Before the verdict was rendered and public, I expected the worst. I didn’t know what “the worst” was, but it scared me. It scared me a lot. Florida State athletics was just emerging out of one of the darkest periods in its history. The entire athletic department seemed to be on a steep incline, and if it could weather the only foreseeable pitfall, the ascent should have continued.
Well, we can come out of the cellar now. The storm has passed.
Of course, talking heads (both local and national) will exaggerate the sentence to all different levels. Some will claim Bobby knew about it all along, and that he is a notorious cheater. Others will paint the misdeeds as of the most egregious form in college athletics. Even others will scoff at the punishment and call for postseason bans and further scholarship reductions. Gradually, however, the national media will no longer be interested, and they will move on (This may have already happened, but otherwise it won’t be long). The local media will continue to take shots whenever the topic comes up, but local media outlets in Florida usually have their allegiances to one of the “Big 3.”
Other than the image being tainted, what reason is there to worry? The punishment has been pushed into the past. By vacating wins, Florida State has been washed clean. Let me repeat: WE are clean. Other than some possible difficulty convincing a mother to let her son go to a school with a proven lack of control, the future is still bright.
The scholarship reductions are minimal. I understand that depth is important, but every year we have a few players on the roster that will never see playing time outside of special teams. Yet, they have a scholarship. The number isn’t large, but neither is the number of scholarships we are giving up. Essentially, all this means is we are in more of a “can’t miss” mode in recruiting. I still don’t think it will make much of a difference, nor do I think most fans are worried on this issue.
Fans are concerned, however, over the dreaded “vacating” of wins. If Florida State wins its appeal, those wins will have truly gone on a bit of a “vacation,” only to return by the start of the season. However, I don’t think Florida State will win the appeal, and I don’t think it matters. Fans, in my observation, fret over two major concerns: 1. We lose one of our track national championships. 2. Bobby will now never catch Joe Paterno.
The former is legitimate. Championships are so precious and valuable that losing one is probably the worst punishment one can suffer. After all, programs are built on tradition, and to weaken the tradition is to significantly weaken the program. The latter, however, could end up being beneficial to the program.
Bobby is great. He’s one of the greatest of all time. Whether or not he has more wins than Joe Paterno will not decide that. JoePa coached longer and will have more wins. It doesn’t make Bobby anything less. If they were both going to fulfill their current arrangements, JoePa would have pulled away anyway. He just signed an extended contract, while Bobby would most likely have retired before the clock struck pay-Jimbo-time. As Whelk pointed out on another occasion, this will actually benefit FSU, because it will give the administration less of a reason to do something silly (keeping Bobby beyond the agreed time, etc.)
As for the probation, I admit I am concerned. FSU just finds a way to get in trouble for one reason or another. The punishment for any further infractions would probably be enough to derail the momentum train. With that said, I don’t think this was. The entire athletic department can still push onward to new heights. The football team just had a very good recruiting class, and with success on the field in 2009, no bad rumors from out East will hinder further recruiting accomplishments. Both men’s and women’s basketball are poised to enter the NCAA Tournaments shortly. The baseball team hasn’t been stellar, but it is young and very talented, so there’s plenty of reason for optimism. Soccer, track, swimming, golf, and tennis have all been contenders for either ACC or NCAA titles over the last few years. Softball has a Hall-of-Fame coach on her last hurrah, and volleyball brought in some new blood with a history of success.
There are plenty of reasons for optimism.
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