need (as an alumnus) for an apology. I also don’t feel the need to die on a hill for a statue , field renaming, etc. It seems irrelevant and materialistic to me. My time could be spent on more important things. What Joe accomplished both on the field and off, is alive and well with those of us that witnessed it, and even more so by those that lived it. He was a tremendous ambassador for the school. That will never be replaced, although, I do think while Franklin has his faults, he holds his players and staff to a very high standard and accountability. I applaud him for that. I wake up everyday thankful for my Penn State education and my experience there. It provided me opportunities that I would have never had otherwise. I am the first college graduate in my family. Penn State allowed me to make a living without killing my body in the process like my parents and grandparents had to do at blue collar jobs. They insisted I go to college and not follow that path and now I understand why. I appreciate the life PSU gave me a chance to have and provide for my family. As an alumni and father of a soon to be freshman, I am still supporting the school for those reasons. I also lost my best friend (and alumnus) way too early back around the holidays. It reinforced with me that life is too short. I simply don’t have the time or interest in holding grudges. I have to move forward for myself and others while still appreciating the past. I hope you all get some sort of closure from everything. Unfortunately, I feel like even if an apology of some form comes to fruition at some point, it still won’t satisfy some and that is unfortunate. Have a great weekend fellas, I truly wish that. WE ARE….

“Believe deep down in your heart that you are destined to do great things” JVP
 
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leinbacker

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Oct 13, 2021
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Ok. So who at the University is the resentment directed at? The University president has turned over multiple times since 2011. The AD has also and the BOT could be a completely different group of people? By holding people accountable for something that some perceive as a wrong and that they may have had nothing to do with, aren’t we doing the same thing to them and the student body that we may be upset about? I’m just trying to understand how the message is effective and whom it should be directed at specifically? I don’t think any of us routinely apologize for things other people do, so should we expect that from others? What specific “actions” are you looking for?

I think it is well past time where we can hold specific people responsible, unless they are still in office, but I doubt there is a strong enough movement that could drive them out.

But look at the University as an institution. Just over ten years ago it changed course. It would no longer honor the significant contributions the leadership that one man made. They sacrificed him in order to get themselves out of a media created circus and save their own asses. They spent millions hiring Clinton's former smear artist, Lanny Davis, and Louis (you show me the man I'll show you the crime) Freeh. Their sole job, at the direction of the BOT, was to deflect blame on those that are no longer in the University.

You can have a ten fold turnover in presidents, BOT members, etc. but that same institutional change, made a decade ago, is still there. By not condemning it, openly stating the University's course of action was wrong, and taking action to make things right.
 

Bob78

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Oct 12, 2021
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Fair enough. Do you really think 100s of thousands of PSU alumni and fans are angry? I’m not sure that’s the case. Just my opinion. Otherwise our stadium and campus would be empty. It is alive and thriving.

Look, I am asking questions for my own knowledge and trying to understand some of the points being made by you and others. I’m not trying to argue. That is sometimes hard to convey through text/e-mail, etc. I truly am trying to ask questions, and have a civil conversation. I appreciate your perspective and the perspective/opinion of others. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I also will never tell anyone what to do with their money. It’s yours, do with it as you wish. While I appreciate and agree with many of the opinions stated, I don’t wholeheartedly agree with everything 100%. I don’t feel the need (as an alumnus) for an apology. I also don’t feel the need to die on a hill for a statue , field renaming, etc. It seems irrelevant and materialistic to me. My time could be spent on more important things. What Joe accomplished both on the field and off, is alive and well with those of us that witnessed it, and even more so by those that lived it. He was a tremendous ambassador for the school. That will never be replaced, although, I do think while Franklin has his faults, he holds his players and staff to a very high standard and accountability. I applaud him for that. I wake up everyday thankful for my Penn State education and my experience there. It provided me opportunities that I would have never had otherwise. I am the first college graduate in my family. Penn State allowed me to make a living without killing my body in the process like my parents and grandparents had to do at blue collar jobs. They insisted I go to college and not follow that path and now I understand why. I appreciate the life PSU gave me a chance to have and provide for my family. As an alumni and father of a soon to be freshman, I am still supporting the school for those reasons. I also lost my best friend (and alumnus) way too early back around the holidays. It reinforced with me that life is too short. I simply don’t have the time or interest in holding grudges. I have to move forward for myself and others while still appreciating the past. I hope you all get some sort of closure from everything. Unfortunately, I feel like even if an apology of some form comes to fruition at some point, it still won’t satisfy some and that is unfortunate. Have a great weekend fellas, I truly wish that. WE ARE….

