Pat Devlin is the reason Penn State hoops sucks

by spakajewia on Dec 11, 2008 4:51 PM EST Comment 21 comments

When you ask yourself why Penn State basketball is consistently mediocre, remember that news about the transfer of Penn State's backup quarterback received hundreds of comments, while the story about Penn State's hoops struggle with in-state rival Temple received 6.

Why did Jon Crispin transfer from Penn State the year after the team made the sweet 16 in the tournament and he was poised to be the next leader? Because he knew that, at least for the foreseeable future, the backup quarterback at Penn State was going to be more popular than the best basketball player.

There are scores of other associated reasons why Penn State basketball is severely handicapped--a rural campus for an urban sport, no great tradition, a cold, impersonal facility--but the underlying one is simple: the students and alumni as a whole don't give two shakes about the hoops program compared to the football program. It's not the administration's fault, or the coaching staff's or the athletic office's, it's ours.

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Wait...

We have a basketball team?

by The Mess on Dec 11, 2008 6:00 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Wow...

Did you think of that all by yourself?

by PennStateBasketball on Dec 12, 2008 2:49 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Well that's one reason

the other is that the football program maintains a high level of success year in and year out (usually) while the basketball program has a few sparks here and there, and unfortuntely most people love winners. I sometimes wonder if I’d be as big a college football fan if I went to school in Indiana…but I bet I’d be a much bigger basketball fan.

With that said, I’ve been making an effort this year to actually follow the hoops program, and I wish the boys luck, because I would like to see us competitive on the court as well as on the field.

by The JuggerNitt on Dec 11, 2008 6:12 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

chicken and egg

It’s true that more people would support Penn State hoops if the team was better; whereas I’m arguing that for the team to be better, more people need to support them.

I think some of what being a real fan is, in fact the definition of a true fan might be, supporting a team when they aren’t good and don’t promise to get better anytime soon. Penn State football has a lot of true fans; 100,000 people still came to the games during the dark year. Penn State hoops doesn’t.

Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment, but I love every March and April because I think, “this is gonna be the year the pirates make it to the playoffs.” Same is true—sort of—for Penn State hoops in November and December. Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best thing. And no good thing ever dies.

I wouldn't trust old rooster me neither.

by spakajewia on Dec 11, 2008 7:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I was thinking "Chicken and the egg" when writing my post, too :-p

one of the tough parts of having a bunch of “real fans” is usually you have to have a period of being good to get a fan base to begin with, and hten have at least average or above average seasons to develop them and loyalty.

My problem is I’ve never been a big fan of basketball, especially at the pro level, and in college no one I knew went to the games and I’m not gonna go to a game and sit with people I don’t know for a sport I barely liked to watch a team that barely won.

I was at PSU during their sweet-16 run. I didn’t even go to games during that year, and only watched them in the tournament on TV, but even then didn’t consider myself a real “fan”.

by The JuggerNitt on Dec 12, 2008 11:54 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Another problem...

with the mentioned rural campus and urban game thing is the game schedule. Its easy to know that 12 out of 13 weeks during the football season theres a PSU game on Saturday. Many of the Basketball games are during the week. It would be great if we could get large crowds, but its a bit more of a task for many to get to the games on a Tuesday night. Even students who don’t have to travel far have to do homework and things on a weekday night.

Onward to the Rose Bowl!!!!!
Traped in the SF Bay area.....nothing like kickoff at 9 am.

by bconway6 on Dec 11, 2008 7:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

that's always been my problem with the basketball games as well

even here at Michigan State, where I tried to get into going to the games, I wound up just eating most of my tickets because I was always busy on game nights

by The JuggerNitt on Dec 12, 2008 11:56 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If Pringle comes back

the Penn State basketball team will be better, the fan base is there once we get away from teams like Army.

However, I believe it was Mike Walker (though I could be wrong) that the hardest thing about playing at Penn State is that the loudest cheer you hear all game is to try to get free pizza. There are soooooo many gimmicks and soooooooooo many timeouts and just wasted time that the momentum shifts from basketball to boredom.

I love our hoops team, I’m in the pep band, and even I get bored from seeing a halftime contest where people run around to shoot more basketballs, free Subway subs and free Papa John pizza is given out… I don’t need that stuff, I just want basketball.

Because football tends to stop play only for scoring or for timeouts, it doesn’t lose that momentum… it’s just like a restart after the commercial. With basketball it could be (and usually is) in the middle of a big momentum shift for one of the teams. At a football obsessed school, it’s hard to get re-excited about a 39-37 commercial break against Army.

