ThesePretzels;842270300 said:

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We know from The Drive that Sonny isn't that comfortable making a homemade pizza either. What a wasted PR opportunity The Drive was.

Regarding Koa's instagram picture... he and Franklin look like twins. There's a thing in sales called "mirroring". With Franklin's look and throwing up the one finger, it's pretty clear that Koa's choosing the school for the coach. Which is fine. But perhaps we should try recruiting more guys from the south/Texas?

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The problem with that is the Berkeley culture shock. I really want him to succeed but Sandy just sadly didn't get this basic fact when it comes to football.

How is this top 3 class shaping up. I fear LOI it is going to be about how we got "great students" and "kids that really want to be at Cal" - which is all fine and good until we go 2 and 10.

Our fanbase can be so pathetic with this academic snobbery.

We are talking about football here and most kids don't really care about academics.

And let's not forget that when it comes to football, not academics, we have a long tradition of sucking.

Not sure anyone has made the observation yet but Khalfani and Koa were HS teammates and pretty tight. I'm actually surprised this didn't help Koa's commitment stick. I had run into some friends of Koa's just a month ago (at a donut shop, not exactly Boston Market) and they said he was excited about Cal. Oh well.

That may be a reason it didn't stick. Just playing devils advocate

Tedhead94;842270313 said:

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Thanks for reading Californialum.

Unfortunately the only "agenda" I have is to use a public message board to discuss my perspectives on CAL football with other fans of CAL football. Why? Because I care. Whether it be positive or negative is none of my concern. Nothing more scandalous than that.

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You are very welcome. Right back at ya, bro.

Unfortunately, your perspectives trend towards the negative. Why? Only you know. Whether it be positive or negative it does have an impact. I tend to think the constant banter against the coaching staff can't help. We all see it, but it isn't going to change. Why not try to influence a better result, with things we can control. Like what we say over, and over, and over, and over again.

Penn State is a fine school. The only reasons I would not go there would be the weather, potential alumni connections through Cal if you want to end up on the West Coast some day, and the fact PSU is not close to an interesting big city.

CALiforniALUM;842270333 said:

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You are very welcome. Right back at ya, bro.

Unfortunately, your perspectives trend towards the negative. Why? Only you know. Whether it be positive or negative it does have an impact. I tend to think the constant banter against the coaching staff can't help. We all see it, but it isn't going to change. Why not try to influence a better result, with things we can control. Like what we say over, and over, and over, and over again.

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Our fundamental disagreement is just that I feel it is a disservice to the program, the university, and to posters/fans to not voice our concerns. Same goes for when there a good things to say.

I have been called everything from a sunshine pumper to a negabear. Curiously, it has corresponded to the record on the field and to the disposition of the fellow Bear fans I tailgate and go to the games with.

Tedhead94;842269960 said:

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This is the dumbest post k have read in a long time. ALL the negativity surrounding the program?? First off - we are the greatest university in the world. Second, we went 1-11 last year. PSU is just a couple years removed from child moletation charges from their coordinators. I'm pretty sure it was discussed on their boards. Tbis has to do with staffs - not fan bases. Get over it.

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+ 1000

:gobears:

slobear;842269992 said:

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Maybe I should have been more clear. I'm not saying that Farmer bailed because of the negativity on BI. All I am trying to say is that it makes no sense to me that posters want to bash the program when recruits are trying to make up their minds. Does that make sense?

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No

slobear;842269992 said:

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Maybe I should have been more clear. I'm not saying that Farmer bailed because of the negativity on BI. All I am trying to say is that it makes no sense to me that posters want to bash the program when recruits are trying to make up their minds. Does that make sense?

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Yes.

jyamada;842270191 said:

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I didn't say speaking negatively has a major impact on a recruit's decision. It may not have any impact at all. But if you speak negatively about the coach , the system and everything about the program on a constant and repetitive basis, prospects who come to this board will be influenced. How much is hard to say but there is a seed of doubt that's planted. Sunshine pumping may not have any positive effect on a recruit but it certainly won't have a negative effect. The amount of negativeness on the boards regarding Dykes and Co may not impact recruits much, but there certainly is a possibility that it could sway a recruit's perspective of Cal.

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I disagree that excessive sunshine pumping has no deleterious effects and it shows you missed my point. Look at how poor our APR is. Look at the final years of Tedford. This was allowed to continue for many reasons but there's a reasonable position that he was let go too late. When coaches aren't held accountable and there's a lack if transparency, then it's very easy for the status quo to continue to exist.

