K-9

Major rights fees paid to the Big 10, which the NCAA has no say in at all. The major networks aren't under any obligation TO televise Penn State, however. PSU does have it's own deal with local broadcasters in and around State College so they'll be on TV every weekend regardless. Not being able to go to a bowl, let alone a major bowl, is a significant hit, though. Even the least of the bowls will net several million dollars for the schools participating. I heard at least one of PSU's TV sponsors has already pulled their ads (State Farm or some other insurance company I think) so I look for that to have a ripple effect.

Beaver Stadium will be packed for every home game with people festooned in blue shirts. TV ratings won't matter because the Big 10 has already been paid by the networks and that revenue divided by the schools in the conference. Less, of course, the $13m the Big 10 penalized PSU. I am impressed with O'Brien and his players so far as they've reacted to the sanctions. Nobody on that team seems to be feeling sorry for themselves from what I've seen.

True. We will all need to be patient with Gringorbeo. That was for d4rk. GO SABRES!!!

If by "top shelf" you mean the press box for long stretches you may be right. I guess that might be a happy medium. He's with the club working on his game every day, getting stronger, and LIndy picking spots to play him. Of course, if he comes into camp and takes ownership of the C position right away, so much the better. I'm just gonna lower my expectations and be pleasantly surprised if he surpasses them. Now pass the cookies, Miss Spending Cheese. GO SABRES!!!

Gerry Meehan actually has the key to the map on Gorby's head. That was some real cloak and dagger stuff getting Mogs out of there, wasn't it? GO SABRES!!! Au contraire pretty lady. I'm fine with Oreo. Just throwing stuff out there. Although I'll be impressed if he sticks with the big club. I haven't seen much of him at all. My guess is that, even if he isn't quite ready, we keep him on the squad simply because it doesn't serve his development to send him back to juniors and he can't play in the AHL. GO SABRES!!!

Got anything better than "Girgs?" Hey, although 'ol Ronnie Boy gets all the credit for tearing down the Iron Curtain, he couldn't have done it without Gorby. The man set his people free. Maybe not by design, certainly by circumstance. He wasn't just another Ruskie. Heard he liked oreos though. Or was it hydrox? GO SABRES!!!

Perhaps they need to make those long journeys at lower altitudes. GO SABRES!!!

Well, seeing as how everybody is just coming up with a nickname for him, that's what I went with. It's a tip of the hat to another famous Mikhail from Russia: Gorbachev. AKA: Gorby. GO SABRES!!! That birthmark is actually a treasure map. GO SABRES!!!

I think most of us know that and would agree. But the buzz around Gorby is that the TEAM expects him to make it. Knowing how reluctant the organization has been in the past when it comes to young guys jumping right in, it's a bit of a departure. I think the Sabres have created this expectation in the fans. I fully expect him not to be on the big club until next season and I don't see Girgs anywhere but Rochester until circumstances dictate a call up. GO SABRES!!!

Buzzkill! GO SABRES!!!

Regarding centers, anybody else have the feeling it's gonna be a major disappointment if Gorby (Grigorenko) does NOT make the opening day lineup? Or if he can't stick longer than his 9 game look-see? GO SABRES!!!

It's obvious that I very much see this as a culture problem. One specifically created by the need to protect a program that has and will continue to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the school. Regardless of the costs. I have no problem at all that Pegula chose not to say anything. I have no problem with him being loyal to his school and showering it with a hundred million dollar donation. And I fully understand that he needs to buy political influence in the state where that influence directly relates to his ability to conduct oil/gas drilling operations. I DO have a problem with the mentality adopted by so many of the alumni that they are being persecuted. I have a problem with token gestures meant to do nothing more than deflect that perceived persecution. I have a problem with alumni that purposely INCREASED it's donations simply BECAUSE of this perceived persecution. Terry Pegula initially called for PSU to bring everything to light last November. I applauded him for this. I had hoped other alumni, especially those in similar powerful positions, would adopt a similar tone. Instead we get a record amount of alumni donations as a result of this scandal. Not out of any philanthropic philosophy but out of the need to circle the wagons. What does it say that it took this type of situation to bring that kind of support from its alumni? At the very least it says the culture needs to change. And that takes a helluva lot more than just replacing the individuals in charge. While I fully understand his motivation and have respect for the man and am grateful that he owns my favorite hockey team, I expected more out of Terry Pegula with regards to this situation.

