It's the Bowden bashing hour, brought to you by Foot Locker

Mike over at BSD tore Bobby Bowden a new one, after EDSBS took the initial swing at the legendary FSU coach. All I have to say is Bowden had it coming sooner or later. Wrote Mike of BSD:

"This is a common practice in these southern schools. They are only supposed to sign no more than 25 kids in any one recruiting class. But every year there's Alabama taking 32, Auburn taking 30, LSU taking 26. This year Florida State granted scholarships to 30 kids. Inevitably someone has to get cut. So you start hearing stories about kids being declared academically ineligible. Or suffering mysterious injuries that cut their career short. Or in this case, fifth year seniors who are basically asked not to come back."

Read the original letter sent by former FSU lineman Geoff Berniard's girlfriend to Larry Williams, of the Post And Courier in Charleston, SC. The letter explained how the Bowden family is following a disturbing trend--win at any cost, even if you ruin some people's lives along the way.

But let's take a different angle on this. I'm not going to get on Bowden's case today. I've done plenty of that, and usually focus on his wins at Samford--they count towards his career wins record, even though Joe's were all at a major program like PSU.

Where I'm going with this is PSU's recruiting efforts in recent years. Every one's been bashing the coaching staff for the last two hauls in '06 and '07. The loud minority fan base, which has cried for a top-ten class every year, says that PSU won't win championships by awarding fewer than "the other" do. Mike mentioned earlier that SEC schools usually sign between 25 and 30 recruits... each season. Maybe that's the reason SEC schools usually rank so high on the recruiting class lists. These coaches--in this case, when I say "SEC" I really mean most southern schools--offer kids a scholarship, with nearly no guarantee that they'll remain on scholarship if the on-field performance isn't up to par. That's just plain bullshit. You offer a kid to play for your team, and if he doesn't pan out, tough luck for you, not him. The coaches should never encourage a kid to leave school, just to save a freaking scholarship for next year's recruiting class. Bowden--and by Bowden I mean his whole staff, since he's responsible for their actions--has now fell into the "SEC" category of coaches. Mike's take was hardly as sweet as mine:

"Like I said before, in a way I was glad Joe Paterno broke his leg in 2006. It delayed him from entering the College Football Hall of Fame by one year. If you remember, he was supposed to enter the Hall alongside Bobby Bowden and they were both going to share the stage. I'm glad Joe didn't have to share anything with that fat jerk. The only thing these two men have in common is a lot of wins on the football field. Outside of that, the two programs could not be any more different."

That's just it. Penn State is nothing like Florida State. To many sportswriters and "experts" lump the two schools together all to often. Why, because the two coaches have been around forever and racing to see who could finish with the most wins? Sure, but that's the one and only connection between the two schools. How many times has Florida State played Penn State? Three times. Wow, I'm impressed. Bowden was forced to play PSU in the '70s because West Virginia always played PSU. I don't see FSU scheduling PSU anytime soon. Actually, I don't see FSU scheduling any living, breathing opponents anytime soon.

Let FSU die its slow, painful death. It'll be good for college football. The age of cheating and under-the-table deals is gone in this sport. I'm not being naive. I know there's still wheeling and dealing every hour of every day. But a program like Florida State--rulers of the late '80s and the entire 1990s--needs to go to rehab after its 15-year high. Penn "Mr. Boring Straightedge" State might not be as exciting or fun. PSU is surely not the life of the party in college football, but if you consider what Joe Paterno and his coaches have done for the last 50 years, it's a feat no other school could fathom doing. How many times has PSU been on probation in the Paterno era, or any era for that matter? NONE. Penn State wins with honor.

Oh, and if you didn't get that Foot Locker reference, go look up "Florida State," "Foot Locker," and "1993."

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