Here Comes The Pain: Penn State Began Cuts In Athletics

[Frank Sheeran]

And So It Began.

It was only a matter of time, before there would be cuts in Athletics

Details are obviously sketchy, but we have contacts everywhere & yes, people have been notified...

NCAA Football is still is in a very tenuous position. We are hopeful that PSU Football will be able to play this year, even if some B1G Teams such as Rutgers and MSU, etc., can’t participate.

If need be, I would hope that the B1G would consider a Premier League TV Model. No Fans. But, extensive TV Coverage. For those that are unaware & scoff — The English Premier League is the greatest in the world — Nobody is remotely close financially — and their Television coverage is world wide.


In a disturbing trend, the PSU Dorm Residency has shrunk to an occupancy of only 88%. People evidently were using the Dorms as a ‘safety valve’ — since they were not ‘locked in financially’.

And now some of the off campus apartments are surging to > 90% occupancy in some area. Granted, some of the older apartments had to cut fees, but it’s still great news for a very worried Happy Valley.

More soon.
Ciao

 

[Ian]

Not good to hear. I suppose there will be a lot news coming out this week regarding the season.

 

[Psualum2007]

Major announcements this week ahead of the August 1st deadline!

 

[Gitzit]

No White Loops or Blue Loops.

 

[Wallace Breen]

Not surprising in the least. Just as I was told the first option for football was a compressed conference only slate back in April, the first major moves will come to high facility cost low revenue sports such as swimming/diving, gymnastics and tennis then sports that require high levels of support with low revenues like Golf.

 

[Kiber]

I suspect the non-revenue sports will either be eliminated for the Fall semester or they will go to a condensed schedule that would include only opponents within a bus ride... no air travel. In other words, IF (and that's IF) we see non-revenue sports this Fall, a Penn State will not be traveling to Nebraska, Iowa, Minn....

I believe a 10-game schedule is still on the board for football with games every-other week. So teams would have 2-weeks between games. This would give 14-days between games. In a "worst case scenario" and a team gets hit hard with a high number of positive tests, they could immediately quarantine and theoretically miss just 1 game. So a season would start say on Sept. 5th, and run 20 weeks. That would take teams to beginning of Feb. It sounds insanely long, but consider many bowls are 1st week of Jan. and if a team makes the CFB Playoff that runs into 1st/2nd week of Jan. So you are talking 3 or 4 additional weeks than if a team made a bowl. And the in-season commitment would not be as tenuous because thew players would have 2 weeks between games which gives more study/school time.

The hang up of this schedule would be on the networks side. Obviously the networks want football every week, not every other week. So if the B1G could get another conference to go along and alternate weeks, the networks would be happy. For example, the B1G would start on Sept. 5th, the SEC would start on Sept. 12th. Each plays a conference only schedule of alternating weeks. So each and every Saturday, the networks would have 7 B1G games and then the next weekend 7 SEC games.

 

[NC2017]

PSU Dorm Residency has shrunk to an occupancy of only 88%?

I suppose they can use the empty dorm rooms as a C19 triage once the keg parties get rolling in September.

 

[WPTLION]

I think the dorms at 88% has nothing to do with being a safety valve. I know its not a great sample size but I know of two incoming freshman who have decided to stay home this semester since all of their classes are online. And this is from a small High School, why spend the money when you won't be getting a college experience at all. Unfortunately upper classmen can't get out of their leases. A few I talked to wish they could have.

 

[Kiber]

I think the dorms at 88% has nothing to do with being a safety valve. I know its not a great sample size but I know of two incoming freshman who have decided to stay home this semester since all of their classes are online. And this is from a small High School, why spend the money when you won't be getting a college experience at all. Unfortunately upper classmen can't get out of their leases. A few I talked to wish they could have.

Personally, I believe this should almost be a forced option of Freshman being virtual. Fact is that about 99% of FR classes are "general electives" that really do not go towards your major anyhow. These also tend to be the mega-sized classes held in places like Eisenhower with about 1,000 kids in a classroom. Why not just say FR stay at home for 2020/21 and take their classes on-line virtually. Hypothetically this would cut down on approx. 25% of the on-campus population. The upper-classmen (Soph-Grad) could then be spread out more in housing & in classrooms. You'd have more housing available, more classrooms available, for distancing.