“Believe deep down in your heart that you are destined to do great things” JVP
Not to argue, as I appreciate your heartfelt post, but I did not say that 100s of thousands of alumni and fans are angry, I said they OGBOT made it personal to 100s of thousands of alumni and fans. That angered a large number of people, and others didn't bother to really understand the absurdity of that statement and were not angry.

Filling the stadium is a separate discussion. Some folks have given up their NLC donations and tickets, but the large majority, such as me, have not. Of the many loyal psu fans I personally know who continue to donate and attend games, nearly all are still angry over Joe's treatment. Certainty a few are not, yet I cannot think of anyone who feels the OGBOT actions were justified. And the people I know who were caught up in it, either directly or indirectly (such as being part of the NCAA interrogation), declare without hesitation that the school's targeted and predetermined "investigation" was a complete farce.

I'm part of the problem in that I continue to make a significant (for me) NLC contribution and purchase season tickets. So I'm not adding to the necessary incentive for them to hear what I'm saying. However, I give nothing to certain other areas of the school where I used to, and that won't change until... you know the rest.
 

PSU12046

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Oct 18, 2021
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I honestly don’t know what Joe would want but am fairly certain one of his last requests in life was to find the truth. Not support the team/PSU or preserve his legacy. The truth, that’s all I want. Not a statue or to name something after him but the unedited, unbiased truth. Tom Corbett’s role, the second mile, freeh, the bot, joe, old main, all of it good and bad. And if it makes people look bad, including joe, so be it. Until we know the truth there will be no healing imo.
He did say on his death bed to find out the truth. And at another time to "not trust Old Main"
 

GrimReaper

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Oct 12, 2021
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I honestly don’t know what Joe would want but am fairly certain one of his last requests in life was to find the truth. Not support the team/PSU or preserve his legacy. The truth, that’s all I want. Not a statue or to name something after him but the unedited, unbiased truth. Tom Corbett’s role, the second mile, freeh, the bot, joe, old main, all of it good and bad. And if it makes people look bad, including joe, so be it. Until we know the truth there will be no healing imo.
The truth, a laudable, but elusive goal. For it to be found either Magic Mike, or Curley and Schultz would have to admit they lied (I have my own belief as to whom, but I'm intentionally being an agnostic on this). Never happen.
 

Lionville

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Oct 19, 2021
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The truth, a laudable, but elusive goal. For it to be found either Magic Mike, or Curley and Schultz would have to admit they lied (I have my own belief as to whom, but I'm intentionally being an agnostic on this). Never happen.
Do you mean deer baiting, golf cheating, dick pic Mike? Yeah, a real upstanding guy who can be trusted with telling the truth.
 

ChandlerPearce

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Jan 23, 2022
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Fair enough. Do you really think 100s of thousands of PSU alumni and fans are angry? I’m not sure that’s the case. Just my opinion. Otherwise our stadium and campus would be empty. It is alive and thriving.

Look, I am asking questions for my own knowledge and trying to understand some of the points being made by you and others. I’m not trying to argue. That is sometimes hard to convey through text/e-mail, etc. I truly am trying to ask questions, and have a civil conversation. I appreciate your perspective and the perspective/opinion of others. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I also will never tell anyone what to do with their money. It’s yours, do with it as you wish. While I appreciate and agree with many of the opinions stated, I don’t wholeheartedly agree with everything 100%. I don’t feel the need (as an alumnus) for an apology. I also don’t feel the need to die on a hill for a statue , field renaming, etc. It seems irrelevant and materialistic to me. My time could be spent on more important things. What Joe accomplished both on the field and off, is alive and well with those of us that witnessed it, and even more so by those that lived it. He was a tremendous ambassador for the school. That will never be replaced, although, I do think while Franklin has his faults, he holds his players and staff to a very high standard and accountability. I applaud him for that. I wake up everyday thankful for my Penn State education and my experience there. It provided me opportunities that I would have never had otherwise. I am the first college graduate in my family. Penn State allowed me to make a living without killing my body in the process like my parents and grandparents had to do at blue collar jobs. They insisted I go to college and not follow that path and now I understand why. I appreciate the life PSU gave me a chance to have and provide for my family. As an alumni and father of a soon to be freshman, I am still supporting the school for those reasons. I also lost my best friend (and alumnus) way too early back around the holidays. It reinforced with me that life is too short. I simply don’t have the time or interest in holding grudges. I have to move forward for myself and others while still appreciating the past. I hope you all get some sort of closure from everything. Unfortunately, I feel like even if an apology of some form comes to fruition at some point, it still won’t satisfy some and that is unfortunate. Have a great weekend fellas, I truly wish that. WE ARE….

