NCAA Rips PSU with Excessive Sanctions

            Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Beaver Stadium. WHAT? Well that is a list, in order, of the three most populated cities in Pennsylvania on a Saturday afternoon in autumn. The occupants of Beaver stadium are, of course, the pride and joy of Happy Valley—the Penn State Football Team—alongside 110,000 screaming fans. When NCAA President Mark Emmert stepped onto the stage at one of the most anticipated press conferences in NCAA history and announced the sanctions being handed down onto a new coach, a new administration and football team’s current Nittany Lions I, along with many others across the country just couldn’t comprehend.
             Sure I like the fact that the University will be forced to give several million dollars to the prevention of pedophilia and the sexual abuse of children, but why do it in a specified lump sum payment that will most likely be passed onto the students of the university and will have a negative effect on the University’s other sports? Instead it should have been a five or six year process in which all revenue generated from the football that DOES NOT go towards funding other sports programs. That way the University still loses money but doesn’t hurt the smaller athletic programs that had absolutely nothing to do with anything Sandusky related that went down.
            Worse than the massive payment that could easily become the crippling blow to several of the University’s minor sports is the shadow that has been the cast across not only the entirety of State College and the football program, but also over every alumnus of the school. The severity and length of the punishment will just remind of the terrible transpirings every time the Penn State football team takes the field. No—every time the institution is even brought up.
            These sanctions thrown down by NCAA President Emmert will not let Penn State University put these horrific events behind them. It will simply serve as a painful reminder to students, fans and especially to the victims of that monster Jerry Sandusky. The message would have been sent with a one or two-year bowl ban, five less scholarships per year and the required donation (broken into several different payments) from the football team’s revenue. Instead what we saw wasn’t just harsh punishment, it was sanctions that completely destroy the Penn State football program. It basically puts this storied program on equal footing with FCS schools.
            What bothers me most of all of this however is the deletion of every single Nittany Lion win since 1998. What purpose does that serve? What ineligible players were used? There were absolutely no grounds for that type of punishment. Sandusky’s actions and the subsequent follow up did not in any way shape or form have a positive effect on the team’s performance. In addition what good is tarnishing the legacy even more of a dead man? There isn’t.
            Even more it takes those wins away from the student-athletes that played in Happy Valley over that period of time. Former Nittany Lion and current Washington Redskin running back Evan Royster was among the hundreds of athletes affected. Yesterday he expressed his disappointment; a sentiment shared by many of the former PSU athletes, when he tweeted “ah crap... so I lost every college football game I ever played in?” Oh and did I mention that the NCAA didn’t even take proper procedure when determining the punishment. Mark Emmert came up with the decision without even running it past his council. It’s just ridiculous.
            When its all said and done though one thing stands true. Happy Valley isn’t very happy anymore.

A (Proposed) Solution to the English Premier League's Debt Crisis

By Edgar Walker

In terms of popularity and exposure in the United States, England’s Barclays Premier League has grown exponentially over the past two years, and for good reason. It’s the most-watched professional sports league in the world, and of all the soccer leagues on Earth, the EPL’s brand of soccer is the most entertaining to watch. MVP Sports Talk’s Edgar Walker reflects on the massive debt crisis crippling many EPL clubs, and brings forward his own proposal to solve the problem.

The FA, England soccer’s governing body, rules over the affairs of the international squads representing the countries, as well as the country’s domestic leagues. Recently, the British government has been putting pressure on The FA to reduce debt levels at some of the major squads in the Premier League. As a result of inflated transfer budgets and player salaries, along with expensive development projects, some of the top English-based clubs are facing massive debt situations, with the worst cases nearing £1 billion.

What many American fans of the EPL don’t realize is that clubs are not guaranteed revenue, as they are in the major leagues in the U.S. Even struggling franchises, namely the Florida Marlins, Jacksonville Jaguars, or Sacramento Kings, still turn profits each season of operation because of shared revenue agreements in the MLB, NFL, and NBA. Because of the promotion/relegation system seen in soccer leagues around the world, revenue sharing is unseen because of the fluid atmosphere of the leagues. Additionally, many of England’s largest cities are home to several different clubs. Because of this, clubs are almost never given any sort of public funding to help build stadiums, develop areas around the stadium, et cetera. On top of all this, consider the over-inflated transfer market, and the fact that each year, more and more money must be spent by clubs who are trying to stay competitive and economically viable in a top-flight league. Eventually (or in some cases, very quickly), the various expenses add up, and put clubs in a financial bind.

My proposal is a simple one; punish clubs on the field for their misbehavior off the field. In the same way that the MLB has a “luxury tax” for those teams that are the most aggressive spenders, the EPL should establish a point deduction system for the biggest spenders in each transfer window. For every £10 million a club spends on transfers, they’d be deducted one point before their season began. The same would go for the January transfer window. There are three reasons why this would be an effective solution for The FA to utilize:

1) Debt would not increase as quickly; clubs such as Manchester City and Chelsea would not spend enormous sums of money on overpriced players in the transfer window.

2) The transfer market would return to a more reasonable state. Clubs without super-rich owners could compete for the same quality players as the cash-laden clubs of the league. In turn, the league would be more competitive; TV ratings would rise, and more fans would be interested in the latter months of the season.

3) Teams would look to reduce spending by turning to their youth academies, and specifically looking to develop cheap, English players. Consequently, the national team would have an influx of talented, well-coached young players coming from academies.