 

[lionscott]

I suspect the non-revenue sports will either be eliminated for the Fall semester or they will go to a condensed schedule that would include only opponents within a bus ride... no air travel. In other words, IF (and that's IF) we see non-revenue sports this Fall, a Penn State will not be traveling to Nebraska, Iowa, Minn....

I believe a 10-game schedule is still on the board for football with games every-other week. So teams would have 2-weeks between games. This would give 14-days between games. In a "worst case scenario" and a team gets hit hard with a high number of positive tests, they could immediately quarantine and theoretically miss just 1 game. So a season would start say on Sept. 5th, and run 20 weeks. That would take teams to beginning of Feb. It sounds insanely long, but consider many bowls are 1st week of Jan. and if a team makes the CFB Playoff that runs into 1st/2nd week of Jan. So you are talking 3 or 4 additional weeks than if a team made a bowl. And the in-season commitment would not be as tenuous because thew players would have 2 weeks between games which gives more study/school time.

The hang up of this schedule would be on the networks side. Obviously the networks want football every week, not every other week. So if the B1G could get another conference to go along and alternate weeks, the networks would be happy. For example, the B1G would start on Sept. 5th, the SEC would start on Sept. 12th. Each plays a conference only schedule of alternating weeks. So each and every Saturday, the networks would have 7 B1G games and then the next weekend 7 SEC games.

No shot of the season stretching over 20 weeks.

 

[lionscott]

I think the dorms at 88% has nothing to do with being a safety valve. I know its not a great sample size but I know of two incoming freshman who have decided to stay home this semester since all of their classes are online. And this is from a small High School, why spend the money when you won't be getting a college experience at all. Unfortunately upper classmen can't get out of their leases. A few I talked to wish they could have.

I know of a few freshman doing the same. Add in the fact that dining facilities may be take out only, I don’t blame them.

 

[AWS1022]

I suspect the non-revenue sports will either be eliminated for the Fall semester or they will go to a condensed schedule that would include only opponents within a bus ride... no air travel. In other words, IF (and that's IF) we see non-revenue sports this Fall, a Penn State will not be traveling to Nebraska, Iowa, Minn....

I believe a 10-game schedule is still on the board for football with games every-other week. So teams would have 2-weeks between games. This would give 14-days between games. In a "worst case scenario" and a team gets hit hard with a high number of positive tests, they could immediately quarantine and theoretically miss just 1 game. So a season would start say on Sept. 5th, and run 20 weeks. That would take teams to beginning of Feb. It sounds insanely long, but consider many bowls are 1st week of Jan. and if a team makes the CFB Playoff that runs into 1st/2nd week of Jan. So you are talking 3 or 4 additional weeks than if a team made a bowl. And the in-season commitment would not be as tenuous because thew players would have 2 weeks between games which gives more study/school time.

The hang up of this schedule would be on the networks side. Obviously the networks want football every week, not every other week. So if the B1G could get another conference to go along and alternate weeks, the networks would be happy. For example, the B1G would start on Sept. 5th, the SEC would start on Sept. 12th. Each plays a conference only schedule of alternating weeks. So each and every Saturday, the networks would have 7 B1G games and then the next weekend 7 SEC games.

How is a bus ride any safer than a plane ride? And bus rides usually take longer, thereby exposing each other for a longer period of time.

 

[Cletus11]

Personally, I believe this should almost be a forced option of Freshman being virtual. Fact is that about 99% of FR classes are "general electives" that really do not go towards your major anyhow. These also tend to be the mega-sized classes held in places like Eisenhower with about 1,000 kids in a classroom. Why not just say FR stay at home for 2020/21 and take their classes on-line virtually. Hypothetically this would cut down on approx. 25% of the on-campus population. The upper-classmen (Soph-Grad) could then be spread out more in housing & in classrooms. You'd have more housing available, more classrooms available, for distancing.

if PSU gave a discount, I am sure many would.

 

[IrishHerb]

"In a "worst case scenario" and a team gets hit hard with a high number of positive tests, they could immediately quarantine and theoretically miss just 1 game"

Even if a player tests negative after 14 a 14 day guarantine, he may still not be ready to play. I've read where people who have contacted COVID-19 and later tested negative have still had lingering effects weeks after.