Scott plays 6 games against the Bruins, minimum. GO SABRES!!!

I'm at a crossroads here. In terms of what motivates them, I don't see much of a difference between an alum that donates $100 vs. one that gives a million times that amount. They are within that insular bubble that literally prevents them from being able to accept the truth that their donations aid and abet a culture so corrupt that it led to this entire mess. But, depending on what sanctions PSU is subjected to by the NCAA or imposes upon itself, I won't be able to spend one more dime on anything Sabres related that generates revenue for Terry Pegula. Gnat on the elephant's ass to be sure, but it's all I can do at the moment.

Indeed. But I don't think PSU has the integrity. When you have two newly elected bozos on the Board of Trustees saying the most urgent item on the agenda is for the university to make a public apology to the Paterno family for the shoddy way JoePa was treated because "that's the elephant in the room", I don't expect much more than repainted murals, renamed tent cities, and reallocated lunch money of the football team.

I think that's funny. It's no secret the Sabres don't think too highly of the Snooze's scribes and it's gotta irk Bucky and Sully when the Sabres grant more access to a high school year book editor. GO SABRES!!!

Like Emmert said on the Smiley show Monday night, there is no precedent here. When he said he wasn't taking any penalty off the table he was being politically expedient. It's easy not to take something off the table when it was never on it to begin with. While there's never been a more glaring example of institutional lack of control, the NCAA has never cited that outside of how it relates to "specific" rules violations. In short, PSU didn't violate anything currently in the NCAA rule book. I think a case COULD be made to say that JoePa et al engaged in the coverup to MAINTAIN a competitive advantage simply because they perceived very real DISADVANTAGES to the program by acting the way they did. I doubt they'll do this though. In a few days, PSU will sit down with the NCAA and they'll come to an arrangement. I seriously doubt the program will be suspended just because of the rhetoric coming out of PSU. The new president is already touting how they've punished the athletic program by taking $2.6m out of their budget to start a child abuse research and treatment center, etc. And while that is shallow and rings hollow outside of State College, the NCAA looks favorably on that sort of thing. Anyway, I've decided that all I can do it mete out my own punishment in the form of never supporting anything that school does in the future. Oh, I know that $2.6m dollars will hurt the football program for a day or two and the artist removed the halo above JoePa's head in the mural. Heck, the artist even painted a blue ribbon on JoePa's lapel to show support for child abuse victims. And even though they've changed the name "Paternoville" to "Nittanyville" somehow I just can't convince myself it's anything more than a token gestures.

It is on a team with little visible signs of it. GO SABRES!!!

That may or may not be but the Sabres are gonna have to pay a premium to compete with other teams in order to get the players they've targeted. Once we get a few cups under our belt, we'll start to look like the Wings to these FAs. Until then, it's go big or go home just to have a chance. GO SABRES!!!

Can I quote you on that? GO SABRES!!!

Yes. It is.

Thanks. Much appreciated. I've got no problem with what he said at all. I can certainly see LR cringing at the comparison but TP makes a good point when you consider Paterno had to wait 26 years before winning his first national championship and I can remember the cries from State College that insisted he was too out of touch, etc. and that he had to go before he did win it the first time. I mean, it's not like he said Lindy was elite or anything.

When was that and what was the context? I can't find any reference to this on the GR sight. Seems GR or any other media outlet would have jumped on such a volitile reference. And given how quickly the Sabres moved to scrub their website of any reference to Second Mile, it would be a major gaff for Pegula to make such an association. GO SABRES!!!

When is it appropriate to shut down a football program at a university? And does it ever have the desired outcome of that punishment?

I thought the board was on the right track. It took courage to dismiss JoePa and even more to commission an independent study by Freeh. I'm convinced now that Freeh's entire investigation was nothing more than a way for the board to get a sounding on the upcoming civil cases and nothing more.