Success With Hyperlinking Is Going Pro

Watersgate. If you don't know by now, JUCO QB Jake Waters did not pick Penn State to be his next collegiate destination, opting instead for 139th-ranked Kansas State (Penn State comes in at 46th, in case you were wondering). Waters was one of the remaining targets for BOB, and one at a position of need, with only one quarterback on scholarship heading into spring practice. We wish Jake the best of luck, to the extent he doesn't face Penn State during his K-State career.

What does this mean for Penn State at the quarterback position? Well, it was well known that there was another JUCO QB that PSU had their eye on, but also that Waters was the number one choice. Naturally, given the makeup of the internet (READ: crazies), no less than 15 seconds after Waters' commitment, message boards began filling up with comments such as "Tyler Ferguson is a better QB, anyway. Wanted him all along. Told you guys!"

Tyler Ferguson, of course, is said other QB. The College of the Sequoias signal caller is rated 4* by 247Sports and 2* by Scout, and has had an interesting couple of days. Sometime either just before or during Waters' commitment, Ferguson gave his commitment to Houston, which was (accurately) reported on by Justin Hopkins of 247Sports, allegedly to guarantee a spot on a quickly-filling-out Cougars recruiting class. Then, Waters committed to K-State, and Penn State came swooping in with an offer to Ferguson, again a story reported by 247Sports. And now, it appears Ferguson has decommitted from Houston, and is trying to plan a visit to Penn State. If you're reading the tea leaves, you can probably see how this one ends. Hopefully it's not with you paying $12.95/month for someone at Rivals or Scout to say "Waters to Penn State is a lock." Yea...

When I See Starz That's All They Are. Adam "Macho Man" Rittenberg took ESPN's yearly look back at the best players in the conference and how they stacked up coming into the league. Here is the offense, here is the defense and special teams. Naturally, ESPN uses ESPN's database, so I won't even begin to analyze the numbers, because ESPN has the worst recruiting coverage and analysis in the history of recruiting of any kind (including this awful display of recruiting). All I can say is that some of the players were very highly ranked coming out of high school. Though, and what will continue to stoke the flames of the starz debate, some of them were not very heavily recruited. Allen Robinson vs. Braxton Miller...GO!

In Which I Try To Speak Intelligently on PSU Basketball. Who am I kidding? I can't do that, so I'll leave it to Eric and Chad on this site. But Andrew Dzurita at Lions247 does a good job covering this team, as well, and he's got a free recruiting piece on the state of Patrick Chambers and the men's hoopyball team. I have zero analysis beyond the link, so there's that.

In Soviet Russia, Bowl Teams Actually Make Money. MSU is having trouble filling their allotment of ticket sales for the vaunted Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl against TCU on December 29? Well I never. Luckily, they are members of one of the most lucrative conferences in America (Thanks, Jim!), and can fall back on the revenue sharing. Unfortunately for a good number of the other teams in lesser bowls coming from lesser conferences, they won't be so lucky. Only selling 2000 of the forced 11000 tickets would be a guaranteed money pit. Just ask UConn.

[Gets on Collyer's Soapbox]. So that Franco Harris/John Zeigler thing happened. What actually took place in California is still being sorted out, but one thing is clear, John Zeigler getting the cops called for refusing to comply with established rules on cameras is not how you go about correcting the perceived incorrect media narrative or righting any wrongs you believe Mark Emmert has undertaken. Don't get me wrong, I find Emmert to be of the giant douche persuasion. But bumrushing him after a speaking engagement helps no one in this matter. I don't have the answer as to what IS the proper way, but I do know that this isn't the kind of press the university, the Paternos, or the football program need.

It should be noted that John Zeigler has contacted BSD about the story we ran yesterday, and has similarly put up a lengthy explanation on whatever Framing Paterno is, but I won't be linking to that because I find Zeigler to be of the batshit crazy variety of person, one that is not what this cause needs. If you think Paterno or Penn State's name needs to be cleared, I respect your point of view, even if I don't agree fully with it. And to Zeigler's credit, a documentary outlining the perceived misconceptions, wrongs, and factual inaccuracies is a very good way of getting positive public attention to the cause, provided the documentary isn't as sensationalist in the other direction as the original media narrative. Until I'm shown otherwise, though, I'm not buying a ticket to that Crazy Train.

Poor Mark Emmert. Poor, indeed.

In Scores of Other Games. Bobby Petrino's back, y'all (women of WKU, gird your loins)...Gator Bowl vs. Mississippi State? That could have been nice...BOB picks up a local run-on...want to write for BSD? Now you can!

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