The Athletic article on Penn State’s dramatic Big Ten entrance: “an A outcome with an F execution”

[HailToPitt725]

I thought the Nittany Nation board would find today’s article in The Athletic documenting Penn State’s entry into the Big Ten to be quite interesting. If you don’t have a subscription (highly recommend it; mine is only $0.99/month), here’s some interesting tidbits that PSU fans might find interesting:

• Joe Paterno and Penn State were approached by the Big Ten as early as 1980 (leading up to the Fiesta Bowl) about mutual interest.
• PSU leadership reached out to the Big Ten in 1989 and say conference affiliation as “insurance” in the post-Paterno era.
• Bobby Knight and Bo Schembechler were the leading opposition members. They nearly fearmongered Northwestern into voting no on the assumption that they’d be kicked out so that the conference could remain at ten members.
• Penn State gained another pivotal “yes” vote- Wisconsin- due to the approval of Barry Alvarez.
• The Illinois President who helped PSU navigate the entrance process is unsure whether he would vote “yes” today due to the long-term ramifications of realignment as a result of Penn State joining, although he states it likely has more to do with television.

Inside Penn State's dramatic Big Ten entrance: ‘An A outcome with an F execution’ — The Athletic

Penn State began Big Ten football play 30 years ago after a disastrous invitation process. Here's how it happened from those who were there.

apple.news

 

[Rip_E_2_Joe_PA]

Real geniuses run college football... 😂

 

[Op2]

I thought the Nittany Nation board would find today’s article in The Athletic documenting Penn State’s entry into the Big Ten to be quite interesting. If you don’t have a subscription (highly recommend it; mine is only $0.99/month), here’s some interesting tidbits that PSU fans might find interesting:

• Joe Paterno and Penn State were approached by the Big Ten as early as 1980 (leading up to the Fiesta Bowl) about mutual interest.
• PSU leadership reached out to the Big Ten in 1989 and say conference affiliation as “insurance” in the post-Paterno era.
• Bobby Knight and Bo Schembechler were the leading opposition members. They nearly fearmongered Northwestern into voting no on the assumption that they’d be kicked out so that the conference could remain at ten members.
• Penn State gained another pivotal “yes” vote- Wisconsin- due to the approval of Barry Alvarez.
• The Illinois President who helped PSU navigate the entrance process is unsure whether he would vote “yes” today due to the long-term ramifications of realignment as a result of Penn State joining, although he states it likely has more to do with television.

Inside Penn State's dramatic Big Ten entrance: ‘An A outcome with an F execution’ — The Athletic

Penn State began Big Ten football play 30 years ago after a disastrous invitation process. Here's how it happened from those who were there.

apple.news

The Illinois thing implies that if PSU hadn't joined the Big Ten then other realignment changes wouldn't have subsequently happened. I don't think that's true. Change was going to happen regardless of whether PSU was the first to do it.

 

[HailToPitt725]

The Illinois thing implies that if PSU hadn't joined the Big Ten then other realignment changes wouldn't have subsequently happened. I don't think that's true. Change was going to happen regardless of whether PSU was the first to do it.

I agree. I think a lot of it was naiveness from the academic folks.

 

[blair10]

I thought the Nittany Nation board would find today’s article in The Athletic documenting Penn State’s entry into the Big Ten to be quite interesting. If you don’t have a subscription (highly recommend it; mine is only $0.99/month), here’s some interesting tidbits that PSU fans might find interesting:

• Joe Paterno and Penn State were approached by the Big Ten as early as 1980 (leading up to the Fiesta Bowl) about mutual interest.
• PSU leadership reached out to the Big Ten in 1989 and say conference affiliation as “insurance” in the post-Paterno era.
• Bobby Knight and Bo Schembechler were the leading opposition members. They nearly fearmongered Northwestern into voting no on the assumption that they’d be kicked out so that the conference could remain at ten members.
• Penn State gained another pivotal “yes” vote- Wisconsin- due to the approval of Barry Alvarez.
• The Illinois President who helped PSU navigate the entrance process is unsure whether he would vote “yes” today due to the long-term ramifications of realignment as a result of Penn State joining, although he states it likely has more to do with television.

Inside Penn State's dramatic Big Ten entrance: ‘An A outcome with an F execution’ — The Athletic

Penn State began Big Ten football play 30 years ago after a disastrous invitation process. Here's how it happened from those who were there.

apple.news

Something does not add up here. Barry Alvarez did not join the B1G until January 1990. At that time Alvarez had nowhere near the stature to become a key decision maker for Wisconsin. In addition, in 1989 when the discussions were occurring, Alvarez was the DC for Notre Dame.