You talk about one recruit but what about the mass exodus of highly talented players. Where's the accountability for that?

Tedhead94;842270344 said:

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Our fundamental disagreement is just that I feel it is a disservice to the program, the university, and to posters/fans to not voice our concerns. Same goes for when there a good things to say.

I have been called everything from a sunshine pumper to a negabear. Curiously, it has corresponded to the record on the field and to the disposition of the fellow Bear fans I tailgate and go to the games with.

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+1

Same goes for me. If someone's going to check the poster's history, they need to go farther back than 2013. I, too, was called a sunshine pumper when many turned against Tedford. Many of us have been here for many years and didn't just show up this past August.

oski003;842270273 said:

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Penn St. has a very meh reputation and the region it is in isn't very desirable to live in. It loses to about fifty other schools in every non football aspect, except maybe partying.

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Oski, I'm guessing the furthest East you've been is Reno. You're like the East Coast boneheads who say that Cal is a hippie school with a bunch of ugly girls and it's too close to that gay city. Show some class; Farmer chose a coach who CAN win at an academic school (Vandy), can you blame him for that? Not to mention Penn State has had a winning tradition and national championships - not something we can really boast about in football in the last century, can we? :axe

freshfunk;842270404 said:

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+1

Same goes for me. If someone's going to check the poster's history, they need to go farther back than 2013. I, too, was called a sunshine pumper when many turned against Tedford. Many of us have been here for many years and didn't just show up this past August.

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Maybe it's a heavy case of ocd? Perhaps you are bipolar?

WantARoseBowlB4IDie;842270522 said:

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Oski, I'm guessing the furthest East you've been is Reno. You're like the East Coast boneheads who say that Cal is a hippie school with a bunch of ugly girls and it's too close to that gay city. Show some class; Farmer chose a coach who CAN win at an academic school (Vandy), can you blame him for that? Not to mention Penn State has had a winning tradition and national championships - not something we can really boast about in football in the last century, can we? :axe

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I went to grad school on the east coast. I also worked at Maytag corporate headquarters in Iowa for a short while. Penn St. is an okay school. We went to an elite university.

To your other point, I'm not ripping Koa. I just don't agree with academic justifications for his decision, and I do realize he not's going to sdsu, etc...

Tedhead94;842270344 said:

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Our fundamental disagreement is just that I feel it is a disservice to the program, the university, and to posters/fans to not voice our concerns. Same goes for when there a good things to say.

I have been called everything from a sunshine pumper to a negabear. Curiously, it has corresponded to the record on the field and to the disposition of the fellow Bear fans I tailgate and go to the games with.

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So answer me this, how many times do you have to state your distaste for the coaching staff before you feel like your opinion has been heard? You seem to take more than your share of shots.

CALiforniALUM;842270535 said:

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So answer me this, how many times do you have to state your distaste for the coaching staff before you feel like your opinion has been heard? You seem to take more than your share of shots.

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Because I discuss each issue separately from any agenda. Just so happens I disagree with more lately than usual.

I don't relate any one issue to another unless I find a causal relationship. I am not sittiing at home looking for new ways to bash Dykes. If I hear something I find to be crappy, I say as much. If I like it, I do that too. Just like you.

Dept. of Education Investigates Penn St.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10354735/us-dept-education-investigate-penn-state-nittany-lions

Stains are hard to get out.

oski003;842270529 said:

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I went to grad school on the east coast. I also worked at Maytag corporate headquarters in Iowa for a short while. Penn St. is an okay school. We went to an elite university.

To your other point, I'm not ripping Koa. I just don't agree with academic justifications for his decision, and I do realize he not's going to sdsu, etc...

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At least you make a measured and cogent argument, unlike that idiot SonOfABiotchVA. I didn't think you were ripping the kid, I just think that we have to face some reality here, and while Cal is an elite school academically, we have a big time tradition of generally sucking since the Andy Smith era. We've had flirtations with the college football upper echelons, such as the Bruce Snyder team that pounded Clemson and finished in the top 10. But overall there has to be a clear decision made, one way or the other, that we are going to be in it to win it, or just fall by the wayside. And I'm not sure Sonny is the man I would have chosen to lead the charge towards football immortality.

I've lived in the Philadelphia area now for over 23 years. It is a fantastic area with great people, lots to do, and as passionate a fan base as we are about our Bears. Sometimes I see Eagle fans and I think that we are separated by only a few degrees from them in their desire for football greatness. We ache for the Rose Bowl; they pine for the Super Bowl. Their last taste from the championship cup was in 1960, mere months after the Bears last saw the Rose Bowl turf on New Year's Day.