“Believe deep down in your heart that you are destined to do great things” JVP
Fair enough.....yes i KNOW 100's of thousands feel this way...thru my involvement with PSU Alumni Chapters...but like everything else many just feel NOTHING will ever be done and focus on other endeavors. The majority of people have a very laissez faire attitude...and just won't get involved....but will cheer on those that champion the topics they feel strongly about. There are many possible reasons for the decrease in gifting and donations...maybe people are upset about a female AD....maybe they are upset with the treatment of the B1G...maybe someone they know wasn't admitted to University Park as a freshman...maybe people are upset Penn State doesn't utilize Pink and Black or alternate uniforms enough....maybe people feel the school doesn't care about them anymore, the ideals, morals, values from when they became part of "Dear Old State"....and feel it is just time to move on. Whatever the reason, it must be something significant to cause such a major change .
 
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LB99

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Fair enough.....yes i KNOW 100's of thousands feel this way...thru my involvement with PSU Alumni Chapters...but like everything else many just feel NOTHING will ever be done and focus on other endeavors. The majority of people have a very laissez faire attitude...and just won't get involved....but will cheer on those that champion the topics they feel strongly about. There are many possible reasons for the decrease in gifting and donations...maybe people people are upset about a female AD....maybe they are upset with the treatment of the B1G...maybe someone they know wasn't admitted to University Park as a freshman...maybe people are upset Penn State doesn't utilize Pink and Black or alternate uniforms enough....maybe people feel the school doesn't care about them anymore, the ideals, morals, values from when they became part of "Dear Old State"....and feel it is just time to move on. Whatever the reason, it must be something significant to cause such a major change .
If people had issues with the AD being a female then we have bigger problems than even I thought. It isn’t the 1950’s.
 
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LB99

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I only had a problem with her doing a ****** job, especially fund raising. She got way way way more out of Penn State than Penn State got out of her.
That’s fine and perfectly acceptable. But ChandlerPearce suggested people may have had a problem with the fact that she was female. Since, he KNOWS (his words, not mine) a lot due to his involvement in the alumni chapters then some must have told him as much. If that is true, then we have some really mind numbing chauvinistic alumni out there? I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding. Did I do that right Bob?
 

WVilleLion

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That’s fine and perfectly acceptable. But ChandlerPearce suggested people may have had a problem with the fact that she was female. Since, he KNOWS (his words, not mine) a lot due to his involvement in the alumni chapters then some must have told him as much. If that is true, then we have some really mind numbing chauvinistic alumni out there? I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding. Did I do that right Bob?
I agree with your comments. We have folks in our fan base that are more than or worse than just chauvinists unfortunately.
 
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baltimorened

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Sorry the Joebots should be called out for caring about nothing but Joe…..and holding the football program hostage because of it.
there seems to be a dichotomy here..on the one hand people say that by not donating people are hurting the program. On the other side some have posted that we've had 4 11 win seasons won bowl games, etc. Somehow, even with the dearth of donations, the athletic department comes up with the money needed to keep things humming. If they have to cut sports to keep other programs going, so be it. They should have thought about that before. But as I already posted, our leaders thought that the alumni and fans would just march lock-step in tune with the board decisions.
The powers that be have to be smart enough to recognize that statements made by erickson and board members about the alumni and the culture problem hit a nerve, and not in a nice way. If they want to turn the scenario around they have multiple ways to do it....they weren't bashful about hiring lanny davis as a consultant to throw the university under the bus, hire one to reverse that.
Personally, sine the university identified me as part of the problem, I no longer donate and I gave up football tickets.
 

ChandlerPearce

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That’s fine and perfectly acceptable. But ChandlerPearce suggested people may have had a problem with the fact that she was female. Since, he KNOWS (his words, not mine) a lot due to his involvement in the alumni chapters then some must have told him as much. If that is true, then we have some really mind numbing chauvinistic alumni out there? I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding. Did I do that right Bob?
OMG.....i expressed that people stopped gifting for that? I thought it was obvious that was ridiculous just as every other reason EXCEPT PSU's treatment of Joe. Oy Vey.
 
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ChandlerPearce

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I agree with your comments. We have folks in our fan base that are more than or worse than just chauvinists unfortunately.
WOW......okay.....you are all knowing....how you cannot realize a farce is not my fault. It should have been intuitively obvious that was not a reason...just a made up cause so ridiculous NO ONE could mistake it.
 