 

[HailToPitt725]

Something does not add up here. Barry Alvarez did not join the B1G until January 1990. At that time Alvarez had nowhere near the stature to become a key decision maker for Wisconsin. In addition, in 1989 when the discussions were occurring, Alvarez was the DC for Notre Dame.

Interesting. I’m not sure where they got that then.

Edit: I should clarify that I was referring to the Wisconsin Chancellor’s comments that said she asked what Barry Alvarez thoughts of the move in regards to the timeline of Penn State joining the Big Ten.

 

[Thomas1945]

Interesting. I’m not sure where they got that then.

Well here’s a revolutionary idea. How about you investigate and fact check third party information for accuracy before posting. I’m positive that somewhere in the vicinity of the Cathedral of Learning a class was given that explained the process.

 

[HailToPitt725]

Well here’s a revolutionary idea. How about you investigate and fact check third party information for accuracy before posting. I’m positive that somewhere in the vicinity of the Cathedral of Learning a class was given that explained the process.

With all due respect, I reject your premise. It should not be expected that I, a reader, be required to investigate an already-vetted article published by a reputable news outlet.

Additionally, it is *not* third-party information. The author used a quote from a direct interview with then-Wisconsin Chancellor Donna Shalala. Pulling from the article:

“Shalala said her board left the vote up to her. She checked with football coach Barry Alvarez- a Pennsylvania native- who told her he was all for adding Penn State.”

Again, I disagree that I am somehow at fault for referencing a primary source from the article. At this point, I would side with the author instead of the post from blair10.

 

[blair10]

Here you go:

Barry Alvarez - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Barry Alvarez was the DC for Notre Dame in 1989.

 

[HailToPitt725]

Here you go:

Barry Alvarez - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Barry Alvarez was the DC for Notre Dame in 1989.

After further review, I believe the article is referring to the formal vote to accept Penn State into the conference that took place in June 1990. I hope this clears up any confusion.

I didn’t intend to cause a stir, just thought the PSU community would be interested in this article.

 

[Rip_E_2_Joe_PA]

After further review, I believe the article is referring to the formal vote to accept Penn State into the conference that took place in June 1990. I hope this clears up any confusion.

I didn’t intend to cause a stir, just thought the PSU community would be interested in this article.

The article is too Midwest for even the Amish not to find it boring.

 

[Obliviax]

What people don’t remember is that there were only three tv networks at the time. Fox started in 1986 or so. Regardless, ND tied up an entire network with a tv rights deal. With tv money becoming more and more important, it was clear most universities were going to be stuck with small regional independent channels. PSU had to join a conference in order to complete. Since then the notion of an independent school has all but disappeared. ND forced PSUs hand.

Since then you’ve got cable, ESPN, and now streaming. It’s gone from regional to national to international.

It was the right move, clearly, and provided for flexibility. My only problem is that the B1G continues to be Ohio state and Michigan plus the other schools for football.

 

[ryoder1]

This Hail to Pitt guy is more active on the PSU board than 90% of the PSU people. Strange indeed. Is he posting every second on the Pitt board?

This is so dated it reads like a summary of the Civil War, ancient history. My take is that by the late 80's Joe was an icon, had 2 nattys and was getting into his mid 60s. This meant he probably thought in about 10 years he was getting out (didn't quite happen that way) and wanted PSU to be set up for success in the future. He knew at that point there was not going to be any eastern sports conference and TV money was with the conferences so the B10 made sense. I am sure he was not thrilled about joining by any means but Joe as always was a visionary and saw the future and felt this was best for PSU.

 

[Thomas1945]

This Hail to Pitt guy is more active on the PSU board than 90% of the PSU people. Strange indeed. Is he posting every second on the Pitt board?

Well if you call seven different threads started by him on the first page alone active, then I would say yes. Maybe he’s lonely, one usually doesn’t find stimulating conversations on the Lair. Personally, he’s subjecting himself to great risk. If one of those troglodytes wanders over here and notices his posts ( providing they’re capable of reading it ) he will be permanently branded as a Nitter spy and troll on the Pitt boards.

 

[Chickenman Testa]

The article is too Midwest for even the Amish not to find it boring.

I was going to say - dealing with navel-gazing New Yorkers is bad enough; I’m definitely not interested in reading about the thoughts of even more insular Midwesterners