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August 4, 2012

Penn State penalties unfair to current players

By Jeff Harvey Princeton Times

PRINCETON — Apparently, making the innocent suffer for the crimes of the guilty is now politically correct.  I know that under the sanctions announced against Penn State included a provision which allows current players to transfer without penalty to any other school, but consider the timing.  This is early August, a time where other schools already have their rosters pretty much set for the coming year and cannot take an influx of outsiders coming in.  From the PSU players' perspective you would be asking them to turn their lives over on short notice.

 Changing gears to recent local sports events, an end to an era of Princeton High School football happened when now former PHS Head football coach Ted Spadaro announced his retirement from the position after 23 years of service. Spadaro, the winningest head coach in school history, has had a couple of rough years recently, but that should not detract from an overall solid record as head coach, given that Princeton hasn't always had the top level talent.

As for the timing of Spadaro's announcement, he was hired on relatively short notice 23 years ago.  He was the second coach given the position after his predecessor and his predecessor's first named replacement both left the position, the later without coaching a single game.

It was about the same time of year, if I recall correctly.  As for his interim replacement, Randy Peek, he has experience with the older Princeton players, since he coached them at Princeton Middle School.  In fact it would probably be best if the Board of Education at least leaves him in the position this year, instead of trying to bring in someone else on such short notice.

When this column sees print, the 2012 Summer Olympics in London will be a week old.  Early returns indicate that the men's swim team will not have as easy a time as they did four years ago;  that the men's basketball team should win the gold medal, despite the fact that they will be playing, for the most part, opponents who are familiar to them, being both opponents and in some cases teammates in the NBA.

Switching gears to the NFL, in particular, the AFC East the New England Patriots remain the team to beat. They have kept their most important positions, quarterback and head coach, more stable than their divisional rivals. In addition, they retain the core of the team which one the AFC title last year and have added talent to, particularly on defense, to said core.

 Early last season, the Buffalo Bills looked ready to challenge the Patriots' dominance of the division, before injuries took their toll. The Bills have invested in their defensive front-line, adding Mario Williams as a free agent.

  The third team in the division, the New York Jets, created, in my opinion, the least necessary quarterback controversy when they traded for Tim Tebow.  I have been supportive of Tebow as a player, but the Jets brought him in with no real plan on how they would use him. It won't even matter, though, if the Jets can't get their defense back in order.

 The Miami Dolphins brought in two quarterbacks, veteran David Garrald and rookie Ryan Tannenhill, to compete with incumbent quarterback Matt Moore for the starting position. Garrald, if he had been healthy last year, would likely be playing with another team and I thought Tannenhill was a reach as the eighth pick this year.  The rest of the team, with a few exceptions, is mediocre.

  I will look at the AFC North next week.   

If you have comments about this column contact me at: Princeton Times c/o "Jeff's Sports Corner" PO Box 1199 Princeton, WV 24740 or at delimartman@yahoo.com

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