I pray that my handle won't be my epitaph... but I'm not holding my breath. There is a part of me that will always believe we have a chance, but my overall faith is waning, beaten down by years of frustration and disappointment. And until there's a monumental shift in the karmic universe, I fear that I may never get my wish.

:facepalm

freshfunk;842270394 said:

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I disagree that excessive sunshine pumping has no deleterious effects and it shows you missed my point. Look at how poor our APR is. Look at the final years of Tedford. This was allowed to continue for many reasons but there's a reasonable position that he was let go too late. When coaches aren't held accountable and there's a lack if transparency, then it's very easy for the status quo to continue to exist.

You talk about one recruit but what about the mass exodus of highly talented players. Where's the accountability for that?

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You're right.....I'm always missing your point. Not sure what sunshine pumping has to do with APR but my point is excessive negativity on the board can't be good for the program. Constructive criticism is fine but Dykes is here for one more and perhaps another year....... no amount of negative whining is going to change that.

oski003;842270281 said:

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So, all 9,000 people they graduate every year don't live in the middle of pennsylvania? BREAKING NEWS!!!

Penn St. is an okay school who's AD covered up and allowed the molestation of young boys to be covered up for years.

Must we always disparage our own university and football program and never judge others?

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I'm not disparaging our university at all; I'm just saying it is beneath us to throw stones when we have our own closet skeletons - the APR scandal, one of The Play's five lateralers living out his life in prison for murdering his family, tree sitters, etc.

One thing that I DO know... Penn State's fans at times remind me of the smug a-holes that follow the University of South Central. So I'm not defending them; just saying we should worry about our own house and not waste time or embarrass ourselves throwing dirt at someone else.

WantARoseBowlB4IDie;842270575 said:

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I'm not disparaging our university at all; I'm just saying it is beneath us to throw stones when we have our own closet skeletons - the APR scandal, one of The Play's five lateralers living out his life in prison for murdering his family, tree sitters, etc.

One thing that I DO know... Penn State's fans at times remind me of the smug a-holes that follow the University of South Central. So I'm not defending them; just saying we should worry about our own house and not waste time or embarrass ourselves throwing dirt at someone else.

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No need to throw dirt at Pedo U ... they're doing it on their own.
Helluva place ... best of luck, Farmer, you truth-teller. (lol)

Quote:

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Spike in sex offenses at Penn State
Updated: January 26, 2014, 2:31 PM ET
Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A federal government agency is looking into Penn State's handling of sexual harassment and sexual assault complaints to see if it had responded immediately and appropriately.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights informed Penn State of the investigation in a letter Thursday.

Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon says the agency had concerns after it reviewed Penn State's sexual harassment policy and it saw a huge spike in "forcible sex offenses." The spike came after the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal broke in 2011.

A Penn State spokeswoman says the school is looking forward to working with federal officials. Penn State's crime data showed 56 forcible sex offenses on its main campus in 2012. That's fourteen times the number reported in 2010.

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SonOfCalVa;842270669 said:

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No need to throw dirt at Pedo U ... they're doing it on their own.
Helluva place ... best of luck, Farmer, you truth-teller. (lol)

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Your quoted article on PSU -- while sad -- is ridiculous to include. If he chose Vanderbilt, where recent football players were involved, that would be more understandable.

Anyway, here is an excerpt from an article in this weekend's Mercury on a similar situation at Cal (http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_24993247/rape-at-colleges-victims-challenge-policies-favoring-attackers):

BERKELEY -- At UC Berkeley, student sex offenders go through the same disciplinary process as those caught cheating on an exam, their punishment -- sometimes as light as a warning and an essay -- decided in informal talks with the university.

Campus assault victims often turn to their colleges for justice in addition to -- or instead of -- going to the police. However, Cal held a formal hearing for just one of the 32 student sexual misconduct cases it investigated from 2011 to 2013, according to information obtained by this newspaper.

This seems like an understandable (considering last year's results and the approaching signing day) but completely disproportionate angst over a high school kid that we won't even remember a year from today. We have lost a lot of highly recruited (including former commits) athletes, but the only ones that I still remember are Shaq Thompson and Erik Lorig. I only remember those recruits because of all the ancillary matters that went into their recruiting and not because their choice affected me in any material way.

Good luck to Farmer, and I hope he realizes as he gets older that the cost of honesty (especially with his peers and friends) is a lot lower than the penalty for dishonesty.