 

[NJPSU]

How is a bus ride any safer than a plane ride? And bus rides usually take longer, thereby exposing each other for a longer period of time.

No need to be in multiple airports?

 

[interrobang]

How is a bus ride any safer than a plane ride? And bus rides usually take longer, thereby exposing each other for a longer period of time.

Bus rides would be more dangerous. Less cleanliness standards than airlines have right now.

 

[Kiber]

How is a bus ride any safer than a plane ride? And bus rides usually take longer, thereby exposing each other for a longer period of time.

It's not safer. It's cheaper.

 

[bdgan]

No White Loops or Blue Loops.

I never took those buses. I didn't have the patience to wait for them. You can walk the length of the campus in about 20 minutes.

 

[Kiber]

Bus rides would be more dangerous. Less cleanliness standards than airlines have right now.

It's not safer. It's cheaper. Penn State can load a cross country team on a bus to Rutgers in the morning, be over in Piscataway in 3 hours, run the race, load the team back on the bus and be back by 8pm. A bus is cheaper than a chartered flight or a block of tickets on commercial.

 

[Kiber]

Bus rides would be more dangerous. Less cleanliness standards than airlines have right now.

These kids are not getting on a Bieber Bus out by the white course at the SC Station and sitting next to a 65 year old curmudgeon hacking out a lung. These would be private chartered buses that would be cleaned before the team boarded.

 

[Kiber]

I never took those buses. I didn't have the patience to wait for them. You can walk the length of the campus in about 20 minutes.

It had to be like "freeze my nuts off cold" to consider one of those buses. I think I took them about twice in 4 years. Both times it was like Antarctica cold. I stayed inside, within eye-sight of the stop. When I saw the bus approaching I ran outside, and jumped on.

 

[manatree]

Bus rides would be more dangerous. Less cleanliness standards than airlines have right now.

Getting to and from the plane requires at least two different busses. Wouldn’t it be safer to just use one bus for the entire trip?

 

[Kiber]

No shot of the season stretching over 20 weeks.

A typical season starts about 1st week of September. First game is usually right around Labor Day weekend. Last game is usually at very beginning of Jan, depending on the bowl game. That is 4 full months, or about 16 weeks. There is about a 4-5 week "dead" period between last regular game in late November and the bowl game. But the players only have about 2 weeks off because they get together to begin bowl practice. So the reality is that a normal season is about 16 weeks, with two built in bye-weeks. So a 20-week season is a "no shot", but a 16-week season is the norm?

 

[interrobang]

Getting to and from the plane requires at least two different busses. Wouldn’t it be safer to just use one bus for the entire trip?

No, because the bus to/from the airport won't need a clean stocked bathroom and won't have people eating and drinking on it as you'd need for a longer trip

 

[Kiber]

Getting to and from the plane requires at least two different busses. Wouldn’t it be safer to just use one bus for the entire trip?

And those buses to & from airport are not regulated by the school. If the school charters a bus for a volleyball game at Columbus, you know that bus is thoroughly cleansed and the only people boarding the bus are members of the PSU Volleyball team. It's not a commercial bus used daily to escort people around an airport.

 

[interrobang]

It's not a commercial bus used daily to escort people around an airport.

They're not using commercial airport buses. They're chartering a bus the same way they do to even get to/from the State College airport.

 

[Kiber]

No, because the bus to/from the airport won't need a clean bathroom and won't have people eating and drinking on it as you'd need for a longer trip

But the only people boarding that bus are members of the team. PSU charters a bus. That particular bus is cleansed. The only person boarding the bus prior to the team is the driver (who is checked prior to boarding), the bus then goes directly to pick up location and only team members board. The team members are around each other all the time and are checked daily.

 

[Kiber]

They're not using commercial airport buses. They're chartering a bus the same way they do to even get to/from the State College airport.

Penn State has team buses. Those buses are cleansed before the team boards. Having the members of one of our teams board a PSU team bus is basically like having the team hang out at Lasch or the team lounge.

 

[Omar81]

It had to be like "freeze my nuts off cold" to consider one of those buses. I think I took them about twice in 4 years. Both times it was like Antarctica cold. I stayed inside, within eye-sight of the stop. When I saw the bus approaching I ran outside, and jumped on.

I only recall one (round trip) bus ride in six years — undergrad and grad school. That was because we were heading out to golf and got on with our clubs.

