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'The connection that Penn Staters have ... should be the envy of all universities in the country.'

Zenophile

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Oct 21, 2001
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Directly above the center of the Earth
“That connection that Penn Staters have, in particular the alumni but also those who adopt Penn State as their own, should be the envy of all colleges and universities in the country,”

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"And we will do everything in our power to destroy it".

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Yes, it's those people with that connection that are destroying this place, according to the president.
 
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Talk the talk.........what has she accomplished in her first year on the job?
 
Just to be clear: IMHO Ms. Barbour is worthy of support. The cowards who comprise the cabal? Not so much.
She is worthy of support, but based on her performance to date, she is less worthy than she was when she was hired.
 
Talk the talk.........what has she accomplished in her first year on the job?


She didn't screw up moving in the right direction. Let's face it. That is a huge plus in itself. Is there anyone from the outside that could possibly grasp the enormity of losing the dead guy in the fashion that we did? It is not fair to expect that. He was in large part the reason for the connection, remains so, and likely always will. We will see how quickly she grows. So far, not bad.
 
She is worthy of support, but based on her performance to date, she is less worthy than she was when she was hired.

Consider where we are now in relation to where we were under Benito Joyner's totalitarian reign of cowardice. I think we'd agree that, while perhaps not ideal, things appear to be progressing in the right direction.
 
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She didn't screw up moving in the right direction. Let's face it. That is a huge plus in itself. Is there anyone from the outside that could possibly grasp the enormity of losing the dead guy in the fashion that we did? It is not fair to expect that. He was in large part the reason for the connection, remains so, and likely always will. We will see how quickly she grows. So far, not bad.

A corpse would not screw up. For $800k p.a. I don't expect someone who will have to "grow" into the job.
 
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Consider where we are now in relation to where we were under Benito Joyner's totalitarian reign. I think we'd agree that, while perhaps not ideal, things appear to be progressing in the right direction.

Using the reign of the Joynt as the basis for comparison things would move in the right direction if the position had been left vacant.
 
Consider where we are now in relation to where we were under Benito Joyner's totalitarian reign. I think we'd agree that, while perhaps not ideal, things appear to be progressing in the right direction.
I certainly agree she is better than Joyner. I did not favor her hire, but I was determined to give her a fair opportunity to see what she could do. I think the results so far are mixed, but I want to see where we are a year from now. She may be terrific in the long run. We'll see.
 
I certainly agree she is better than Joyner. I did not favor her hire, but I was determined to give her a fair opportunity to see what she could do. I think the results so far are mixed, but I want to see where we are a year from now. She may be terrific in the long run. We'll see.
I agree with this. My young nephew and I were walking from the BJC lot to hockey and stopped in to the indoor track for a minute to watch a little bit of a meet. Ms. Barbour was there and I talked to her for a couple minutes. I was very positively impressed.

Unfortunately then we had the absurd Twitter exchange with that anonymous nobody Michigan troll. A third-grader should have had the sense to ignore her, but Sandy stepped right into that tar pit and made a colossal ass out of herself. That was just plain bad.

Still I'm not throwing her into the Benito Joyner (wonderful description BTW) class yet, but that Twitter squandered a lot of good will and she'll have to overcome that.
 
I certainly agree she is better than Joyner. I did not favor her hire, but I was determined to give her a fair opportunity to see what she could do. I think the results so far are mixed, but I want to see where we are a year from now. She may be terrific in the long run. We'll see.

Exactly. The landscape was a mine field and she outperformed her boss, in not making anything go bang. Art is right about expectations and so are you about judgement time. I have considerable doubt too, because we haven't seen much beyond judicious treading, just giving her the benefit of possibly having taken the correct initial approach. Hope she lasts longer than Barron.
 
Accurate and kind words about the athletic (football) culture at Penn State should be coming from the school's leadership and backed up by actions.
Hearing such from Barbour, Franklin, and even O'Brien is a bitter consolation prize.
 
Regrettably, she has proven to me that she is just not that intelligent. Because of this handicap, I am very pessimistic that she has the ability to successfully guide this ship.
 
I am completely unimpressed by her. She says one thing to PSU audiences and another to everyone else. Even beyond that, she was supposed to be a financial guru, and yet at every opportunity she has hired someone else to do that work. She took a successful department and exploded the finances used to run it.
 
I am completely unimpressed by her. She says one thing to PSU audiences and another to everyone else. Even beyond that, she was supposed to be a financial guru, and yet at every opportunity she has hired someone else to do that work. She took a successful department and exploded the finances used to run it.
We were a successful department that sustained a major smack down, and was getting by on an unsustainable model. If we didn't have that fine to pay, we'd still be OK. As for exploding finances, she's bringing a 20th century athletic department into the 21st century. Even if Joe had retired and Sandusky never happened, no coaching staff we'd want would be willing to work for the wages that Joe's staff worked for, just because it was Penn State. That was a special time, and a unique set of circumstances, but I doubt we see it again. Same thing in some of the other sports. If we want top coaches, we have to pay for them, and not settle for the ones willing to work for less. Maybe in the long run they stay longer and work for less, but initially you're going to have to pay market rate to get them in the door.