By the way, while I love Cal and believe he is missing out on a great and unique opportunity to be a part of an amazing institution and experience, everyone has different desires and preferences. If the culture at Penn St. is what clicks for him, then it makes no sense for me to project what attracted me to Cal in high school to someone completely different.

oski003;842270128 said:

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I believe certain people have seen enough of Dykes and will do doing anything they can on a message board to build support for his termination.


Correct. and Barbour with him.

Not getting Farmer helps those people. They argue that their comments mean nothing and ignore the moderators evidence that it does.

and Wadood and Mixon and all the other top recruits (even bay area kids) that did not bother with this staff.

The reality is that they love Cal and hate Dykes and will do whatever it takes to get him out as quickly as possible.

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Yes please...

SonOfCalVa;842270255 said:

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Pedo State U has a "good academic reputation" ??????????????
No doubt Pedo State U will ensure that he has a warm letter jacket.

And ... we have very nice RB recruits already.
Another would be nice but not absolutely necessary.

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We bash US News & World Report for good reason. Here's another view of Penn State from the Ranking of World Universities collected by the Times of London for 2012-13. You don't have open it, PSU ranks No. 49. Cal is No.8.
http://us-universities.timeshighereducation.co.uk/

6bear6;842270922 said:

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We bash US News & World Report for good reason. Here's another view of Penn State from the Ranking of World Universities collected by the Times of London for 2012-13. You don't have open it, PSU ranks No. 49. Cal is No.8.
http://us-universities.timeshighereducation.co.uk/

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Here's one more.
The Shanghai Center for World-Class Universities. Cal is No. 3 in the world; PSU is No. 54.
http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2013.html

jyamada;842270573 said:

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You're right.....I'm always missing your point. Not sure what sunshine pumping has to do with APR but my point is excessive negativity on the board can't be good for the program. Constructive criticism is fine but Dykes is here for one more and perhaps another year....... no amount of negative whining is going to change that.

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Yay, brother, and here's what I would consider "excessive negativity":

Repeatedly hijacking threads so that they turn into rags on the current program. No doubt I've done something like this myself in moments of frustration, but this happens ALL THE TIME here and it gets old.

Individual posters ripping and mocking the current program HUNDREDS of times. Good God, we get it. We all know where we're at here. How about merely dozens of times, instead of hundreds? How about sticking with analysis and constructive criticism and limiting the pure rips and mocks?

As stated above, Dykes is gonna be here AT LEAST another year and probably more, so what good does it do to be constantly on the attack?

Boot;842270162 said:

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It's not a bad college town. I knew a real fine girl who's father taught there,she was great in cold weather.

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Cold weather and hot loins go good together! :p

PSU tops this list so it can't be all bad can it?

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-20-most-fun-colleges-in-america-2013-8

Though maybe it's just because people in PA have a strange definition of fun?

Now we know why Farmer flipped to Penn State.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10858666/james-franklin-contacted-alleged-rape-victim-vanderbilt-commodores

tydog;842310880 said:

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Now we know why Farmer flipped to Penn State.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10858666/james-franklin-contacted-alleged-rape-victim-vanderbilt-commodores

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Dang, and I've been blaming Buh all year.

When stuff like this comes out, I need to remind myself that it wouldn't be right to gloat over a situation that involves others' misfortune... But I can't help myself: Franklin took the Penn State job so he could get to a place that has a proud history of rape and its coverup!

Wait, can I get sued for writing that? Can somebody ban me for life from somewhere?

Big C_Cal;842310889 said:

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Dang, and I've been blaming Buh all year.

When stuff like this comes out, I need to remind myself that it wouldn't be right to gloat over a situation that involves others' misfortune... But I can't help myself: Franklin took the Penn State job so he could get to a place that has a proud history of rape and its coverup!

Wait, can I get sued for writing that? Can somebody ban me for life from somewhere?

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Yes and Yes :p

#Go Bears!

Tedhead94;842269960 said:

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This is the dumbest post k have read in a long time. ALL the negativity surrounding the program?? First off - we are the greatest university in the world. Second, we went 1-11 last year. PSU is just a couple years removed from child moletation charges from their coordinators. I'm pretty sure it was discussed on their boards. Tbis has to do with staffs - not fan bases. Get over it.

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Excellent post. Bearinsiders love their alma mater, but are honest enough to render objective opinions. Any student/athlete picking PSU over CAL is no loss to us.

:gobears:

slobear;842269992 said:

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Maybe I should have been more clear. I'm not saying that Farmer bailed because of the negativity on BI. All I am trying to say is that it makes no sense to me that posters want to bash the program when recruits are trying to make up their minds. Does that make sense?

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No