 

[manatree]

No, because the bus to/from the airport won't need a clean stocked bathroom and won't have people eating and drinking on it as you'd need for a longer trip

So no on eats or drinks on a plane or uses the bathroom?

Traveling by bus relies on one bus being properly cleaned.

Traveling by plane relies on one properly cleaned bus to get you to the airport, one properly cleaned airport, one properly cleaned airplane, another properly cleaned airport, and another properly cleaned bus at your destination just to make the trip there.

 

[PearlSUJam]

It had to be like "freeze my nuts off cold" to consider one of those buses. I think I took them about twice in 4 years. Both times it was like Antarctica cold. I stayed inside, within eye-sight of the stop. When I saw the bus approaching I ran outside, and jumped on.

I lived by the Burger King on University my Jr. year and had an early morning class up above Rec Hall. I remember it being single digits a couple of times and I had tests so I took it. Otherwise, I'd just blow the class off like everyone else. Lol

 

[AWS1022]

No need to be in multiple airports?

Charter planes...no airports.

 

[interrobang]

So no on eats or drinks on a plane or uses the bathroom?

Traveling by bus relies on one bus being properly cleaned.

Traveling by plane relies on one properly cleaned bus to get you to the airport, one properly cleaned airport, one properly cleaned airplane, another properly cleaned airport, and another properly cleaned bus at your destination just to make the trip there.

And planes are much, much cleaner (by rule) than a charter bus.

I was on 4 different flights this past weekend. Planes were absolutely spotless inside. They're required to be much cleaner than your typical charter bus. If you're going to be inside with recycled air, you want to be on a plane.

 

[ThePennsyOracle]

88% occupancy in this environment is a success. Great job Frank--you're a real insider.

 

[manatree]

And planes are much, much cleaner (by rule) than a charter bus.

I was on 4 different flights this past weekend. Planes were absolutely spotless inside. They're required to be much cleaner than your typical charter bus. If you're going to be inside with recycled air, you want to be on a plane.

And traveling by plane requires the team to take a bus to the airport, from the airport to the event, from the event back to the airport, and from the airport back to campus. That’s a minimum of two different busses, most likely three.

 

[bdgan]

A typical season starts about 1st week of September. First game is usually right around Labor Day weekend. Last game is usually at very beginning of Jan, depending on the bowl game. That is 4 full months, or about 16 weeks. There is about a 4-5 week "dead" period between last regular game in late November and the bowl game. But the players only have about 2 weeks off because they get together to begin bowl practice. So the reality is that a normal season is about 16 weeks, with two built in bye-weeks. So a 20-week season is a "no shot", but a 16-week season is the norm?

I could see the season Starting on September 26th instead of September 5th. A 9 game season would end on November 21st (no byes) which is before Thanksgiving. A decision about conference championships and bowl games can wait until Late October.

 

[interrobang]

And traveling by plane requires the team to take a bus to the airport, from the airport to the event, from the event back to the airport, and from the airport back to campus. That’s a minimum of two different busses, most likely three.

And you're on those buses for what, 15 minutes?

I'd rather be on a plane for an hour or two than a bus for 4 hours+

 

[PSU2UNC]

How is a bus ride any safer than a plane ride? And bus rides usually take longer, thereby exposing each other for a longer period of time.

Most sports don't charter planes, so if you take a plane you are on it with other (non-team) people, and have to deal with airport security, etc. If you charter a bus, you eliminate that. Obviously, transmission risks among team are the same (perhaps greater due to longer ride time). Also, if I were on a bus ride, I'd open the window. Tougher to do on the plane ;-)

 

[psualt]

What have I learned. Buses are faster than planes. If you ride on a plane you are really taking a bus too. No one cleans their buses unless they are owned by the university. You can eat or drink on both buses and planes although eating on a bus is more dangerous.

 

[AWS1022]

Most sports don't charter planes, so if you take a plane you are on it with other (non-team) people, and have to deal with airport security, etc. If you charter a bus, you eliminate that. Obviously, transmission risks among team are the same (perhaps greater due to longer ride time). Also, if I were on a bus ride, I'd open the window. Tougher to do on the plane ;-)

Have the schools charter planes....it would be more costly, but not as costly as losing an entire football season.