And the Big Ten Network is just making it worse, though I’m going to be glad for it when I leave school

by AdamShell on Dec 11, 2008 8:31 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Football stops every single play

by speedomike on Dec 11, 2008 8:50 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

the momentum carries better over those stops in football than in basketball, though

the real killers are the commercial breaks followed by a time out, etc, that can really stop the momentum in football

by The JuggerNitt on Dec 12, 2008 11:58 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I was in the pep band during my PSU days

and the last 2 minutes of any game were always dreadful. I didn’t care if we won or lost, I always just wanted to go home. But why can’t a team thats down by 10+ just let the game end? Instead they foul and call timeouts and stretch that 2min into a half hour and then end up losing by 20…god I hate basketball.

by whiteoutonly on Dec 12, 2008 12:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Rural/urban

Eh…I hear what you’re saying to a point, but I think that’s just an excuse. When I see schools like Texas A&m and Washington State having success in basketball, location isn’t something I buy as a reason we stink at basketball. We’re not going to be UNC or Kansas, but we should at least field a decent team (which I think we might this year).

by speedomike on Dec 11, 2008 8:52 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I agree

The years the team was going to the NCAA and NIT tournaments the stands were much fuller. The players will have to have some success to draw in the fans. I also totally agree that there is too much downtime. Baseball has the 7th inning stretch (not the every half inning stretch that basketball seems to be striving for to put it in comparison)

by Rockin on Dec 11, 2008 9:28 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Nice title.

Schools that, in my personal experience, are no more urban than State College that are receiving votes in this weeks poll:

Oklahoma
Notre Dame
Purdue
Davidson
Kansas
Butler
Illinois
Texas A&M
Arkansas

If Nolan Richardson can haul in the best talent to win a national title in Arkansas.
If Bob Huggins can land the #1 recruit at Kansas State.
If Missouri is a consistent presence in the NCAA tournament.

…then there is no reason PSU can’t have a championship calibre team – particularly when it lies within 6 hours drive of 100 million people. Once agin, this lies at the feet of the AD.

by Cairo on Dec 12, 2008 9:58 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If you want to support a real sport in the winter, come out for the wrestling team.

If you want to see five guys playing one on one who happen to be wearing matching underwear, watch basketball.

Born and raised in the shadow of Mount Nittany

by Elihu on Dec 11, 2008 10:42 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

uhhh... no...

I don’t wish to watch two dudes in different underwear hump each other while wearing water polo hats. I am in no way discrediting the sport as I know it is about as tough as it gets. But I just cannot do or watch it… sorry

I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member

by TheMightyErik on Dec 12, 2008 4:14 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

With all due respect...

and remember I said with all due respect you’re an dumbass. See how I did that, I mocked your “I am in no way discrediting the sport” comment with my “with all due respect” as neither just let you say whatever you want. I know wrestling isn’t for everyone but its the furthest thing from “two dudes in different underwear humping eachother.” I am not going to get in a debate about wrestling because its fine if you don’t like it, I don’t really care, but don’t mock the sport and then patronize the people who like it with comments like I am in no way discrediting the sport.

We are not normal. We are legends.

by NittanyAlum02 on Dec 12, 2008 8:55 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I can accept that

Yeah, I can see where I was a douche on that post. The 5 dudes in underwear thing on the court made no sense to me when compared to wrestling so it got me riled up. My apologies and 1 to me.
FYI I really do understand how it is about the toughest sport there is but it was just not for me.

I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member

by TheMightyErik on Dec 12, 2008 12:25 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yeah, if it wasn't so hard to do

you’d be right up in that guy’s ass with your face in a heartbeat!

by The JuggerNitt on Dec 12, 2008 12:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I hate you.... lol

I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member

by TheMightyErik on Dec 12, 2008 3:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I would really like to watch the B-Ball team!

I love basketball! I am a diehard Lakers fan but college bball FAILS on so many levels. The early out program for kids guarantees if you have a halfway decent season you are gone after about a year. I follow the hometown UCLA out here and every year it’s like seeing a new group of dudes.
As for TV exposure…. forget it… The damn Big 10 network is a killer to us guys out of area and I really only get about 2 or 3 chances to see em all year and it is usually by accident I catch them.

I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member

by TheMightyErik on Dec 12, 2008 4:17 AM EST reply actions 0 recs