Obviously this solution is one with a few flaws, and it would undoubtedly incite outrage from the rich clubs who are used to spending large sums of money to be competitive. With that said, it’s an idea worth looking into, and at this point, any idea is worth something. The debt problem is widespread in the EPL and across the world, and in a time when the world economy is in worse condition than it’s been for years, it makes little sense for soccer clubs to spend more and more money each year.

Edgar Walker is a young, Baltimore-based sportswriter. Check out his work on Baltimore Sports Report, or follow him on Twitter.

Congrats to the St. Louis Cardinals

On being the 2011 World Series Champions.

TCU Expected to Join Big 12

The Big East Conference held discussions today about possible conference expansion without TCU who was originally expected to join the league in 2012. The Horned Frogs are now expected to join the Big 12 and create regional rivalries with other teams in Texas.

-A

Week One NFL Predictions

By Edgar Walker

It’s almost time for football, and it’s only fitting that here at MVP Sports Talk, we predict some of Week 1’s games. Alongside me with his predictions will be site founder Andrew Feather.

Below the chart, we’ll each discuss why we predicted three specific games the way we did.

**Games will be listed as HOME vs. AWAY**

Matchup	Edgar	Andrew
Green Bay vs. New Orleans	Green Bay	Green Bay
Chicago vs. Atlanta	Atlanta	Atlanta
Houston vs. Indianapolis	Houston	Houston
Kansas City vs. Buffalo	Kansas City	Kansas City
Jacksonville vs. Tennessee	Jacksonville	Tennessee
Cleveland vs. Cincinnati	Cleveland	Cleveland
St. Louis vs. Philadelphia	St. Louis	Philadelphia
Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh	Baltimore	Baltimore
Tampa Bay vs. Detroit	Tampa Bay	Detroit
San Diego vs. Minnesota	San Diego	San Diego
Washington vs. New York Giants	New York Giants	Washington
Arizona vs. Carolina	Carolina	Arizona
San Francisco vs. Seattle	Seattle	San Francisco
New York Jets vs. Dallas	New York Jets	New York Jets
Miami vs. New England	New England	New England
Denver vs. Oakland	Oakland	Oakland

Green Bay vs. New Orleans-
Edgar: I’m going with Green Bay here to defend their home field and get off to a good start following their Super Bowl win. I think the Saints will give the Packers a tough game, but Aaron Rodgers is a stud quarterback who’s set to have the best season of his career, and he should torch the New Orleans defense. It’ll be a shootout, for sure.

Andrew: I’m going to go with Green Bay here too in this game featuring the past two Superbowl Champions. Both teams are very good, and in my book both are making the playoffs, but the dynamic Packer’s offense led by Aaron Rodgers and their D led by Clay Matthews will prove to be too much for the Saints.

Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh-
Edgar: This is consistently one of the best games to watch in the NFL. If you want to see good football, tune into this game, and be amazed by the intensity these two teams bring to the table in Week 1. I think Baltimore gets the edge because of their home field advantage, but this game is always a toss-up, and usually defies all logic when it comes to predictions.

Andrew: This game pits two of the NFL’s toughest teams and defenses in a battle will surely not disappoint. Because Baltimore has home field advantage in addition to Ray Rice, who i think is poised to have 15-20 TDs this year, I am picking them to take part one of this bitter rivalry.

St. Louis vs. Philadelphia-
Edgar: I like the Rams, and I think the Eagles are cocky. With that said, I chose St. Louis with a bit of hesitation. I like the team they’re building, and I think they have not only the talent, but the will to defeat Philly. The fact that the game is on the Rams’ home turf helps their chances. If the Rams pull off the victory, it will be a close one, and it will probably be somewhat due to a poor performance from Michael Vick.

Andrew: Unlike Edgar, I’m going to go with the safe pick here and take the revamped Eagles team to take this one. Michael Vick is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and is throwing to a fast, experienced receiving corps. I really like whats going on with the Rams and I think Sam Bradford will be one of the best QBs in the league in two years, but for now they don't have the firepower to beat the Eagles.

Edgar Walker is a young, Baltimore-based sportswriter. Check out his work on Baltimore Sports Report, or follow him on Twitter.

Embattled Dodger’s Owner offered $1.2 Billion for Team

Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has been offered $1.2 billion for full ownership of the team by Los Angleles Marathon Founder Bill Burke. This offer is just the latest in line of what has become a saga of Frank McCourt’s financial mishandling of the Dodgers as well as his nasty, multi-million dollar divorce, which has been going on for over a year. This proposal will offer McCourt, who filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on June 27, at least some time before Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig seizes the franchise and gives MLB full control over the club. Right now the club’s finances are controlled by an agent assigned by Selig to the team but without McCourt’s permission they can not move any players or sell the team.

According to multiple sources, if Major League Baseball were to seize the club, which they have been contemplating for a while, they would first allow McCourt to try to arrange a deal (like this one) before forcing sale of the team. Earlier this year the McCourts had reached a divorce settlement that was dependent on a twenty year $300 million television contract with Fox. Because the deal also would result in a personal loan to cover payroll and Selig believed McCourt was doing this to game the system in place (team money is not for the owner’s personal use), MLB rejected the deal.

If the sale of the club were to go through, the $1.2 billion would be the highest price ever paid for a Major League Baseball team. If McCourt were to accept the offer, it would first need to be approved by Selig and then pass a vote by the Major League Baseball Owners Association to be sure that the other owners think that Bill Burke would make a good owner. If the team were to be sold, many Dodgers’ fans and Los Angeles area baseball fans alike would be overjoyed because even though the divorce was settled in court, it has played a role on the field and in the team’s lack of success this season. A new owner would bring in a fresh face and a fresh start for a franchise in trouble.

-A