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bobe

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Nov 8, 2021
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From Barry's post. Doesn't get more damning than this. But I got to ask --- at this point 12 years later how can they make amends? Every year they dig in it gets harder. All those other schools have had their scandals but not one of them threw the coach and alumni under the bus. Now it looks like they can't even write a check for $8 million dollars for some new scoreboards.
View attachment 312908
Pretty startling numbers. For some reason, I thought I had read ( multiple times in recent years on here ) that fund-raising was going well. Guess everyone is happy the way things are.
 

Bob78

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The truth, a laudable, but elusive goal. For it to be found either Magic Mike, or Curley and Schultz would have to admit they lied (I have my own belief as to whom, but I'm intentionally being an agnostic on this). Never happen.
Good point. And, yep, won't happen.

I know both Curley and Schultz. I know a number of people who know McQ.
I also have my own very firm belief as to who ultimately lied about what was reported.

Curley and Schultz are as good of people as one could possibly know.
 

Alphalion75

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Oct 21, 2021
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From Barry's post. Doesn't get more damning than this. But I got to ask --- at this point 12 years later how can they make amends? Every year they dig in it gets harder. All those other schools have had their scandals but not one of them threw the coach and alumni under the bus. Now it looks like they can't even write a check for $8 million dollars for some new scoreboards.
View attachment 312908
The BOT did more damage to fundraising when they failed their fiduciary responsibility and fired the one man who was the one of the major reasons people gave.
 

Shep

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Oct 29, 2021
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You can begin by opening your checkbook for James and the football program, they deserve the support and have zero to do with the BOTs handling of JVP.
Perhaps the more direct way, and productive way, is to donate to the NIL. Dollars given for the right people to support.
 
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Manofsteel200

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Who in their right mind thinks there is ever going to be a presser that does these things?

Im an alumni and I don’t care about comments from 10 years ago. I don’t think the comments were fair, but I also can understand they were in an impossible spot and said some unfortunate and downright dumb things. However, the people who said those things are mostly gone and it’s not really fair to actively hurt the current football program over it.
This shows how little you actually know about the BOT.
The only money they will get from me will be the tickets and refreshments I purchase at the one game I go to this fall. In all your responses, you continually show us how little you know of the entire situation. Congrats on your ignorance.
 
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J.E.B

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I've asked this before, so maybe you have an answer, pilgrim. Has Coach Franklin put forth the same effort that Joe did to raise money for the football program and the University at large? We know that he can spend faster than Joe.
Spot on. Not sure I’ve ever seen Franklion involved in any local charities beyond rare cameo’s. It’s always the same from him. Give me, give me, give me…
 

J.E.B

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Like BobPSU92 most eloquently stated

"You seem to forget, perhaps conveniently, that Penn State’s “leaders” in 2011 and 2012 blamed us, alumni and fans, for contributing to the faux culture problem. Penn State’s “leaders” since then have done nothing to make amends."

You will never fully understand the current situation until you grasp the fact that we were held culpable in creating a "god" and worshiping him which created the culture of football rules. That's what "Louie, Louie, Lou Liar" Freeh said. And the BOT accepted!
 

LaJollaCreek

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Spot on. Not sure I’ve ever seen Franklion involved in any local charities beyond rare cameo’s. It’s always the same from him. Give me, give me, give me…
LOL, somehow people turn this crap into a Franklin bashing thread.

squirrel GIF
 

Zenophile

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LOL, somehow people turn this crap into a Franklin bashing thread.

squirrel GIF
In fairness, that false dichotomy was actually posed by a different set of posters.There is nothing about the subject matter of this thread that is remotely anti-Franklin.

In fact, the opposite is true. My OP suggestion was posed as a means to get more money for the current athletic department.
 
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LaJollaCreek

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In fairness, that false dichotomy was actually posed by a different set of posters.
It's par for the course for a few. No coach ever will replace Joe for them, nobody is good enough. It's cute and sad all at the same time. I don't understand the hate for either one, but it was only a matter of time before the same slugs came out.
 
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WVilleLion

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WOW......okay.....you are all knowing....how you cannot realize a farce is not my fault. It should have been intuitively obvious that was not a reason...just a made up cause so ridiculous NO ONE could mistake it.
My comment holds true, even if not related to Sandy. Sadly we have some cringy people that work at Penn State and or are fans/supporters of Penn State.
 
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