As for additional staffing in the AD's office, again look at the top programs and how they run things. Just because Curley did it one way, doesn't mean it was the best way. Doesn't mean he wouldn't have looked at the landscape and did the same thing eventually to keep up. Hell, it may have been in the long range planning stages for all we know. There were certain things we were able to do on the cheap when Joe was around, or that were easier to do with his help. Or that people were willing to overlook while we had a legend as coach. Things were going to have to change eventually.

Barbour has made some social media mistakes but by and large she's avoided a lot of potential mines. She's limited to some degree in what she can say if she wants to keep her job. She can't give the BOT the finger. She has to thread the needle--not an easy task. Jury is still out, but I think she's doing a good job in a difficult position. She supports the coaches, she's finding private money to cover needed upgrades in several sports. Give her time, and give her support. We'll see how it turns out.
 
She didn't screw up moving in the right direction. Let's face it. That is a huge plus in itself. Is there anyone from the outside that could possibly grasp the enormity of losing the dead guy in the fashion that we did? It is not fair to expect that. He was in large part the reason for the connection, remains so, and likely always will. We will see how quickly she grows. So far, not bad.

Yes ..... Barbour is right, Penn State folk have an INCREDIBLE connection to each other. No matter where I say it when I see someone/something Penn State --- my "WE ARE!" is always met with the appropriate response. We have a great bond.

However, that "connection" is NOT "in large part" due to some former football coach of ours. Penn State University and Penn State football has always been larger than one individual. ALWAYS.
 
We were a successful department that sustained a major smack down, and was getting by on an unsustainable model. If we didn't have that fine to pay, we'd still be OK. As for exploding finances, she's bringing a 20th century athletic department into the 21st century. Even if Joe had retired and Sandusky never happened, no coaching staff we'd want would be willing to work for the wages that Joe's staff worked for, just because it was Penn State. That was a special time, and a unique set of circumstances, but I doubt we see it again. Same thing in some of the other sports. If we want top coaches, we have to pay for them, and not settle for the ones willing to work for less. Maybe in the long run they stay longer and work for less, but initially you're going to have to pay market rate to get them in the door.

As for additional staffing in the AD's office, again look at the top programs and how they run things. Just because Curley did it one way, doesn't mean it was the best way. Doesn't mean he wouldn't have looked at the landscape and did the same thing eventually to keep up. Hell, it may have been in the long range planning stages for all we know. There were certain things we were able to do on the cheap when Joe was around, or that were easier to do with his help. Or that people were willing to overlook while we had a legend as coach. Things were going to have to change eventually.

Barbour has made some social media mistakes but by and large she's avoided a lot of potential mines. She's limited to some degree in what she can say if she wants to keep her job. She can't give the BOT the finger. She has to thread the needle--not an easy task. Jury is still out, but I think she's doing a good job in a difficult position. She supports the coaches, she's finding private money to cover needed upgrades in several sports. Give her time, and give her support. We'll see how it turns out.

Smack down or self inflicted wound? Actually it doesn't really matter, her solutions have been to hire more overheard to do her job. You can argue over coaches salaries all you want, but that is not what I am referring to.
 
Yes ..... Barbour is right, Penn State folk have an INCREDIBLE connection to each other. No matter where I say it when I see someone/something Penn State --- my "WE ARE!" is always met with the appropriate response. We have a great bond.

However, that "connection" is NOT "in large part" due to some former football coach of ours. Penn State University and Penn State football has always been larger than one individual. ALWAYS.
Well, Mich that is only true to an extent. Your age may prevent you from having the perspective that comes from having lived in both the before and during Joe eras. True, there was loyalty during Rip's career, but the real momentum and subsequent brand and national recognition came during Joe's tenure. And given the circumstances, I'd be very careful in assuming that bond will always be so strong. I hope so, if only for you younger guys' sake. But, speaking only for myself, Penn State means nowhere close to what it did, and I suspect others feel similarly.
 
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Well, Mich that is only true to an extent. Your age may prevent you from having the perspective that comes from having lived in both the before and during Joe eras. True, there was loyalty during Rip's career, but the real momentum and subsequent brand and national recognition came during Joe's tenure. And given the circumstances, I'd be very careful in assuming that bond will always be so strong. I hope so, if only for you younger guys' sake. But, speaking only for myself, Penn State means nowhere close to what it did, and I suspect others feel similarly.

I do think the bond will continue with the younger generation. Your comment is fair: though I'm "young" at 37 myself, that's not a spring chicken, and my first PSU memory was that 87 Fiesta Bowl. Which of course was already ~20 years into the JoePa-era.

But the reason I think the bond will continue: the number of young PSU 20-somethings and students I saw in Dublin was STUNNING --- truly stunning. The Dublin crowd was a lot of older-folk (as one would expect, the types who could afford to fly to Europe for a game). But it was also a lot of those 20-somethings. All of them to support a team that at the time was (a) bowl ineligible, (b) still going to be bowl ineligible the NEXT year, (c) still on probation and (d) not necessarily expecting anything better than a 5-to-7 win season.

