The Games Really Do Count

Back in March I wrote a column based on Brian Kilmeade’s book, ‘The Games Do Count – America’s Best and Brightest on the Power of Sports.” I described it as “a great read for even the casual sports fan and is as much a book about leadership as it is a sports book.”

I am going to borrow from the book once again to emphasize just how impactful the unimaginable success of the 2016 Penn State football team has been on the psyche of a good portion of our town, the student body and the alumni.

I realize there are a certain number of alumni that do not see athletics as being such an integral part of our university and community. I have stated in several columns that sports’ place in society has become omnipresent, at times to ridiculous levels. However, I still believe that athletics, and in particular football, can bind together our town, our students and our alums like nothing else. The spirit, the energy and the togetherness are infectious and cathartic, and could not be more relevant than they are right now. 

Many will say it was an overemphasis on athletics, and specifically football, that was responsible for the dark cloud that has hung over this community for the past five years. I would argue differently. But that is a matter very personal to me that I will perhaps write about in the future, if and when, the judicial process is completed, and not before then. It would only be fair to those friends and former colleagues who have been tried by the media while awaiting their day in court.

This current team and its coaches had nothing to do with what took place in the past and it is a testament to their focus and resolve that they have overcome so much in such a short time. Their success on the field, and their good behavior off of it, should make every Penn State supporter proud. Like a phoenix rising they have helped a program regain its place among the top schools in the country. In my humble opinion, Penn State was unduly punished by the NCAA, especially in light of the NCAA’s recent dealings with Baylor’s situation.

This team and the coaches have done an amazing job of overcoming incredible odds to prove the experts wrong and they have done so in dramatic fashion in the face of adversity.

After getting clawed by the pesky Pitt Panthers and getting eaten up by the Wolverines earlier this year, only the most faithful optimists among the Nittany Nation would have predicted 8 wins in a row.

Yet here they sit back in the top 10 and about to play in their first ever Big Ten Championship game with a possible spot in the College Football Playoff on the line. Who would have predicted such an amazing turnaround given the sanctions and scrutiny this program endured? 

I am a bit biased, but I have to give a shout out to my Penn Hills brothers, offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead and offensive line coach Matt Limegrover, for their efforts. The football pedigree from our western PA town is legendary and I am glad to see a couple of Penn Hills natives contributing to the team’s success.

I attended the last State College Quarterback Club lunch as guest of longtime friend Steve Smith. The Mount Nittany Club was packed and the Nittany Lion faithful were excited to hear from starting QB Trace McSorley and star running back Saquon Barkley.

I have only one word to describe these young men: Impressive. What great kids and what terrific representatives of our school and community.  

I even learned about something truly special that Saquon did as a senior in high school, when he gave his own gold medal in track to a young lady who saw her medal taken away because of a mechanical failure. You can read more about it in this 2015 Onward State article.

All of our former coaches would have been proud of the way these young men and Coach James Franklin presented themselves before the crowd.

Coach Franklin has stayed true to his “one game at a time” mantra. While it was easy for the audience to dream about a Big Ten Championship game and a possible College Football Playoff appearance, Coach Franklin simply stated,

“Michigan State, Michigan State, Michigan State!”

He called upon LaVar Arrington and football letterman everywhere to return to Happy Valley to support the team against Michigan State. More than 300 former players responded and LaVar was the honorary team captain for the game.  After falling behind early, the team once again came from behind for a convincing win with a dominant second half performance. Combined with Ohio State’s double OT win over Michigan, the Nittany Lions are really about to play in their first ever Big Ten Championship game and that spot in the College Football Playoff is still on the line.   

I am truly hopeful that the worst is behind our school and football program. I hope that the legal process will play out so that many of my friends and former colleagues can get on with their lives, and that there will be both good reason and opportunity to honor the past with the appropriate level of dignity, grace and forgiveness in the near future.

Many of us will agree that the NCAA is one screwed up organization that is at times overbearing, at other times nowhere to be found, and at best is hypocritical (for the latest see their most recent inconsistent handling of academic fraud at North Carolina and Notre Dame).

In the end this is about the students, student-athletes, the faculty and the staff, the alumni and the community coming together, rallying around this already accomplished band of brothers on this Big Ten East championship team.

When “Team Pegula” was considering a motto for the transition from an ACHA club hockey program to the current NCAA varsity program, we came up with the following: ‘Honor the Past, Celebrate the Present, Roar into the Future!’

I think it’s a pretty good mantra for the entire Penn State community. “We are” because we really believe “We are…Penn State!,” in the classroom, on the playing fields, in the community, and in the working world.

Yes, the games REALLY do count after all.

And in keeping with Coach Franklin’s focused message to his players of ‘one game at a time’, I’ll end with this:

Wisconsin, Wisconsin, Wisconsin!