(on a side note, me and my bud were the only PSU folk in Dublin representing the late-30-something bachelor crowd. Ah, all my peers have young kids these days. But I still had a whole lot of fun :) ).

Anyway, I do think we're in good hands with the younger generation --- our future is bright.
 
Yes ..... Barbour is right, Penn State folk have an INCREDIBLE connection to each other. No matter where I say it when I see someone/something Penn State --- my "WE ARE!" is always met with the appropriate response. We have a great bond.

However, that "connection" is NOT "in large part" due to some former football coach of ours. Penn State University and Penn State football has always been larger than one individual. ALWAYS.

You're wrong. There are many alumni who don't really care much about football but were proud that we had a program that performed well while maintaining academic standards. It was something we ALL took pride in, and that was 100% due to Paterno's vision.
 
Barbour had a decade at Cal-Berkeley to show what she can do as an AD at a Power 5 University.

The result was:

.
th


One can only hope that history doesn't repeat itself.
 
I do think the bond will continue with the younger generation. Your comment is fair: though I'm "young" at 37 myself, that's not a spring chicken, and my first PSU memory was that 87 Fiesta Bowl. Which of course was already ~20 years into the JoePa-era.

But the reason I think the bond will continue: the number of young PSU 20-somethings and students I saw in Dublin was STUNNING --- truly stunning. The Dublin crowd was a lot of older-folk (as one would expect, the types who could afford to fly to Europe for a game). But it was also a lot of those 20-somethings. All of them to support a team that at the time was (a) bowl ineligible, (b) still going to be bowl ineligible the NEXT year, (c) still on probation and (d) not necessarily expecting anything better than a 5-to-7 win season.

(on a side note, me and my bud were the only PSU folk in Dublin representing the late-30-something bachelor crowd. Ah, all my peers have young kids these days. But I still had a whole lot of fun :) ).

Anyway, I do think we're in good hands with the younger generation --- our future is bright.

You know what I don't hear as much anymore? The random "We are!" shout outs.
 
For me, barbour has a lot of work to do to dig herself out of the mess she made of the 409 helmet stickers. She had an opportunity to support Gadowsky's efforts to change the narrative, but instead, she caved to "pressure" from some nobody on Twitter. How does the AD of a major university get owned like that?

I know that barbour has greatly increased overhead in the athletic department. Has she ever justified it? How does PSU's athletic department organization compare to that of other B1G schools?
 
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For me, barbour has a lot of work to do to dig herself out of the mess she made of the 409 helmet stickers. She had an opportunity to support Gadowsky's efforts to change the narrative, but instead, she caved to "pressure" from some nobody on Twitter. How does the AD of a major university get owned like that?

I know that barbour has greatly increased overhead in the athletic department. Has she ever justified it? How does PSU's athletic department organization compare to that of other B1G schools?

Organizationally not all that different. But simply comparing boxes on an organization chart is only part of the story. Realize that the large majority of athletic departments do not make money.. PSU's did, in part, because the AD didn't have as much staff overhead and coaches worked on the cheap. Paying coaches the going rate was inevitable. But almost every time I point out the additions to overhead, I'm told that one has to spend money to make money. We know that Barbour has the spending part down. Waiting to see how good she is at the making money part.
 
C'mon, everyone has a learning curve. She will be judged on her ability to raise money and turn out winning programs. Would you have preferred Julie Hermann or Peter Piller

You're right, everyone has a learning curve and Barbour has had her three weeks.
 
You know what I don't hear as much anymore? The random "We are!" shout outs.

I did it 3 times at a random Cincinnati Reds game (in "enemy territory" in Ohio) Tuesday night --- when I saw folk in Penn State gear. Got a positive response all 3 times.

For what that anecdote is worth ........
 
I did it 3 times at a random Cincinnati Reds game (in "enemy territory" in Ohio) Tuesday night --- when I saw folk in Penn State gear. Got a positive response all 3 times.

For what that anecdote is worth ........

It's not the response from the Penn Stater's that concerns me.... Had a co-worker get yelled at *at work*--and she wasn't even wearing PSU gear. It's starting to fade, but our local paper likes to stir the pot every now and again with an editorial.
 
For me, barbour has a lot of work to do to dig herself out of the mess she made of the 409 helmet stickers. She had an opportunity to support Gadowsky's efforts to change the narrative, but instead, she caved to "pressure" from some nobody on Twitter. How does the AD of a major university get owned like that?

I know that barbour has greatly increased overhead in the athletic department. Has she ever justified it? How does PSU's athletic department organization compare to that of other B1G schools?
I'm personally not impressed with Barbor. 800K for christ sakes! To see her tripping over her mouth you would have thought this was her first rodeo. But I'm willing to see if she can pick herself of the mat. We can only hope she sees the light.
 
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